Jim Beam Lineage 15 Batch 1, WB: 189718

Jim Beam Lineage

Glasses: Unity Sensis Plus, Blenders Glass. Mood: full of expectations. Series: Strange new worlds. Oh my! What a wooden box, classy but not overdone. Modest, simple, yet noble. The bottle with screw cap in a wooden frame, somehow Japanese - banzai. Jim Beam - I know it from Whisky-Cola, supermarket, what cruelty awaits me, what am I doing to myself - Smile! So the only way to discover the terrible future is to live it. - Pike. Nose after 1h, shall we? Engage, make it so, take her out, Execute, Get It Done, Just Do IT, Hit It - Punch It! Candy shop, candyfloss, already clumping. Crème Brule. Werther's Real Cream Candy. Lots of vanilla and a hint of Patex on the street. Warm rice pudding with muscovado sugar and cinnamon. Gingerbread aromas in the ether, in the infinite expanses. Exploration can exact a heavy toll. Not here. Dough and freshly baked bread, brown sugar caramelising again. Baked apples with vanilla sour cream. Freshly poured Fritzcola. Brewed black tea. After 3 hours: cellar mustiness. Old books, umami. Mushroom mince pan with cream and truffle. With water 1 tsp changes the nose to pistachio ice cream, other nut ice creams whipped very creamy, fresh waffles. Reconciling my divergent cultures of origin is complex. The journey is challenging. Mouth: Oily, waxy, coating the mouth, sticking everything together, but without Patex. The mouth is in a permanent smacking loop. Demerara raw cane sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg - MUS-KAT-NUT! Peanut butter, gingerbread, gastric bread with espresso. Panna Cotta. Cream sweets, dates and figs. Marzipan potatoes dipped in lots of cocoa. Water is unnecessary: the whiskey becomes oaky, tannins are more prominent, nutmeg grated (again!), tequila. Finish: Eeeeeternal long, nice Kentucky Hugh. The warmth moves in slow motion down the oesophagus, while hustle and bustle and everyday life come to a halt - strike again. Cinnamon spiciness and some white pepper slap after the nice embrace. Water lifts the slow motion. The Hugh disappears. The whiskey becomes astringent. Even in space, growth - sometimes, remarkable growth - is possible." -Pike

92 / 100

 

Balblair 2006, WB: 227004

Balblair 2022

This one has been matured in an Amontillado Sherry cask since 2006 and was bottled for The Whisky Shop. Uncle Google says: Amontillado is a unique wine produced from the complete fermentation of palomino grape must. The fruit of the fusion of two different types of ageing processes (both biological and oxidative), Amontillado is resultingly an extraordinarily complex and interesting sherry. - Don't expect perfection at first. Colour: Old amber in hue. Glasses: Luxbe (Snifter like), Blenders Glass. Mood: Everything will be fine. Series: Studio Ghibli. Nose after 3h: ripe apricots, candied fruits, all kinds: Pineapple, coconut, ginger. Dark fruits, dried fruits, apples, sultanas, dates. Crème brûlée? Who knows? Lübeck Marzipan Manufaktor, industrious hands knead the sugared almond mixture into shape. Jammy. Christmas spices? No, Orient, dough, spices from Persia, Persian pastry. Mouth: marzipan, walnuts, trail mix. Some grains of salt don't find their way. Oolong tea with lots of dark candy. Oily. Persian pastries, date paste. Turn Your Face Toward the Sun, and the Shadows Fall Behind You. Finish: forest floor, dusty porcini mushrooms, freshly brewed coffee. Sticky sweet figs. A little Kentucky Hugh. "Trees and people used to be good friends." - My 
Neighbor Totoro.

Golden liquid bliss,
Whisky warms the soul within,
Sip, savor, repeat.

91 / 100

Glendronach 21 2022, WB: 218967

Glendronach 21

Mood: veeeery disappointed. Glasses: I don't know, all kinds. Series: The Madalorian. Colour: amber. Why, the great Glendronach 21. Makes the pulse beat faster, awe and humility come over me. So this one is supposed to be about 27 years old, if the numbers are right. I like those odds. Gone are the days when I bought this for about 90€. Tried this one with many glasses and over a longer period of time, double-blind, blind, non-blind. I am a whisky aficionado, glasses and time are part of my religion. Glasses, mood, water, an empty bank account, a free nose and lots of time. This is the way. Nose 3-5h: Toffee, milk chocolate, cream pudding. Chocolate mousse with white chocolate. Forest floor with rum sultanas, very sweetened black tea, Dunnage Warehouse, wet clothes, Martini dry. Mouth: White and red pepper blast their way through the palate. Cinnamon and gin make a bad mix. Cherry juice added unmotivated. A dusty olive. That's not saying much. What does it taste like now? Double-brewed black tea. Too thin coffee. Bad espresso from the wannabe-original-Italian-pizzeria around the corner. Vodka, spicy. Water? Doesn't belong here. Finish: Kirsch, Black Forest cherry, sage, thyme, nutmeg, doppelkorn, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and other dusty spices. Oh no, what happened to this drink? It tastes like a poorly matured 16 year old scotch made from thirdfill sherry butts. Where is the depth, where are the dates and dark fruits? Where is the everlasting finish? Style GD according to C. M.: rich, sweet creamy - only reminiscent. Does this have something to do with the lack of non-chill-filtered? Diplomatic answer: no idea. Maybe I'm not worthy of this GD anymore. However, I have tasted enough other very awesome GDs that this one breaks my heart.

I have spoken. - Kuiil, Ugnaught.

85 / 100

Ballechin 2004, WB: 229138

Ballechin 2004

Mood: Curious. Series: Jack Ryan, Colour: dark amber, Glasses: Luxbe, Blhas. The oldest ballechin I've ever had that even exists in 2023, who knows. Reason to break the fast early. Sometimes you have to break a few rules just to get the job done. Nose after 1-2h: Sweaty horses, being fed, malt and oats mixed with fruits and fermented apples, Chardonnay on top. Riots, blockades and unrest. Garbage not picked up. France? Hamburg? Middle East! Tyres and furniture on fire. Smoke bombs maybe fireworks. Street fights dirt, sweet fruit, rot. Between all the plastic, a sausage grills along. It's better to be on the inside, maybe be able to change something, than be on the outside and not be able to change anything. Mouth: Spiciness, black pepper. Oily. Must and calvados. Some Federweisser. With water the drink loses intensity and sharpness, but also depth and becomes watery. No gain. Finish: Acidic, rotten fruit, burning - like the barricades, they stay late into the night. On both sides injured, hospital, disinfectant, troughs, plasters and all sorts of medical smells. Somewhere a tyre is still burning. The country will not rest. We have to examine every angle, consider every possibility. Especially the one that's staring us right in our face. - Greer.

82 / 100