Friday, May 30, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #297

Balvenie
Balvenie Signature 12 yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky

40% abv

£29


NOMINATED in the 2008 DRAMMIES
*Bang for Buck
*Best New Product
Vote HERE (before Mar 6, 2009)

Launched in April in the UK this is Balvenie's newest product. Come autumn 2008, this Balvenie Signature will be available in selected markets globally to commemorate the forty-five (45!!!) years that Malt Master David Stewart has been with William Grant and Sons. Over the next short while I will be drinking The Balvenie to commemorate something as well.

At some point in the near future I will be taking up a position with William Grant and Sons as the Balvenie Brand Ambassador USA. There are few whisky companies I could proudly work for and the Scottish and family-owned WGS is one of them. I have known folks involved in the company for years and everyone I have met since being offered this job has been totally lovely, friendly, and supportive. Further, Balvenie is an outstanding hand-crafted whisky that maintains traditional production methods while being innovative with cask management and product development. Finally, the stuff tastes great. Doublewood was the first single malt I consciously saved up precious pounds to buy (it was £4 off at OddBins). I couldn't be happier to represent this stuff professionally.

But the problem is that now, suddenly, all that confessional fluff above could easily sound like marketing speak and that is the last thing I want to be present on Dr. Whisky. It always has been. That shit doesn't belong here and every distiller or bottler who has sent me samples has been aware that their drops are subject to my objective and honest critique/analysis/tasting notes, etc., no matter how many bottles they send me or product launches they invite me to. I have worked for various companies over the lifespan of Dr. Whisky and still been able to maintain objectivity. That doesn't mean you will trust me and I guess I could have continued and just said nothing about this. Oh well.

Although this site is well aware of its value as a whisky marketing tool (I often call myself a whiskevangelist) there will be no marketing bullshit on Dr. Whisky. Dr. Whisky will continue to represent all of god's own heavenly spirit but Sam Simmons will represent Balvenie professionally. So I will shut up. In fact, Dr. Whisky will shut up about Balvenie forever.

But before he does that and before I am on contract with the company and thus obliged not to say anything bad about their whiskies, I need to post on all the Balvenies I have tasted before my objectivity is legally stripped away from me and I officially become the Balvenie Bloke (very different than the Balvenie Guy... I will not wear bowties nor drink Balvenie in tumblers or on ice.)*

I can't wait for the supportive comments and/or hate mail. Bring it on. I am not scared.

For all Balvenie had on the mission click HERE.

*- note, I am not forbidden from expressing honest opinions about any other whiskies, just urged (legally) not to write anything negative about Balvenie, effective soon.

TASTING NOTES:

Not unlike the 10yo Founder's Reserve (discontinued come 2009) in its restrained richness with orange oil, honey, a touch of smoke, and a slight sherry influence of dried fruits.

Mellow and fruity. Some kind of spiciness, too. Toasty, vanilla-ed and laundry fresh, with a medium short finish of oak and outdoorsy spice.

SUMMARY:

Compact and complex, although pinpointing particular flavours is a challenge as they are all bound up in eachother. The kind of well-constructed whisky that reveals a new aroma, taste or impression every sip. The 18% sherry casks used in this whisky make their mark, but gently, like the Founder's Reserve (Malt Mission #113). Available in small releases, who knows how each batch will vary?

Malt Mission #296
Malt Mission #298
Malt Mission #299
Malt Mission #300

Malt Mission HOME

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #296

Robbie
Robbie Dhu 12 yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv

£ no idea $


As we approach the landmark of Malt Mission #300, we also get closer to a big change in our lives. More on that tomorrow.

Named after the water source of Glenfiddich distillery, this blended whisky is not often seen anymore. As far as I am aware this is a discontinued blend from William Grant and Sons although it is still available in some Latin markets (South American, Spain).

TASTING NOTES:

Soft and floral with some chewy, dense vanilla and a touch of smoke.

Malty, smoky, sweet and vegetal like potatoes and cooked turnips. Turns drier and more salty but overall very soft and easy. Dry, oaky finish.

SUMMARY:

Great blend of characteristics from across the wide world of whisky, all well-bound together.

