A Tour of Speyside

So this week got away from me. I didn’t follow my own prescription of writing something. Here are some notes I typed up after drinking five whiskies with the proprietor of the Glen Livet cottage that we stayed in. He used to work in a whisky store in Dufftown after a full length career as a Royal Air Force Officer. We tried five malts. You can imagine that since I made the notes after five malts, they’re pretty bad.

Interesting thing he taught me: recall that I decided that color was a stupid category. It turns out that the trained whisky eye can evaluate the length of time a whisky was in a certain kind of cask by the color. Obviously, older is usually darker, but sherry casks make for darker whiskies than Bourbon casks and such. Anyway, still too much for me. I think if I learn that much about whisky as to be able to spot what wood they aged in, I will likely be single again.

These five whiskies made up my tour of Speyside.


Tamdhu, no age statement. (This was mothballed in 2010.)

Nose: smells pleasant, not too complicated, not too dull, but nothing effectively interesting. It is a nice to smell single malt.

Palette: intriguing and gentle, just a little bit of whiskey warmth and the right amount of flavor. Again, it isn't spectacular with ideas leaping out at me, but it tastes very nice and I wouldn't begrudge having another!

Finish: smooth, easy, light.

Overall: I guess the point of this whiskey is to reduce production cost (8 yrs) to make a nice whisky which can be sold for a bit less. If so, congrats to them. (It is certainly worth every penny I spent on it.)


Benromach Origins , first bottling 10yr (This is brand new, can’t yet put out a 12YO.)
Steve says this is a Speyside who went old school and tried for a smoky flavor, with 4 parts per million of peat, compared to 0 ppm for regular Speysides and 80 ppm for Islay. Also, the peat is local just like the peat on the Islay whiskies. Local to the Islay whiskies is sea air which gives them their sea-salty/medicinal overtones. This peat was Speyside peat giving off the flavor of the Highlands, flowers and fruits.

Nose: the smoke is present but not overwhelming. You can tell the smoke is there, but it doesn't smell the main point of the whisky. It also smells of cinnamon, and sugar.

Palette: The smoky flavor is much more present on the initial palette, giving me a happy feeling of a formidable smoky whiskey and the comforting feeling of a more gentle drinking malt like the traditional Speysides. The follow on palettes ease the smoke (I guess you're just no longer surprised) and emphasizes the trademark Speyside qualities of fruits and cinnamon.

Finish: Um, I don't remember. I (was) writing this too many whiskies later.

Overall: I like this one and was happy to be drinking a formidable newcomer who is looking for a niche market.


Glenburgie 12yr 50%
Smelled sweet like candy
First taste intense next just great, lovely
A perfect winter whisky


Mortlach 17yr (bottled by the wine society) 57%
It was a deep, deep brown. Smoother than I anticipated but had a metallic finish.


Glenrothes - Select Reserve

Nose: high powered nose, lets you know you'll drinking something enchanting; second nose, able to make nostril burn, but in a good way; it doesn’t smell of alcohol per se; later sweet.

Palette: The first taste is a spicy kicker that’s loads of fun. This is not just warm, but heated as you drink it and unlike some others, it never seems to leave the first drink impressions, always spicy

Finish: the finish is quick, with deep warmth lingering from the spiciness, it still tastes nice long after it's gone

Overall: a unique one in its ability to maintain its intensity. I'd be happy to have a bottle of this one on my shelf as it appears a very versatile friend to have around, light enough for a hot summer evening, but a spicy warmth giving it credibility around a wood burning stove.



So, very little editing (mostly spelling) was done to those notes from that night a few weeks ago. I fell like a wee dram!

Bruichladdich Peat, Islay

With all of my working and traveling and drinking beer, I have been slacking on the single malts. This one I had a few weeks ago with some friends.This is from memory, not from notes, although I wrote this one night after drinking it.

I can’t taste all the single malts in Scotland (although I can try), but I do think it is reasonable to taste all the distilleries from Islay. So, I have kissed the fruits of Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphraoig, Bowmore, and Caol Ila. That leaves Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, and Port Ellen. Since Port Ellen was shuttered 20+ years ago, all the Port Ellen is $200 per bottle. I’m pretty sure I’ll have to skip Port Ellen. But, I did manage to reduce the remaining unknowns of Islay by having a dram of Bruichladdich Peat.

