Monthly Archives: July 2013

High West Rendezvous Rye

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Rendezvous Rye
I don’t know very much about rye whiskey and my experience of it is even smaller. I know that to be called rye the mash bill has to be at least 51% rye (analogous to bourbon’s 51% corn mash bill) but I’m not sure if there are more restrictions a la bourbon. I guess I could google it but I don’t want to give the impression that I am an active, resourceful sort. Indeed, I would not have made it in Park City, Utah in the 19th century. That’s a non-sequitur, you think, but the joke’s on you! High West is located in Park City, Utah, which I am assuming was settled in the 19th century (see above for my ambivalent relationship with the idea of googling to find things out).

This rye isn’t distilled there, however. I believe High West’s own distillate is still maturing. In the meantime they are bottling spirits that their website says they “found back East” . Doesn’t that sound nice? They “found it”. It’s like David Perkins was out for a walk through all of the American East and came upon barrels of Rye resting underneath a waterfall, guarded by an army of enlightened beavers who handed it over to him as they recognized that he was the guardian foretold in ancient beaver lore. Or perhaps he stole it and now an army of angry beaver warriors has sworn a blood feud against him and his descendants that only the One–born of beaver and woman–will be able to settle. Continue reading →

Glenfarclas 17

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Glenfarclas
Can it be that I’ve not yet reviewed a Glenfarclas? Well, let’s set that right. This Speyside distillery, owned by the Grant family (not to be confused with the other Grant family, William Grant & Sons, who own Glenfiddich, Balvenie etc.) has a rather extensive lineup of whiskies. Their regular range includes 10 yo, 12 yo, 15 yo, 17 yo, 21 yo, 25 yo, 30 yo and 40 yo whiskies. And since the late-2000s they’ve been releasing single casks in their “Family Casks” series that goes all the way back to casks put down in 1952.

I’ve not had any of the more ancient vintages, but do appreciate that the distillery gives us such a range of their malt and that they keep their prices for the regular range within the budget of regular drinkers.
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Blair Athol 12, “Flora & Fauna”

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Blair Athol
Another in Diageo’s “Flora & Fauna” series. Blair Athol is a distillery in the Highlands; it is not terribly well-known and it doesn’t put out much by way of official single malt (this expression may be it). Most of its output goes into the Bell’s blend. There’s not very much of its malt available from independents either. I’ve had a somewhat blank 12 yo, 1998 in Signatory’s UCF series and that did not inspire me to hunt down more–there are a couple from Signatory and Douglas Laing on the US market, and lately there seems to be an older one from Duncan Taylor as well (any feedback on these would be greatly appreciated). This official sherried bottling I purchased with some confidence as it has a decent reputation, and as I quite enjoyed the similarly sherried entries in the series from Mortlach and Dailuaine.

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Laphroaig 7, 2000 (Signatory)

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LaphroaigAnother sherried Laphroaig, half the age of the Whisky Fair bottling I reviewed two days ago. No need for any further preamble here either, except to note that this was my first ever sherried Laphroaig, and I’m not sure if at the time I even knew that most of the official Laphroaigs had no sherry aged malt in them (this was well before the Triple Wood and the PX were released).

I got it at Blue Max Liquors in Burnsville, a store in an unprepossessing mall in an unprepossessing suburb of Minneapolis, which has a killer beer and single malt selection. Thankfully, they have no online store and so we don’t have to compete with whisky geeks outside driving range for their inventory; less thankfully, their prices for whisky aren’t very good.
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Ledaig 40, 1972 (Alambic Classique)

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Ledaig
Ledaig is the name of the peated whisky produced at the Tobermory distillery on Mull–the unpeated is sold under the Tobermory name. The distillery was originally founded as Ledaig, however, and I’m not sure when Tobermory became the official name. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with the whisky, of either type, made at this distillery. There has not been a whole lot of it available in the US and what has been has not always had the strongest reputation. This has especially been true of contemporary Ledaig. However, I’ve recently had some young indie Ledaigs that were quite nice and so when I saw samples of this far more ancient (from an earlier era, and very old) Ledaig were available I could not resist. The bottler is Alambic Classique, another German bottler with a good reputation.
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Laphroaig 14, 1998 (Whisky Fair)

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wflaph1998I have nothing new to say about Laphroaig, so let’s get right to my notes for this 2013 bottling for the Limburg Whisky Fair.

Laphroaig 14, 1998 (53.9%; The Whisky Fair, sherry cask; from a purchased sample)

Nose: The phenols come wafting over the lip of the glass before I’ve even finished pouring: cereally, minerally (wet stones), carbolic; not smoky as much as pungently peaty. With a bit of air the peat gets quite sweet and there’s some wet coal smoke too. This must have been a refill sherry cask; at least there’s no obvious sherry influence on the nose. Gets increasingly ashy with time. With more time, gets quite briny. With a few drops of water the coal smoke wakes back up and gets a little acidic. Then there’s some citrus–somewhere between lime and tangerine peel.