Malt Mission #295
Malt Mission #297
Malt Mission #298
Malt Mission #299
Malt Mission #300

Malt Mission HOME

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #295


Lonach "A Confidential Distillery in Speyside"
41 yo, 1966
Duncan Taylor
43.9% abv
£129

Yeah, I know. I disappeared for a bit. Get used to it. Things are changing in Dr. Whiskyland but I assure you that for no matter how many days this site remains silent, the clinic will always remain open. Now here's the doctor with a 41 year old... um... with a 41 year old...

So, from what distillery does this whisky come? Here are some clues.

- This is one of the few family controlled distilleries in Scotland
- Their stills are direct fired (by gas)
- I have not had a drop from this distillery for over 100 malt missions (although I have enjoyed it a few times with friends since November).
- The family behind this distillery shares their surname with other distilling family patriarchs William, John and James.
- This distillery famously forbids others from releasing their product under the distillery name, though it has certainly happened on occasion. The working title for this particular release was "Far A Bouts".

For all Duncan Taylor bottlings had on the mission, click HERE and for all products from this distillery had on the mission click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Deep and inviting like a cool lake in the sweat of summer. Has a toasted or baked character, cherry turnover, subtle oakiness. Hints of sherry, grape candy powder (Fun Dip?) and perfumy like shoe polish.

Much more toasty than the nose indicated, pleasantly fungal and oily verging on rubbery. Early sweetness is shortlived. Celery, pickled turnips, slightly metallic or even bloody. Good balsamic vinegar, oak, and the taste of eating carnations.

SUMMARY:

Hard, tired oak, but with a great nose. Not unpleasant, but certainly challenging on the palate after the initial sweetness and like a 41 year old athlete after an injury, it never really recovers.

Malt Mission #291
Malt Mission #292
Malt Mission #293
Malt Mission #294

Malt Mission HOME

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #294


Glenrothes 1968
cask 13498
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Duncan Taylor and Co.

48.2% abv
£110

It is ridiculous that I have not yet had a Glenrothes for the malt mission. I suppose it is a bit nuts to imagine that someone could have almost 300 whiskies and still have negelected a whole distillery. Well it is not my fault, I have visited Ronnie Cox et al at whisky tasting events and tried their old and new vintages, just never in the controlled environment of the malt mission. To be completely honest, this is mainly because I have never received any samples through the post, and its not cuz the owners don't don't know this whisky blog exists; I have see Berry Brothers and Rudd (or their server, anyways) and the Edrington Group reading Dr. Whisky many times over the past year. Oh well. I try not to solicit and this is getting to that point, so enough. Sorry, I'm writing like an idiot today. Just not feeling it.

Thanks to the nice folks at Duncan Taylor and Co. for sending the sampler of their Glenrothes bottling along. I might as well tell you that between them sending me the drop and me getting around to posting on it over the past few tumultuous months, all bottles have been sold out. Nonethless...

Rather than having only a graveyard of casks at the distillery, Glenrothes is unique in having a still house that overlooks a cemetery. The distillery was off to a shaky start when the initial investors behind the construction of Glenrothes withdrew (to open a neighbouring distillery and begin a dispute over the water source). The financial difficulties led to the construction of a distillery much smaller than had originally been planned. Joining forces with Bunnahabhain to become Highland Distillers in 1897 and doubling its size in 1898 created a more secure future for the distillery. Today it is one of the largest distilleries in the industry with much of its produce finding its way in to Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark blended whiskies. It was a year after a distillery fire in 1922 that Cutty Sark was created.

God, what stilted prose today. Sorry.

Tasted with TF.

TASTING NOTES:

Raspberry, strawberry-tinged baby power. Smells like a place, i just can't pinpoint where, but it fills me with guilt -associated feelings. A brothel? The ladies room? The apartment of the other woman? Oak, some sour sherry notes, butter and crepes. "Quite fruity, red apple, cheesecake base, do you know what I mean? Biscuity. There's a sort of... you know, Haribo fried eggs." Laughter. Totally, says I. "Green oak, broken twigs, less fruit as it develops." Time in the glass lets out more estery high notes again."I like the old mahogany church pew you get off these oldies."

