Glen Scotia 20, 1992 (Archives)

Posted on January 15, 2014, 7:00 by My Annoying Opinions

Glen Scotia is the other Campbeltown distillery, in the shadow of Springbank. The reputation of Glen Scotia’s malt has been more down than up among whisky geeks; and until recently they had not offered very much by way of variety either. Then came a sudden reboot and a series of shockingly ugly bottles. I’m not sure what the quality of the whisky inside those is but this bottle from Archives (the label of the Whiskybase boys) is very good. It was a big hit at our local group’s December tasting.

Glen Scotia 20, 1992 (50.4%; Archives, hogshead 08/71; from my own bottle)

As Whiskybase only released 80 bottles some other bottler must have got the rest. Something to keep in mind if you own this and are also enticed by another Glen Scotia 20, 1992 that does not specify the cask number. Continue reading →

Glen Garioch 21, 1990 (Archives)

Posted on December 17, 2013, 7:00 by My Annoying Opinions

Following my recent review of a 20 yo from 1990 bottled by Kintra Whisky here is a 21 yo from Whiskybase’s Archives label, also from 1990. It was tasted, and these notes taken, right after the Kintra. It will not surprise you to learn that I found these to be similar in many ways. I also found them to be quite different from the current official releases that I’ve reviewed. Of course, that may simply be a function of these being single casks and being much older. They do make me want to seek out more Glen Garioch from the 1980s and earlier. Anyway, let’s get to the notes.

Glen Garioch 21, 1990 (54%; Hogshead #252, Archives; from a purchased sample)

Nose: Much richer than the Kintra with more malt, more toasted wood and a nice dose of peppery citrus (lemon peel, grapefruit). Faint hints of soot at first that gets a little more pronounced and minerally with time. With even more time those notes recede and its the citrus (bitter lemon peel) that presides. A couple of drops of water and time bring out rich apricot notes and some polished wood. Continue reading →

Quick Hits: An Old Dailuaine, An Older Strathmill

Posted on July 13, 2013, 9:00 by My Annoying Opinions

Tonight a quick look at two early releases from the Archives series of bottlings by Menno and CJ of Whiskybase. Their selections are always solid at a minimum and always fairly priced. The samples I am checking out tonight are of bottles from two Speyside distilleries that are not known for sending anyone’s pulse racing. The worst that can be said about Dailuaine is that it is one of Diageo’s workhorses–it rarely garners plaudits or brick-bats (I quite like the lone official release I’ve tried from Diageo’s Flora & Fauna range). Strathmill, on the other hand, is actively despised by many; but then so is Old Rhosdhu and I quite liked the one I tried a few nights ago. Let’s see if the signs from these samples are promising.

Continue reading →

North British 50, 1962 (Archives)

Posted on April 22, 2013, 23:45 by My Annoying Opinions

Please appreciate our late April snow.

North British is a grain distillery. There is nothing very remarkable about it (if you would like to feel a little frisson take a look at the image on the top of this page on their site) except that casks of very old whisky distilled at North British in the 1960s have emerged recently, and some of them have been quite competitively priced (compared to very old malt whiskies).

Of all of those, the one I am tasting tonight was perhaps the most remarkable deal. Archives is the name of the label operated by the excellent Whiskybase store in the Netherlands. Menno and CJ, the lads behind Whiskybase (which has been around for a while as the most comprehensive crowd-sourced database of reviews and ratings online; the store opened much later), are whisky drinkers first and foremost, and their bottlings tend to be no-nonsense and exceptional values. In keeping with that let’s keep the preamble short and get right to the notes. Continue reading →