The Malt Desk

Another fine tasting in the local whisky club hosted by yours truly
Tonight, all whiskies from indie bottler blackadder, featuring notable names like Blairfindy (Glenfarclas), Mortlach and Hazelburn from Springbank - all bottled between 10-13 years ago.

After unpacking a box of whisky this afternoon, our little white tiger seemed to favor the Arran 12yo Cask Strength, 54,1% Batch 1 bottled 2011

Another fine tasting in the local whisky club hosted by yours truly. Both young and old whiskies on tonight.
How about Ardnamurchan 06:22 Paul Lanois and Loch Lea '5'?

At the other end 27yo Ben Nevis and a 38yo Glenallachie, distilled in 1972 at a third of the price in todays market compared to the recently released 35yo byt the distillery and distilled in the late 1980s

New bottle opening from one of my absolute favourite distilleries - Clynelish

Hand bottled at the distillery on 8th September 2023.

Sipped it at the distillery but as I was driving I held back.
My initial thoughts are: Modern Clynelish, Prominent sweetness on the nose, vanilla, honey, overripe apple. Water reveals some oaky wood spices
The palate is spicy and crisp with more honey and more or less mimics the nose - however, the trademark waxiness seems to be almost absent entirely as reported by others also.

This is in no way a bad dram - it's just not the Clynelish you've come to love if you have been in the whisky game for a good number of years.

Autumn tasting season has started

Today, it's been a week since I married my girlfriend of 6½ years.

Not until tonight, I found the opportunity to crack open a celebratory bottle - it's a 1977 40yo Speyside Region, supposedly a Glenfarclas.

Initial notes are: Old school dusty sherry, chocolate, mature oak influence, dark honey, some orange notes, pipe to***co and rich fruit cake

Tonight, an East Highland tasting.
Deanston, Glencadam, Fettercairn, Tullibardine, Glen Garioch, Lochnagar and Macduff

Sample from a whisky friend.
Thank you

9.286

Nose:
Vanilla, tropical fruit with prominent banana, wood sap, old balanced bourbon cask

Taste:
Fruits galore, wood spice, loads of vanillas, custard creme, malts, mouthcoasting

What a lovely drop from

AGM in the local whisky club. All sherry matured whisky lineup for tonight. Another great evening out in Aalborg Whisky Laug 🙂

It's going to be a kind of night

Japan/Taiwan tasting tonight,
Lovely stuff so far

Sometimes you have to treat yourself to something a little extra - so tonight I popped this Clynelish 21yo (11.12.1996/20.08.2018) from refill sherry butt #11390 - yielding 517 bottles at 52%

First impressions on the nose are a warm creamy spirit covered in caramel, honey, and raisin with a vague hint of mint and a spicy note I cannot identify at this point.

I will leave this for a little over an hour before returning to it.

Good times!

**EDIT**

The 14yo OB on steroids, more sherry, more Oomph - delivery some may call it, just more mouthfeel in general, more malt heavy - just delicious - even if I think Clynelish does better when matured in bourbon cask. At present, also, this whisky swims very well, with 2 full teaspoons of water in a 30ml dram. This will make some 'Scottish Mist' appear and at the same time let you keep the whisky on your tongue for a while longer - something you will not regret.

Tonights new bottle opening

Campbeltown Loch Blended Malt
The small print on the back says bottled on 06/09/2023 rotation 23/177

After opening I nosed it briefly and it seemed a bit 'overly Campbeltown funky'

It had about 1 hour in the glass before I went back to it - and now it was much easier to approach.
The funk had subsided, now more of a classic lighter style Campbeltown.

The Sherry is clean and the drinking impression is that there is some Springbank funk in it, but I assume a lot of Kilkerran and a bit of Hazelburn as well - whether some Glen Scotia has crept in I cannot not say here as the lighter style will probably come from Kilkerran and Hazelburn

Is there Longrow in? If there is, it's not much...

A lovely lighter style Campbeltown whiskey with a slight peat bite - approx. slightly below level with Springbank and more in the direction of Kilkerran.

It won't knock the legs out from under the seasoned whiskey drinker, but it's a nice dram for what it is.

tasting tonight with
We will be tasting the Valhalla and the IngaSaga (Magnus)collection

At a small private tasting today, we face a lineup of the Major's whisky - Glen Grant. Usually seen from sherry casks, this distillery also does very well coming from ex-bourbon casks. It's going to be a lovely day out.

Thanks to JGJ for hosting todays event.