Soft, then bright, cloves, Brio chinotto, sweet soda fountain syrup, butterscotch. Floral notes and then tons of oaky grip. A sugary (muscovado?) sweetness lingers low among ginger roots and twigs. "Pruny, sort of like old cognac, raisins. Ginger, or gingerbread maybe, baked apple. The oak comes out so much on the finish, it becomes slightly astringent, wood tannins, that sort of almost resiny taste that you get."

SUMMARY:

A tasty mouthfull, with an emphasis on full. Less interesting on the nose, "yeah, but we've had it for like twenty minutes. Its still got it on the palate, maybe just a touch too woody. I like it." Tim was surpirsed to learn it was Glenrothes.

Malt Mission #291
Malt Mission #292
Malt Mission #293
Malt Mission #295

Malt Mission HOME

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #293

Glendronach
Glendronach 12 yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£27
$51.20 (CAD) *
$50 (USD)

What a wild few months it has been. I have now lived in 10 different accommodations since April 1, 2008. Perhaps I should consciously begin a couch-surfing campaign with my suitcase of clothes and suitcase of spirit. While I am getting tired of having the same set of clothes for nearly two months, the second suitcase is certainly getting lighter. Ah, Dr. Whisky is dedicated.

In 2004, this release replaced the 100% sherry cask matured Glenronach 15yo (Malt Mission #30). It is made up of a mixture of ex-bourbon, regular oak casks (meaning barrels that have held whiskies too many times to be called ex-anything), and ex-sherry casks. Additionally, this bottling (at least currently) was likely made from barley malted at the distillery, a on-site process which ceased in 1996.

For more distillery info and to see all Glendronach had on the mission, click HERE. Tasted with LR and MH.


* - currently on offer at LCBO (3 bucks off)

TASTING NOTES:


Sherried sweetness, lots of oak, citrus, "synthetic aromas like washing-up liquid". Cherry chocolate and a mustiness, some organic notes and a persistent nuttiness.


Great mouthfeel, "sweet and chewy", grows a bit woody and tannin-ed.


SUMMARY:


Mouthfeel alone confirms the influence this malt has on Teachers blended whiskies. Good malt whisky although simple. Oaky, sherried, and pretty decent.

Malt Mission #291
Malt Mission #292
Malt Mission #294
Malt Mission #295

Malt Mission HOME

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #292

glentauchers
Glentauchers 1990 (bottled 2006)
Gordon & Macphail

Speyside
Single Malt Whisky
40% abv

£25


So we're gonna have a GLEN-filled week here on the Malt Mission and continue today with another offering from Gordon and Macphail, a company who for many years was the only outlet for single malt whiskies from countless distilleries around Scotland. That is how most independent bottlers began; because most distillers were 100% dedicated to producing malts as components in blends, single malts were not widely available until the 1970s. Acquiring casks from distilleries, independent bottlers would bottle and release them locally. The tradition continues today, although it is much more difficult to source quality casks as most distillers have their own proprietary bottling needs. Speaking of indie bottlers, I saw a Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask in IRON MAN over the weekend. Among the most esoteric of product placements I have ever seen... or noticed.

Built in 1898 to supply malt for James Buchanan's blended whiskies, Glentauchers is today used mainly for Ballantine's. Like yesterday's Glenburgie, a 15yo was released for a short run in 2000 but other than that, official bottlings don't exist. I read that production ceased between 1985 and 1992, but this and several other independent bottlings (Wilson and Morgan, Duncan Taylor) also share the 1990 distillation date. I can only assume that there was intermittent production, largely sold off to independent interests, after Allied purchased the distillery in 1989.

Tasted with IM.

TASTING NOTES:

Apricot, orange marmalade, carrot muffins, sweet and sour winey aroma, roasted chestnuts, salty vegetable soup broth, and a little nail polish.

Sherry, but soggy sherry, as if it was a damp sock of a cask. Suntan lotion, shea butter. Some bitterness like rye or fennel tea. Inder says, "tastes thin but expensive."

SUMMARY:

Simple but appealing enough nose, some rubber and bitterness at times, but I would still say its a nice drop to have on the shelf because a) it's something that most your friends have never had, and b) won't cost you much for the thrill of obscurity.