Bruichladdich Peat
Islay
46% abv

(Color has been removed permanently. Stupid category.)

Nose: sweet, smoked bacon but not overwhelming. Very nice.


Palate: the first drink seemed incredibly warm, almost burning. Tastes like a smoky whisky but is balanced very well by sweetness.


Finish: It is incredibly smooth given it smells so substantial. The smoke stays with you but the sweetest is more profound in the finish. If you burned a cinnamon stick and a candy cane in a bowl, the smoke of such a fire would probably accurately portray this finish.

Overall: The first intake made me think it was alright, the second that it was good, but not special. The third changed my mind to very good and a competitor. By the end, I was thinking, “I wonder how expensive this is because it is as good as the Ardbeg and Caol Ila.” (The cheapest one wins.) I would say this is a very enjoyable liquid and certainly worth a try.

That leaves me with me the following Islay ranking:
Tier 1: Lagavulin and Bowmore (Darkest)
Tier 2: Bruichladdich, Caol Ila, Arbeg
Tier 4: Laphroaig

(Yes, I know that’s a 4.)

Laphroaig 10yr, Islay, 40%

I wonder how much previous exposure influences your brain. I hope it isn’t this much. Are we really just puppets? Elpeebee had commented that Laphroaig was much like drinking a glove. The menu had medicinal in the first word. Is that why my review is as it is? Maybe the menu, Elpeebee, and I are all just correct simultaneously. For example, I knew it was complete rubbish when people were saying the Bengals were good last year.

Laphroaig 10yr
Islay
40% abv

Color: like a gold coin, oily, spots of darkness and spots that look clear, changing.

Nose: smells like a campfire by the ocean. Seriously. It smells like smoky salt water.


Palate: initially, it’s like cough syrup from the ‘80s. Remember when Nyquil wasn’t flavored, the green one?


Finish: splash of sweetness followed by a strong, hot aftertaste. Waxy and oily but not too oily. The aftertaste lingers, because, well, the beverage lingers.


Overall: so it’s way better than Nyquil, but I really thought of that when I first drank it. It’s fine. If I was given the choice between Laphroaig 10yr and Wild Turkey, I’d take the Laphroaig, but this is certainly in last place amongst the Islay malts I’ve ever had: Lagavulin, Bowmore, Ardbeg.

Three Whiskies at Once

There was a math conference in Edinburgh the week after Easter. In my field, there were a few big names in town. They’re big names in mathematics so if I told you their names you wouldn’t know the difference. Nonetheless, I went to dinner with some of them the first night as the fill in host since the actual host, Jared, was ill. The next night, I went to dinner with two of them as I had promised we would then go drink some single malts at Leslies! One actually bailed to do math, but Jared fought his illness to enjoy some fun times at Leslies. So I couldn’t take notes and can’t exactly tell you the appropriate categories and all. But, as I’ve mentioned in the past, that isn’t so useful anyway. Instead, I’ll tell you what I drank, my recollection (the night after) of my impression, and if I recommend that you give it a try.

These are presented in the order they were consumed. This matters in that by number three, I might have liked straight vodka, who knows. I had read that Gelnfarclas was fantastic and better than the Balvenie Doublewood. I went there first. Then I went with a selection made by our guest, Joel. Finally, as you always should, I journeyed to Islay to try Caol Ila.

Glenfarcas 10yr, Speyside, 40% – surprisingly stern, intense alcohol, substantial finish. I have to say I didn’t love it. Smelled more like alcohol than anything. If stuck in a closet and the only way to get out was to drink Glenfarcas, don’t worry about me, I’ll make it out. However, given a selection I’m not ordering this. If I were you, I wouldn’t either unless you feel the rest of my single malt reviews are way off base.

Clynelish 14yr, Highland, 40% – this was lovely, but remember that it came after something I didn’t like. I think the amount that I liked this may have been overstated due to the meany above. Anyway, it was soft and fruity, finished nicely, and had a nice scent. It was lovely to drink.