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Imperial 17, 1995 (Whisky Fair)

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ImperialThis Imperial was bottled for the Whisky Fair, which is one of the biggest whisky festivals in the world (perhaps the biggest in terms of reputation), held every year in Limburg, Germany. Quite apart from the official distillery offerings that show up at most festivals (and which dominate the lineups at the few festivals in the US) Limburg is famous for the esoteric and collectible bottlings, official and independent, on offer by the pour and by the bottle. And as at European festivals you are allowed to purchase/fill samples to take away, it’s an opportunity for geeks to get their hands on small pours of legendary whiskies, full bottles of which would cost a king’s ransom. And also to taste/explore new bottlings from boutique outfits.

Every year I see whisky geeks in Europe talk online about heading out to Limburg and feel envious. Then I read the reports of the crowds which seem to rival the Kumbh Mela and feel less bad about being a whisky geek in the US (yes, there are some US based whisky geeks who go out to these festivals but that’s beyond my pay grade; if I had the money to spend I’d spend it on whisky). Who knows, maybe one year I’ll be in the neighbourhood for a conference at the right time….
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Glenrothes 15, 1994 (Signatory)

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Glenrothes
The Glenrothes distillery in the Speyside is perhaps best known for their idiosyncratic bottle design and also for their vintage based releases, usually vattings of bourbon and sherry casks. The former, while attractive, can lead to heartburn if a cork breaks on you and you don’t have one saved from a previous bottle (no other corks will fit their bottles); the latter leads to some confusion because while the vintage year is printed in large letters on the label there may be releases in any different years of whisky distilled in a given year–further confusion arises from the fact that on closer examination the labels usually say not when the whisky was bottled but when it was “checked” (what this means, I don’t know). Things are less confusing with indie releases which tend to be more forthright about these details, and also offer the oppportunity to taste Glenrothes from both sherry and bourbon casks. Continue reading →

Mortlach 18, 1991 (Signatory)

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MortlachMonths go by without a single Mortlach review and then three come at once. I mentioned this Signatory bottling in my post/comments on the Chieftain’s K&L exclusive Mortlach and then remembered that I had saved a 6 oz reference sample. The bottle it was taken from was opened almost three years ago, but the sample was from early in the life of the bottle and today was the first time I poured from it. This was a Binny’s exclusive some years ago.

Binny’s also put out annual exclusive releases; usually from Signatory and Gordon & Macphail, and usually with a lot less fanfare than K&L–though to be fair, Binny’s are far more established and perhaps don’t need to make as much noise. Still, whatever the reason, I can’t say I don’t appreciate their more laid back manner. I will say though that of late K&L’s selections are far more interesting than Binny’s.

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Clynelish 21, 1990 (Chieftain’s)

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Clynelish
Another Chieftain’s exclusive for K&L, this time a sherried Clynelish. And you’ll be pleased to know that this time David D.’s notes included no problematic content, which saves me from having to go on about it, and saves you from skipping past that part of this post, I mean, reading it very carefully. I’m being ironic, but in truth, I much prefer when the whisky is the only thing drawing my attention.

This was a bottle that I was interested in when it was first announced but as K&L don’t ship to Minnesota I thought I’d have to wait till I was in L.A next to get it and it was sold out by then. I only learned later that I could have purchased it online and had it held for pickup at the Hollywood store. Ah well, it’s not like I have a shortage of whisky on my shelves, and at least I get to taste some now.   Continue reading →

Mortlach 22, 1990 (Chieftain’s)

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Mortlach
This Mortlach is a K&L exclusive selection via Chieftain’s. With characteristic understatement they inform that this is the best Mortlach they’ve ever found or ever will find again (every exclusive sold at K&L seems to be in that range); alas, with similarly characteristic lack of attention to detail they also say that the majority of Mortlach sold in the US by independent bottlers is from bourbon casks. Well, while there do seem to be a few recent releases from bourbon hogsheads and barrels of late, I can think of three sherried selections from Signatory and G&M for Binny’s alone in the last few years, and the somewhat dangerous 15 yo from G&M that’s the most ubiquitous Mortlach in the US is also sherried. In other words, sherried Mortlachs are not such unknowns in the US. Once again, accuracy loses to enthusiasm in K&L’s marketing.

But is this Mortlach better than all of those? Let’s see. Continue reading →

Mortlach 16, “Flora & Fauna”

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MortlachI am looking forward to reviewing a K&L exclusive 22 yo Mortlach from Chieftain’s tomorrow (well, later tonight, but it will be posted tomorrow) and thought that to calibrate I’d pour myself some of the only other Mortlach I have open, the beloved 16 yo from the “Flora & Fauna” series.

Mortlach, a Speyside distillery, produces a lot of malt for Diageo’s blends. This is the only official bottling available regularly as a single malt. Their spirit is partially triple-distilled (as at Springbank, though Mortlach apparently has a particularly odd configuration of stills) and they are also one of not very many distilleries left in Scotland that uses wooden worm tubs to condense the distilled spirit. The reduced copper contact results in less removal of sulphur compounds than at most distilleries and this in turn results in a meatier, more savoury spirit. I’ve had a number of intense single cask releases of Mortlach from the independents but there’s something about this gentler, simpler 16 yo that I really like.
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Glendronach 19, 1993, Cask 490 (for K&L)

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GlendronachThese days it’s hard to throw a stone in the whisky world without hitting a single cask release from Glendronach (though it would probably be a good idea to not throw stones in the whisky world, were one to actually exist). It feels like there’s one every other month. We don’t really get any of these in the US usually, and so it’s nice to see this release from K&L of an official oloroso sherry cask from 1993. I have already reviewed another 1993 oloroso sherry cask release from Glendronach (also 19 years old) and you can read my take on that one here.