Malt Mission #291
Malt Mission #293
Malt Mission #294
Malt Mission #295

Malt Mission HOME

Monday, May 19, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #291

Glenburgie
Glenburgie 10 yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv

£24


This little known distillery is one of the most interesting in Scotland due to its down-to-business attitude, innovation over the years and use of state of the art machinery. As a major component of the Ballantines blends, Glenburgie has been a silent workhorse since 1810, when it was known as Kilnflat. It was renamed Glenburgie in 1878 and purchased by Canadian company Hiram Walker in 1936, the time after which it became a key ingredient in Ballantines blended whiskies.

Between 1958 and 1981, Glenburgie also produced a spirit with Lomond stills called Glencraig, which, with any luck, can still be found from time to time. I recently had an excellent bottling of Glencraig from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Owned by Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) since 2005, official bottlings do not currently exist (there is a 15yo from 2002 that is hard to find) and this expression is from Gordon and Macphail.

TASTING NOTES:

Hard and clean, even metallic. Dry and mineral with some fruitiness and maltiness like apple cider and oat cakes. Red grapefruit, red cabbage, and some buttery sherried tones, too.

Thin impact in the texture, some undesirable heat, but rich with fruit and maltiness. Honey, vanilla, dry sherry, too. Lingering and spicy.

SUMMARY:

Whisky really is a drink that demands that the drinker slows down. This reminds me of that fact because this whisky needed some time to warm up to me, or vice versa. Good, simple, easy drinker at a brilliant price. I quite dig the simplicity of the label, too.


Malt Mission #290
Malt Mission #292
Malt Mission #293
Malt Mission #294
Malt Mission #295

Malt Mission HOME

Friday, May 16, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #290


The Dalmore 40 yo
Highland
Single Malt Whisky
45% abv

£1350

Malt Mission #290, wow.

I look back through this blog and I have to admit, I am pretty proud of myself. That's a lot of focused controlled consumption! Then I look at Kevin's Scotch Blog, Johannes et al's Malt Madness or Serge's Whiskyfun and all is put into perspective. But, to be fair, with that perspective comes the realisations that pride isn't enough to sustain something like this because, a) I don't have the apparent cash flow that Serge has and b) that my passion (but mostly time) is diminishing, much like Kevin's in recent months. It has to be said that one solution to these problems might be to accept advertising on Dr. Whisky. I am not going to lie to you, I have resisted for some time now and turned down two offers I simply could not morally justify in the sacrifice of my credibility and integrity. But as my beloved K consoled me the other night, "we can't afford credibility right now." Valid point. The dilemma continues.

That is the ugly 'real-life' crap that is really none of your business. What IS your business is that in the run-up to Malt Mission 300 I hope to pull out all the £1350 drams that I can (I think this is the only one). But there will be some sweet drams before the closing of THIRD century of Malt Missions. After that I might have ads for porn all over Dr. Whisky and start Dr. Whiskey reviewing bourbons and such. Anyways, to this 40 year old Dalmore...

On the 13th February 1965 this whisky ran from Dalmore's oddly designed copper stills and was filled to American white oak barrels. Kind of mind blowing to think about how long a single whisky maker has been monitoring a few barrels. Four decades! That alone has to be worth something. The final result has been transfered from American white oak ex-bourbon barrels to Europen oak ex-Matusalem sherry casks and finally to casks that used to hold Amoroso sherry. Crafty.

This is one of only 1000 bottles. Thanks to David Robertson, Richard Paterson and Margaret Nicol for sending along the drops and supporting information for this and all drams this week. For all Dalmores had on the mission click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Age immediately apparent with lush oak the keynote. Surprisingly malty after so many years of cask influence on a barley spirit. Orange juice or Sunny D, tobacco and ash, black tea, some petrol, banana and maple syrup.

Luscious fruits initially, banana, apples, raisins, blueberries and vanilla, then honeyed tones explode into a toasty oaky bearhug that is in turns drying and mouthwatering. Great flavour ride and a slow drinker.

SUMMARY:

High and low tones of citrus, blueberry jam and oak; great harmony in a fruity, musty and surprisingly malty old beauty.


Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #289

Malt Mission HOME

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #289


The Dalmore 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon Finish
Highland Single Malt Whisky
45% abv

£400

Dalmore has a good reputation for maturing well and some of the distillery's recent releases might prove that (see the 40yo on Friday!). This one expression spent over 30 years of its life in American oak barrels and was then transfered to barrels that once held "the king of grapes", Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Haut-Marbuzet from the St. Estephe appellation in France.

This wine-maker has a reputation for producing intensely fruity and spicy wines that are rich and decadent, exactly what The Dalmore is going for with their new "Rare & Prestigious" range, of which this is a part... in case the fancy box and price didn't make that apparent.

For more distillery info or to see all Dalmores had on the mission click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Strange nose, its as if the aromas work differently than normal, or something. It's strange. Sweet and sour like tart berries, some fresh paint, candle wax, with a root beer sweetness. Very confectionery, like grape powdery candies, or even children's Tylenol. Sourness appears again and is wholly pleasant, salt water, or like sea air with some drying kelp or sitting on a fishing boat. Soft red plums, some kind of fruit syrup, and some spice like mint and/or sandalwood.

Flavours all up front in attack then jump to the back becoming burnt and barky. Thick and undeniably oily, like old Dalmore's often are. Comes in with more Dalmore characteristics of tobacco and chocolate, or drier, cocoa. Cirtus, berry fruits and brown sugar. Long spicy finish with definite wine flavours, liquorice, and an array of berries.

SUMMARY:

This dram had some crazy movement, is complex, quite rare and/or unusual, and not incredibly whisky-y. Had a salty sour boisenberry thing in the nose and a cognac fruitiness in the mouth. Upon swallowing the malt character and cask influences worked together to announce "yes, I am a whisky". I loved it, but it won't be for everyone. In fact, I have had it before and not been so keen. Moody. The way the doctor likes it.

Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #290

Malt Mission HOME

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #288

The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III
The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£120

Yesterday Dr. Whisky received its 200,000th unique visitor. Lots of whisky curious folks out there. Blows my mind, actually. Thank you all so much for reading, linking, sharing and coming back! Maybe we can get our video up to 20,000 visitors this week, too?

Let's finish our Dalmore "week" here on the mission.

One is reminded when looking at such darkly coloured malt whisky that Scots of old used to drink this spirit straight off the still, clear, estery, and potent as owt. By the 1820s, resourceful folks had found the benefit of borrowing oak transportation vessels for wine, sherry, vinegar, herring, etc. and using them to store their spirit. Quickly, folks realised that it would lose some of its fire (both from evaporation, angel's share, and extractive qualities of the wood), become more complex in its aroma and flavour, and take on an gorgeous colour. I imagine the fishy casks would have quickly lost out to the wine ones.

During the 1970’s, 1980s and ‘90s the Master Distiller of The Dalmore, Richard Paterson, filled French wine casks, Mediterranean Madeira drums, Sherry butts from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, Marsala barrels from Sicily, Port pipes from the Douro and sweet Bourbon barrels from Kentucky with Dalmore's new make spirit. For the launch of this new product he selected the best of these casks, blended them as only he can, found a good bit of distillery-relevant history upon which to hang a story, and thus named this whisky 1263 King Alexander III. From the distiller's notes:
"In 1263 the ancestor of Clan Mackenzie saved King Alexander III from being gored by a stag with a single arrow. The grateful king granted him the right to bear a stag's head in his coat of arms, with the motto 'Help the King' (Cuidich 'n'Righ, in the Gaelic language). The Dalmore distillery was long owned by the Mackenzie family, and every bottle of The Dalmore is adorned with this noble emblem: a stag's head, with twelve pounts to its antlers, signifying a 'Royal'."

TASTING NOTES:

Starchy and weighty with oak and dried fruits. Synthetic fruit bubblegum and roasted sweet potatoes with fresh rolling tobacco and some raspberry, too.

Enveloping oak and chocolate, with orange rind and dry wine influence to balance the sweetness. Rich and spicy throughout with a white grape, red plum, and honey sweetness that holds balance against the more bold sherried tones.