Caol Ila 18yr, Islay, 43% – ummmm, amazing! Smells very very smoky, almost as smokey as Lagavulin (they guy next to me let me smell his Lagauvulin when I thought he had incorrectly given me Lagavulin) . This is fun to smell. The taste is substantial, but here’s the amazing part: the finish is instantaneous. It was phenomenally smooth. Here I warn that this was the ml 71-105 of single malt, but I am quite confident that this finish was authentic. Granted, I drank a bit of whisky before this one, but nothing could have over amplified the finish to make it so smooth. If I wanted a smoky Islay that was super easy to drink, I’d order this.

Bowmore Darkest, Islay

I’ve never had a Bowmore. I tried to buy a set of 3 20cl Bowmore’s in the airport, but the lovely chap reminded me that when I got to Chicago, I’d have to check the liquid since you must reclear security. Next time I fly home, there will be room in my luggage. I decided that my first Bowmore will be one that is not in that trifecta. I understand that Bowmore is the mildest of the Islay (by the way, this is pronounced (eye-lah) whiskies.

Bowmore Darkest
Islay
43% abv

Color: Wow, it’s really dark; a cherry wood finish.

Nose: salty and full bodied, smoky, felt in the sinus. The smell says, “I dare you to taste me.” (After a few sips: fun to smell, smells sweeter.)


Palate: wow, incredibly smooth, a bit sour, not as smoky as it smells.


Finish: building smoke, lingers while tasty, extremely pleasant.


Overall: confirms what I heard about Bowmore: the gentle one from Islay. It was great and very complex. It made me say wow twice. I liked it a lot. (Trend Alert: I haven’t disliked a whisky yet.)

Oban, 14yr, Highland

Much of my whisky reviewing has been bogged down on Oban. It came with such high praise from my two most frequent commenters, Matt and Elpeebee. I had it once, but was with some others so I couldn’t exactly dig in and take mental notes, let alone written notes. I then opted for Oban again when a friend was buying at a bar in San Antonio (it’s a wee bit more expensive at a bar in the US than at a pub in Edinburgh; $11 versus £2.50 = $4). I knew I liked it, but I don’t recall being overwhelmed. So I went to Leslie’s and gave it a proper review. It seems dangerous to review a whisky that the only two whisky review readers on this blog already have a strong, set opinion for. I tried not to let them taint me.

Oban 14yr
Highland
43% abv

Color: It’s the color of resin. (When I was trying to place the color, my mind immediately jumped to the scene in Jurassic park where the resin has preserved the prehistoric mesquito.) {The color category, I’ve decided, is stupid. Look, it’s whisky. It has roughly the same color as other whiskies, some are a bit lighter and some are a bit darker. Anyway, I tried very hard to describe this one and have decided that I will try less hard in the future. Would you really not drink a fabulous whisky because you didn’t like its color?}

Nose: nicely strong, you can feel it in the nostrils. It is sweet, and smells exactly like my brains idea of what good whisky should smell like. You know it has alcohol, but the scent is inviting, not revolting. (After a few sips: even better, now also a little spicy.)


Palate: pumpkin pie spices, soft, warming, peppery. It’s like adult candy.


Finish: boldness that fades quickly and leaves a warmth which gently disappears.


Overall: delightful but dangerous. It seriously tastes like candy and smells like baked goods. The finish is lovely and fades so quickly it isn’t very easy to pace yourself. These are all nice features save the 43% alcohol content. If you’re strong-willed, put this on your shelf.

Glenlivet, 12yr, Speyside

Today, I post a review I meant to post two weeks ago. If you have had a single malt, there’s a good chance it was this one. Now I like me some Glenlivet, but it would be a shame to drink Glenlivet in Scotland unless you were visiting their distillery. I say this because it is so fantastically easy to find in the USA. For example, I found this rendition aboard a United flight to San Antonio to attend the 13th International Conference on Approximation Theory.

Glenlivet 12yr
Speyside
40% abv

Color: Golden, but I couldn’t really see it in the poor lighting of the first class cabin.

Nose: sweet, fruity, hints of cinnamon. (After a few sips, it’s even sweeter smelling with the cinnamon fading.)


Palate: spicy, not as smooth as it smells, still a comfortable, fruity whisky with a bit of zing.


Finish: surprisingly harsh and a taste of alcohol, then bitter, and a warming but not a burn.