20th Anniversary tasting in the whisky club

Family Silver Blended Malt 1984 38yo, 40,5%, Cooper’s Choice

Imperial (closed), 25yo 1995, 54%, Ex-bourbon Cask #7861, SMoS

Tomintoul 1985 30yo, 48,7%, Ex-bourbon cask, Cadenhead

Speyside M (Macallan) 17yo, 60,7% Sherry Cask /A106 #2, Signatory

Granville (Clynelish) 2000 22yo, 54,9%, MaltBarn

Speyside Region 1995, 26yo, 51,9%, Sherry Cask, MaltBarn

A Secret Grain Destillery 1973, 47yo, 48,2%, The Nectar of the Daily Dram

Old Perth Blended Malt, 1977 41yo, 45,3%, Sherry butt, Morrison Mckay

Inspired by my whisky friend Michael's post a few days ago about Laphroaig, where Michael reached the 10-year cask strength... Some of us commented that it had been a long time since we had had a Laphroaig - so I decided that now that the weather had changed, it was time - and since I live close to the North Sea in North Jutland with wind, rain, and water nearby, where Laphroaig would be a good autumn/winter dram.

I didn't delve deep into the Laphroaig archive but took the last Cairdeas I had from 2018. I chose this one because I had a gap in the collection from 2018 when I stopped buying Cairdeas.

The 2018 edition of Cairdeas at 51.8% is matured in 1st-fill bourbon casks and then in Fino sherry casks.

Fino sherry is a lighter and dry sherry with a mineral edge, which often, in my opinion, works really well with whisky. I've tried some Arran on Fino casks, which was heavenly, to say the least!

The aroma of this Laphroaig offers a light to moderate 'twiggy' and peaty edge but at the same time, a significant underlying sweetness. It also seems slightly salty with notes of burnt hay, reminiscent of a fancy restaurant I visited recently... Time reveals more notes of campfires and what I can only describe as an old Colheita white port wine. A little water reveals more 'green' notes and the bonfire smoke you get when burning your garden waste in a barrel.

The taste, as expected with Laphroaig, is initially an experience of peat. Water changes the character and makes it slightly lighter to drink but also opens up more spicy notes, mainly peppery ones. The Fino sherry shows itself on the finish of this as a pleasant salt/sweet influence that ensures that this Laphroaig remains slightly stringent.

So far, a delightful first experience with this bottling.

That's the preparation done for the tasting this coming Thursday.

Tasting note sheets sent to printers ✅️
Background info studied ✅️
Bottles sniffed (only) and left to breathe ✅️
Participant list checked, 27 so far✅️

We will try a range of whiskies from entry level to a nicely mature age + 3 cask strength editions.
They are all between 40%-54,7%

Now we wait 🙂🥃

A day out 🙂 uncropped ones here also

Back on Speyside for a few days.
Distilleries? Let's see... 🙂

This coming Thursday, we kick off the Autumn tasting season with a focus on sherry matured or sherry finished whiskies.

We will, though, also be squeezing in a 26yo Wardhead (teaspooned Glenfiddich) as an outsider this day, a not so commonly occuring whisky.

The full lineup is (in no particular order)

1. Clynelish 12yo, 58,5%, Bourbon, Oloroso, PX casks, Diageo Special Releases 2022

2. Wardhead (Glenfiddich) 1997 26yo, 53%, Ex-bourbon cask #58, MacAlabur Andelstøndeforening

3. Mortlach 2010 11yo, 57,8%, Refill hogsheads, Sherry butt finish, Signatory

4. Dalwhinnie 2008, 14yo, 48,9%, Bourbon + Sherry finish, North Star Spirits

5. Benriach 2012, 8yo, 59,1%, First fill sherry cask #34, Adelphi

6. Craigellachie 2006, 15yo, 57,9% Sherry Butt Finish , Douglas Laing

7. Glendronach 1993 20yo, 54,7%, Oloroso sherry butt #16, Org. Bottling

A day out on the water on the 100year old schooner Loa, sailing to Livø to try Vindblaest whisky from the cask. Of course, we need a dram on the 5hour sail there, so I brought a 10yo - a perfect dram for a day on the water. More on the launch of the Vindblaest whisky later

Meanwhile you can read more here:
https://soegaardsbryghus.dk/destilleri/vindblaest-whisky/

New bottle opening tonight.
A Diageo Special Release from 2006 of Cragganmore 1988 17yo 55,5%

Cork broke when opening, but the rest extracted without any problems.

The initial impression is loads of caramel and butterscotch notes, honey, dates in caramel, and a vague hint of orchard fruits.

Thinking a little less sherry would have let these shine more brightly. I hope these will come out once it has had time to breathe after being closed in for 17 years.

Not blow away by this at this point but think its Onwards and upwards for this dram 👍

When you can only have one dram at last nights whisky club committee meeting, cause you're driving later, you have to make it count...

SMWS 116.20 Yoichi 1987 26yo 61,6% 452 bottles from a Virgin Oak Puncheon

Creamy, non invasive oak, hardwood floors, spices and a subtle peated finish, all balanced perfectly

So, what's your take on Pernod Ricard very openly still exporting to Russia?

Are you gonna stop drinking your Glenlivet / Chivas and Beefeater Gin?