SUMMARY:

A very Dalmore-y, rich, sherried-style malt with the added excitement of fruitiness from maturation in French wine and Italian marsala casks; sort of a Cigar Malt/Gran Reserva "DeLuxe".
To be fair, it's an odd one, but so is its creator; he won't mind me saying so.

Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission #290

Malt Mission HOME

Friday, May 09, 2008

Spirit of Toronto 2008

Tomorrow, Saturday May 10 2008, is another SPIRIT OF TORONTO whisky gala at Roy Thomson Hall. This event is put on by the knowledgeable, talented, and fiercely independent Johanna Ngoh. To understand the latter descriptor we must appreciate that in Ontario there is a wine and spirits monopoly called the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) that, in many ways, decides how booze business AND pleasure operates in Ontario. The former Single Minded blogger and other passionate whisky lovers started this grassroots event only to be usurped by the LCBOs power when they endorsed WhiskyLIVE Toronto and placed the event in direct calendar competition with Ngoh's Spirit of Toronto and placed a few other logistical obstacles in her way.

Nonetheless, the Spirit of Toronto has persisted and this year, unlike WhiskyLIVE, boasts some unparalleled masterclasses, a beautiful venue, dozens of malt whiskies that are otherwise unavailable in Totalitario, and no dram vouchers! It has been called "a whisky lover's dream."


So yes, the ticket price may initially seem high, but when you calculate what you receive as a guest, it is worth every penny and there is nothing comparable in this part of the world. It is $105 in advance[
(416) 872-4255 or on the website of the Roy Thomson Hall)] and $135 at the door.

Support a local, show YOUR Spirit of Toronto, and go to the show Saturday May 10 at Roy Thompson Hall from 6:30-10:30pm.

See you there! Come by the Whisky 101 stall and say "Hi!"
Looking for info on Spirit of Toronto 2009?


Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #287


The Dalmore 15 yo
Highland Single Malt Whisky

40% abv

£45


This new Dalmore 15yo is being marketed as the flagship of the Dalmore range. I used it at a tasting I hosted around Christmas and it was voted dram of the night. It is made up of casks from Gonzales Byass that were used to mature Amoroso, Matusalem and Apolstoles sherries.

To see all Dalmores had on the mission click HERE.


TASTING NOTES:

Decadent richness of melted chocolate, brown sugar, salty butter, avocado, with an incredibly rich backbone of oak. Sweetens with time in the glass with flavours on top of the oak developing from raw ingredients(melted chocolate, butter, sugar, flour) into baked goods (butter tarts, chocolate gateau, brownies). Some maple and grapefruit or orange skin too.

Sumptuous mouthfeel, initially syrupy sweet. Heavy and dense with sherry, oak, and the woody-sweet-spice combos that come with 100% sherry cask maturation. Creamy, slightly burnt, marmalade and patchouli.

SUMMARY:

This is nightcap stuff. A real treat to invite into your mouth, and not just for the flavour but the corner-to-corner enormity and the chewy mouth feel. Too syrupy-sweet for some, but does what (it seems?) it sets out to do.

Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission #290

Malt Mission HOME

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #286


Dalmore Gran Reserva
Highland Single Malt Whisky

40% abv

£40


This Dalmore Gran Reserva release replaces the Dalmore Cigar Malt (tasted way back at Malt Mission #24), joining the new line from Dalmore launched in November 2007, and comes with slick new packaging... and pricepoint. We will try to taste all of the recently(?) launched range this week on the malt mission. And by 'this week' I mean over the next 5 posts cuz things are still unbelievably unsettled.

In Scotch whisky production (unlike wine in Spain and Italy) there are no legal restrictions around what one may call their "Gran Reserva" whisky. Perhaps David Robertson (of JMR and Macallan before that) brought it over from Easter Elchies House (the spiritual home of the Macallan; that house on all their bottles) when he moved to Whyte & Mackay (owners of The Dalmore).

This whisky is made up of 60% ex-Oloroso sherry casks and 40% ex-bourbon between 10 and 15 years old all finally married in casks for 6 months. Tasted with TF in a pseudo-scientific manner... juxtaposed with the old Cigar Malt.