Overall: pretty good, but not an all star. This is one of the largest single malts in the world based on distribution and is #1 in the USA. The nose is the best part; it was very nice to smell. (Actually, the best part was that it was free in the first class cabin and the poor saps in coach didn’t even have the option to buy it … only a blend back there for the discounters.)

Highland Park, 12yr, Island

Highland Park 12yr
Island
40% abv

Color: Amber, almost orange, so clear you can see right through it from the top (of course this also means my glass was not thick bottomed, but anyway)

Nose: It’s very sweet and subtle; it smells more like white wine than whisky; it is very pleasant, but not very formidable. (After a few sips, it smells smoky, still sweet, but now it’s smoky until the end.)

Palate: super smooth, light and sweet; easy to drink; illusive, it’s hard to say when the taste ends and the aftertaste begins

Finish: lightly in the nostrils letting you know it is there, then it’s suddenly smoky and strong, and just as quickly it’s gone, with a lingering taste of sweet whisky. (I have to say that I was quite surprised by the finish after smelling it for about five minutes and then it tasting so light. The finish is complex.)

Overall: A highly enjoyable whisky to drink, rather involved. The smell and taste are rather different than the aftertaste. Enjoyable complexity. Even though the smell gets smoky while drinking it, I wish it smelled a bit bolder. In that case, I’d love it. With the smell it has, I like it a lot. (You’ll have to place yourself in 8th grade to decipher the meaning there.)

-bonus, this was free... I sort of borrowed it from the owner of the Heatherlea.

Quick note:

-technically, when I say you can see the North Sea in any of the pictures, I am incorrect. It is the Firth of Forth, but whatever, it's the North Sea. Here's a map; the water near Edinburgh is technically not the North Sea. I just felt I had to share this.

Fettercairn 1824 12yr, Highland

For the second whisky, we move to the Highlands. I had never heard of this distillery which is precisely why I ordered it.

Fettercairn 1824 12yr
Highland
40% abv

Color: Amber and very oily, at times it seemed you could see portions of perfectly clear liquid with beads of amber.

Nose: sweet and high pitched, conflicted, almost wrong; this smelled the same throughout, best described as conflicted. By high pitched, I mean that if I tried to sing a note just out of my range and translated the strained sound to a smell, it would be the aroma of this whisky. By almost wrong, it is like something rotted, but now it has been so long that it isn’t revolting, but a sweet smell that still tells you something isn’t quite right.

Palate: sweet and oily; deceiving: it almost seems vacant but simultaneously tastes like a smooth whisky. It’s so oily that the sensation in my mouth made me think of water beading up on a newly finished table.

Finish: super smooth but a delayed warmth; it lingers but subtly

Overall: this whisky was nice to drink, but I wouldn’t order it again. It just doesn’t smell good enough. Also, I’m not a huge fan of the whisky being so oily that it stays in your mouth after you swallow. It’s the whisky version of getting meat stuck in your teeth, but you can’t get it out with a toothpick. Anyway, it was fine, but it simply doesn’t smell good enough to buy again.

Ardbeg 17yr, Islay

For my first review, I started off strong. Maybe too strong, but here’s the reasoning: if Amy puts the kibosh on this whisky adventure, I will already have tasted some serious whisky. The downside, I’ll probably get better at noticing many of the intricacies, but I probably won’t return to some of these. So, anyway, I decided to hit Islay first, knowing that these whiskies are often the most extreme. There’s lots of talk about Islay whiskies and tasting the sea. Prior to this one, I thought this was rubbish (as they’d say here). (Although, come to think of it, I may have only had one Islay whisky prior this one and that was the ultra bold Lagavulin. Maybe I had an Islay with Matt, but if so, I don’t remember tasting the sea. Anyway, let’s just say that Lagavulin is smoky enough that when you leave your empty glass on the table and step out of the room, you can still smell it in the hall.) So, here’s my first whisky, the Ardbeg 17yr (from the same part of Islay as Lagavulin I believe; I should have brought Matt’s book with me and will bring it back in March… I guess I could look crap up on the internet, but that’s not what the NSF is paying me to do here and I don’t want to taint my own reviews with others).


Ardbeg 17yr
Islay
40% abv

Color: a vanishing yet burnt gold

Nose: first salty, second molasses, later sweet but dangerous. (After a few sips, the aroma is consistently like candy - sweet, salty, and not too strong.)

