The whiskies I am tasting tonight are from a closed distillery that has become something of a cult phenomenon in recent years: Caperdonich. As is not unusual among closed distilleries, the cult has been somewhat late to form. Caperdonich was never a storied distillery in its heyday of production, coming into being as Glen Grant 2, and then being closed for most of the 20th century until it was rebuilt in 1965 and renamed Caperdonich (due to a law prohibiting two distilleries from having the same name; this is also why the old Clynelish distillery became Brora in the late 1960s). It was never intended to be a frontline single malt, and most of its production went into blends until it was closed in 2002 (this is not unlike the situation with perhaps the most iconic of all closed distilleries, Port Ellen, which was a workhorse distillery until it closed in 1983). While some old-school independent bottlers–Cadenhead’s and Gordon & Macphail–released the odd single malt bottling over its active life (I have not tasted any of these) it wasn’t until the early 2000s–ironically, right after the distillery was closed–that it gained a wider reputation. This was due largely (entirely?) to the release of a number of bottlings of very old casks from the late 196os and early 1970s by a number of independent bottlers, especially Duncan Taylor. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Springbank 13, 1998, Fresh Bourbon Barrel
Continuing with another cask bottled specially for an American retail store, here is a Springbank bottled for K&L, the well-known Californian retailer. I have some quibbles with some of the promotional habits of this store–of which more in a later post–but they do select interesting bottles from time to time. And this is certainly an interesting one, as it’s not always easy to find Springbanks from ex-bourbon casks. The distillery is known for its ex-sherry matured whiskies, and the wood expression series previously released in the US were first a bunch of 12 year olds from different kinds of sherry casks, and a few years later another bunch of 14 year olds from a range of sherry casks. They’ve also released a series of whiskies matured or double matured in other wine casks–claret, madeira, marsala–and even rum and more recently, a calvados cask. They’re a family owned concern and tend to do things their own way–every aspect of the production process is carried out on their premises, where they also produce the Longrow and Hazelburn ranges. Continue reading
Highland Park 19, 1986
Highland Park, located on the largest of the Orkney islands, is one of the most iconic of all Scottish distilleries, renowned for a range of whiskies with significant sherry cask influence; indeed, I believe, though I hope to be corrected if wrong, that all official distillery bottlings are from ex-sherry casks (there are ex-bourbon cask bottlings available from some independents). Their regular range currently encompasses a 12 year old, a 15 year old (apparently being phased out) and a 18 year old–all at 43%. At the high end they also put out a 25 yo and a 30 yo, and if you are very wealthy, a 40 yo–these are at cask strength.
Aberlour A’bunadh: Batches 27, 28, 38 and 40
Today would have been the 71st birthday of Michael Jackson, the well-known and highly-respected whisky and beer writer, beloved in the whisky geek community for a number of reasons, not least of which is that he was the antithesis of the other contemporary whisky writer of similar renown, Jim Murray, who is known far and wide for being more than a little bit of what the kids on the street call a dick. Anyway, Michael Jackson passed away in 2007 of complications from Parkinson’s disease, and his birthday was subsequently anointed International Whisky Day, more or less informally, in the whisky geek world.There is a charity that benefits Parkinson’s research that you could give to in his honour on this or any other day; and on this day whisky geeks around the world have been raising glasses in his honour–many of them containing sherried malts, which were among his favourites, the Macallan in particular. Continue reading
Bowmore Legend
For my first review on this blog I thought I would go with something relatively pedestrian. The Legend is the entry-level, no age stated (NAS) malt from the venerable Islay distillery of Bowmore. It is cheap and ubiquitous. The following review is from a large pour from a bottle I purchased myself, sampled before the bottle reached the halfway mark.
Bowmore Legend (40%; from my own bottle)
Nose: Not much happening; faint, minerally peat, a little bit of Bowmore’s trademark floral notes, and some over-ripe melon. Gets salty with time, with a slight hint of iodine. Continue reading
The Internet Needed Another Blog and Here I Am
Hello! I have many annoying opinions and I would like to inflict them on you. You’re welcome!
I live in Minnesota. This is why the occasional restaurant reviews that will appear here will be so Minnesota-centric. This is also why there will be so few restaurant reviews. Happily, this is also why there will be far more posts about and reviews of whisky*. Minnesota is a good state to live in if you like to drink whisky (as I do). I mostly drink Scotch whisky (and mostly single malt scotch whisky, but also Indian and Japanese whisky made in the Scotch style) but am trying to expand my knowledge and understanding of American whiskey as well (don’t worry, I will have many annoying opinions to share about American whiskey well before I acquire any meaningful knowledge or understanding of it). From time to time I may also post commentaries on other things prominent (films, music, television) or marginal (books) in our culture.
I make no pretense to and nor do I have any interest in a large readership. This blog is primarily a way for me to organize my tasting notes, and also to archive my cultural insights for a future age which will prove to be more appreciative of and rewarding to a talent like mine than the fallen one in which we currently live. The preambles to my whisky tasting notes are generally aimed at my friends who really like and appreciate whisky but are not necessarily as knowledgeable about distilleries and the vagaries of production and marketing as your average whisky-obsessive.
Odds are that after a hot start my posting frequency will taper off to something closer to once a week. If you find yourself (pathetically…) drawn to returning on a regular basis and it pains you (…yet understandably) to not see a steadily growing archive of posts you will have to find some way to deal with it. I would suggest drinking whisky.
Who am I? It is likely that if you are reading this you know who I am. Nonetheless, I am currently keeping my real name off this blog. In part because I do not wish to have my entire existence available on Google (I have a somewhat unusual name), and (relatedly) in part because I am a teacher and I do not wish my students (and their parents) to think of me as some sort of (very classy) drunk. Accordingly, I will ask you to refrain from using my real name if you know it or think you know it. Any comments that include my real name will have it deleted from them. It is for this reason that comments are moderated. You are free to address me as “Snookums”, “Reverend”, “Hey You!” or anything else that takes your fancy (and is not my real name).
*To read a description of my methodology for reviewing and rating whisky, and also find out a little about my standards and thresholds (such as they are) of integrity and so forth read the “Protocols” page linked at top.