TASTING NOTES:

VERY caramelly with chewy chocolate. Mars bar, sugary nougat, cream fudge. Butter tarts. Condensed milk. Caramelly sugar extract flavours. Wood and sugar. How many ways can I say this?

Chunky toffee, caramel chews. Rum and raisin. Stale hazelnuts like in breakfast cereal. Raisin fudge, little blackcurrants as well, and maybe a bit of salt licorice.

SUMMARY:

While I managed to muster up several descriptors, this is relatively one dimensional stuff. It confidently strikes a chord, just one, and sustains it forever. Velvety and incredibly easy to drink.

Malt Mission #285
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission #290

Malt Mission HOME

Friday, May 02, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #285

Glenmorangie
Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or
Highland Single Malt Whisky

46% abv

£39
$77 (USD)

Feels good to have another week done on the mission. It has been a crazy string of weeks since leaving our homes and jobs in London. Staying sane and staying optimistic. Life is great and we have little to complain about. Just watched the news to confirm this: life could be worse.

Can't wait to get to Malt Mission #300. It will happen.

And I learned a lot during this Glenmorangie week. Most of all that Anabel Meikle (Glenmorangie's Sensory Whisky Creator) writes the most psychedelic whisky notes going. They always put you in a place, surround you with stimulae, and make you feel. And, say what you want, but does whisky do any less?

The only expression among the new 'extra-matured' range to come in at a price LOWER than its predecessor, the 15yo Sauternes wood finish, alors, c'est le nectar d'or. Sure, this is a few years younger, but who's counting?

It has been pretty popular (friends in retail have told me) and critically acclaimed since its launch in September 2007. Again, I think the packaging is pretty sleek. Kinda girlie, but whatever.

For more distillery info and to see all Glenmorangies had on the mission click HERE. Tasted with IM and MW.

TASTING NOTES:

Morwenna immediately thought it smelled like honey. Creamy, dairy, strawberries and peach. Farmy, like hay and grass. Fruitbasket, with the wicker. Baked goods, it just keeps going, all sweets all the time. Really lovely.

Candied lemons and croissants. Lime cheesecake. Creamy and very easy to swallow. Wow, now nutty and toasty with persistent sweetness of custard, maple and vanilla.

SUMMARY:

My initial reaction? Oh god, that’s good. My final conclusion? Go with your gut feeling. Might be a bit sweet for some or for some moods, but this is excellent stuff with few comparisons in the wide world of whisky.

Malt Mission #281
Malt Mission #282
Malt Mission #283
Malt Mission #284

Malt Mission HOME

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Malt Mission 2008 #284

Glenmorangie
Glenmorangie Lasanta
Highland Single Malt Whisky
46% abv

£32

$77.30 (CAD)
$70 (USD)

I am not scared to say that Glenmorangie is one of my favourite distilleries. It always tastes great, has friendly and clever folks working in its creation, and is a gorgeous distillery to visit (unless you are old school enough to believe that all distilleries MUST have wooden washbacks to be quality). Additionally, and I have said this before, it is from the area of Scotland north of Inverness between that city and John O' Groats, the region from which I think the greatest whiskies come. It is also relatively unique in using hard water, the mineral rich Tarlogie springs in the production of its spirit (most distilleries use soft water).

This expression replaces the old Sherry Wood Finish (Malt Mission #167) with a name of conspicuous origin that the bottle literature claims is gaelic for "passion and warmth". So, no; not La Santa Sede... although perhaps if Glenmorangie turns from #1 in Scotland it will be the house whisky at the Vatican? And who drinks more, Tam O'Shanter or the Vicar of Christ?

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

TASTING NOTES:

Warming and toasty, roasted nuts and toffee. Chocolate, raisins, almonds, and great, rich sweetness.

Sweet, rich and chewy. Cocoa and orange rinds, more raisins and chocolate, with impressions of health food breakfast cereals. Nutty and long finish.

SUMMARY:

Gorgeous Glenmorangie without being drowned by the sherry. Excellent whisky making.

Malt Mission #281
Malt Mission #282
Malt Mission #283

Malt Mission #285

Malt Mission HOME