Palate: gentle, warm, and reasonably smoky

Finish: at first, it is immediately intense, mild burning on the lips, and gets high in your nostrils clearing them, but then it’s gone, leaving a tingling throughout and a sweet aftertaste where you want some more. Unfortunately, it’s expensive and you’ll have to be satisfied with your 35ml.

Overall: Maybe I was just psyched up for number one, but this whisky was fun and intriguing; I'd say even fantastic. I couldn’t taste the sea exactly, but I could certainly smell it. It is certainly worth ordering at a bar. If you like whisky and want to try a fun one, don’t look at the prices and order this one. If you buy a bottle for your home, it’s probably used for serious celebrations or impressing guests. I don’t think it’s an everyday bottle (although I also don’t condone drinking whisky every day, both physically and fiscally).


I want to inform you that my favorite part of drinking whisky is smelling it. So there was certainly a time in my life when I thought the goal was to consume more of the whisky than your “mates.” After a few unfortunate episodes and the wise guidance of a certain woman, I realized this was stupid. Now I like to drink it very slowly, most of the time spent smelling it. If you are like me, you’ll agree that the whisky smells very different after you have had a few sips; my understanding is that your nose is now used to the alcohol. Anyway, I plan to comment on both sets of “Nose” as I would prefer to drink a wonderful smelling whisky that isn’t perfect to drink, than a perfect drinking whisky that smells weird.

So that’s my first review!

Whisky Reviews

Whisky reviews are vast and done by educated connoisseurs or complete fakes. I am a fake, but I aspire to not be a complete fake. I won't be faking the terminology and telling about what type of cask I think the liquid lived in for the past decade. Whisky should be tasted and commented on according to a standard set of categories (with my overly simplified category description):

Color: what does it look like?

Nose: how does it smell?

Palate: how does it taste?

Finish: how is the aftertaste?

Overall: does this need a description?

For example of a review by a trained connoisseur, here is a copied review from last week on the Edinburgh Whisky Blog.
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Mortlach 1993 (11yo)
Bottled by: Murray McDavid
Speyside
Bourbon cask, finished in Graham’s Port casks
1800 bottles, 46% abv

Mortlach means ‘duck massacre’ apparently…

Colour: 1970s brown leather sofa

Nose: Apples, berries and peaches. Blackcurrants and nail varnish, lemony and sour. Finally White chocolate and nutmeg.

Palate: Grapey blackcurrants oaky and very clean

Finish: Very short

Overall: Easy drinking, clean and quite sweet. Not as big as other Mortlachs. Expected more on the palate after the nose, but still enjoyable.

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Now close your eyes, slowly breathe in through your nose and think “Apples, berries and peaches. Blackcurrants and nail varnish, lemony and sour….” Then think of “Grapey blackcurrants oaky and very clean” as a flavor. To be honest, that’s not so helpful to me. I don’t know what blackcurrants smell and taste like. I’m not going to review whisky like this; that would be like me trying to dance: AWKWARD!

I’ve had a few whiskies in my day and I like the idea of looking at these categories. These are the things you would tell a friend about a whisky. I think I will be more down to earth. Suppose I just got the well whisky at Mueller’s in Atchison, Kansas. Fictional Whisky Review:

Mueller’s Well Whisky 4yr:

Color: light and cloudy

Nose: strong and unsettling: smells like it is going to hurt

Palate: intense alcohol flavor, like it should have waited 8 more years before bottling

Finish: serious kick causing one eye to shut and a bit of chills and shakes

Overall: an unfortunate purchase, stay away. This should only be used for mixing and only with the intent of inebriating college aged people.

See, that review makes sense. We can relate to that. I didn’t have to say anything about blackcurrants or peaches. If you really want to read reviews like that, I suggest the aforementioned Edinburgh Whisky Blog. For the most part, I can’t afford the whisky they review.

I did find that not so far from the Heatherlea is a bar they recommended, Leslies. The whisky list is here. I would like my loyal followers to suggest which whiskies I should taste. Make a few selections and put them in the comments if you’re interested. Make more than one in case they are out, but list them in order. Some whisky tasting will begin in the near future.


Quick Updates:

- I finally responded to some questions posed over the past few posts. Sorry, I've been busy.