K&L seems to have had some trouble selling this one out. That’s a shame because this is really quite good. The problem is probably that the whisky market in the US is not quite as mature as in the EU when it comes to single malts and the Glendronach name doesn’t carry quite much cachet here yet as it does in the UK and Europe where a much larger set of casks are released every year and most sell out. As a result, $140 for a 19yo probably seems like too much of a barrier. I think it would probably help if the excellent Glendronach 15 “Revival” were a little cheaper and could function as a gateway for the brand (the more affordable 12 yo “Original” is fine but nothing very distinctive); but, in general, I think it is hard in the US to sell the general malt market on relatively expensive teenaged whiskies from the second and third-tier names (even if the whiskies themselves are very good). Continue reading →

Bladnoch 9, 2001, Lightly Peated

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BladnochBladnoch, small and family-owned, is one of the few active distilleries in the Lowlands region. The distillery is beloved among whisky geeks on account of their no-frills, no-nonsense approach to the industry, their commitment to reasonable pricing, and a very high quality of whisky. You may not always read this online but it is true: there is no other distillery in Scotland that offers such good whisky at such attractive prices. If someone tries to tell you different (on any part of this) they don’t know what they are talking about. As you may have surmised, there was someone who tried to tell people different some months ago and he took quite a lot of stick for it online.

Oh hell, it was David Driscoll of K&L, who saw fit to announce upcoming private releases of casks of Bladnoch by denigrating the quality of the whisky already released by the owners–which he eventually acknowledged he had very limited experience of. Anyway, as I noted, he took a lot of stick for it, and there’s no need to fight the battle again (he and I went at it on a whisky forum for a bit). David seems like a good guy, just prone to getting carried away. Certainly, if he tasted the whisky I am reviewing tonight I hope he’d acknowledge its quality.
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Littlemill 20, 1984 (Hart Brothers)

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Littlemill
Littlemill, a closed distillery from the Lowlands region, is yet more proof of the fact that the best thing a distillery can do for its reputation is to shut down. Never beloved by the masses when it was open, the bottles available in the first decade and a half after it closed (in 1994) did little to change anyone’s mind. But every worm turns and in the last couple of years a number of highly regarded Littlemills from the late 1980s and early 1990s have been released by a number of indie bottlers. I have a few of those in the stash, but this is not one of them.

This bottle is from 1984–considered by some to be part of a problematic era at Littlemill. However, the sudden recent uptick in the reputation of the recent releases made me wonder if older ones from earlier in the 1980s might in fact be better than the distillery’s reputation might suggest (whisky geeks, alas, are very prone to herd mentality in confirming the virtues or faults of entire distilleries or eras at distilleries that are supposed to be exceptional one way or the other). And the very low price asked for it by Binny’s as part of their ongoing closeout sale emboldened me. Good idea? Bad idea? Let’s see.
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Hazelburn 8, 56.5%

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Hazelburn
Hazelburn is the unpeated, triple distilled whisky made at the Springbank distillery in Campbeltown. There’s not that much Hazelburn out there in general release. There have been a few releases of an 8yo and a 12 yo, and more recently, the Hazelburn CV (not sure if this is ongoing or if it has been discontinued a la the Longrow CV). Other than that there have been some one-offs; for example, a recent 8yo double matured in bourbon and sauternes casks.

I’ve never been too moved to give Hazelburn a try because the prices seemed too high (especially for the 8 yo) and my preferences generally tend to run towards more robust profiles. However, when Binny’s included the Hazelburn 8 yo in a recent closeout sale I decided to give it a shot. Their site seemed to indicate that I’d be getting the second release of the 8 yo at 46% but what showed up was a cask strength bottling at 56.5%. There’s not too much information out there on this: Whiskybase indicates that it was a single bourbon cask release of 228 bottles for the US, but it doesn’t actually say this on the bottle.
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Imperial 15, 1995 (Signatory CS)

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ImperialImperial is/was a Speyside distillery that seems to have spent more time being closed than open. Malt Madness has a sketch of its checkered history. Most recently it was closed in 1998. There were rumours for a while that it might reopen but the buildings were completely demolished this year. There will apparently be a new distillery constructed on the site–and it will likely bear the same name–but I am not sure if the stills etc. will be from the old distillery. If not, it may literally be a case of the distillery reopening in name only.

In recent years I’ve seen a few signs of some whisky geeks trying to make a case for Imperial as a hidden gem. My (admittedly limited) experience with the malt would suggest there is something quixotic about this. But who knows, it is entirely possible that if casks of Imperial sit undisturbed for another 20 years it too might emerge as another Caperdonich or Port Ellen.
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