Saturday, 24 May 2025

Bladnoch 35 yrs 1990 2025 54,2% DeDr, WB270987

Chameleonic, a word I came across while googling strange animals with strange behaviours. It has interesting meanings, according to Collins: as in fickle, changeable in purpose, affections, faithless, temperamental; as in mercurial, lively and unpredictable, volatile, even erratic, unstable. An adjective I would very much like to use as a prescription for Bladnoch.

Bladnoch is hard to describe, as production-wise its style is varied. This bottling is perhaps from a light and floral period. At the beginning of the Bell's era it was light and floral, but towards the end of their ownership the Blenders template of nutty and spicy became the norm. There have also been peated versions, rumour has it, but in the Armstrong era. Now, under Australian owner David Prior, the style is very different, light, grassy and malty. Chamalonesque indeed. Is it the same on the palate?

On the nose, after quite a long time: You are right to recognise the repetition of descriptions when you say "candyshop", but of course there are many candyshops and this one is different from the previous ones. It is as if this shop is struggling a little because the sweets have been sitting there for a long time. It's a kind of sweetness you get when the jar of sweets gets a bit wet and dusty. Change of shops, not before buying a few caramels, toffee and skipping the bakery and the gelateria (not original Italian though). Restaurant, this one is Italian, dessert is due, of course tiramisu, rice pudding, a little cinnamon, lots of vanilla sauce, still warm, topped with white chocolate mousse. But there is more, if you are in the right mood, it is as if you are flying towards the sky, floating between the clouds, somehow getting high. Different glasses reveal more subtle aromas, such as the grassy ones I mentioned earlier. But wait, shouldn't they appear later?

Palate, much later: A mixture of Mediterranean fruits such as overripe melon, ananas, peach, apricot. Lots of sharbat, but also white pepper. Interesting matching to Italian dishes: I get espresso and all kinds of coffee, mainly Arabica beans are used.

Finish: In the mouth you get an oily texture, almost a chewy experience, a mouthfeel that I would describe as very elegant. But then the elegance is severely disrupted, the chameleon-like whisky kicks in hard with chilli flavours, more black pepper, angry tannins, she doesn't like the way I talk about her. I am sorry. I offer her a few drops of water. Her mood changes a lot, on the palate it becomes more grapefruit, like biting into lemon, orange or apple seeds. I don't know, water doesn't seem to suit her. I rather skip the water and stay high. As a great man once said: I looked through a lens and ended up abandoning everything else. Sebastiao Salgado (RIP)

92/92/90

Friday, 16 May 2025

Kilchoman Feis Ile 2025 Founder's cask research

1) Kilchoman 2011 2025 14 yrs 55.3% vol. 145/2011, WB274176

2) Kilchoman 2010 2025 14 yrs 50.0% vol. 497/2010, WB274180

3) Kilchoman 2011 2025 14 yrs 53.4 % vol. 258/2010, WB274177

4) Kilchoman 2006 2025 18 yrs 50.3% vol. 163/2006, WB274175

1: Nose: metallic, mineral, chalk dust, mild smoked tofu, now salmon, marine.

Mouth: Grappa, eau de vie, cinnamon, dates, Christmas bread, leavened bread, gingerbread with chilli.

Finish: Ginger, white pepper, numbingly alcoholic. Burnt sugar. Espresso.

88/85/84

2: Nose: Old leather sofa, cellar mustiness, wet coal, wet animals, cats, dogs, hamsters. Smoked bacon. Some honey, cream candy and heather, perhaps pine and cedar. Toffee.

Mouth: Salted caramel candy, peat forward, sweet overripe red apples. Apple scramble.

Finish: Oily, mouth coating, ocean surf, seaweed, bacon and wild mushrooms.

88/87/87

3: Nose: Solvent, glue, varnish, hospital, burnt tyres, paraffin after an accident. Oil can, garage.

Mouth: Ashtray, bread dropped into campfire, taken out and licked. Charcoal, coked and extinguished, of course. Burnt sausage, more like sucuk or chorizo, but very coked. Umami. BBQ.

Finish: Cigarette butts, if you leave them smoldering over the filter. Long, brandy, coffee, dark chocolate.

88/87/84

4: Nose: Smoked eel, but very subtle. Strawberry jam, cheese bread with honey and jam, a thin slice of smuggled Black Forest ham. Slate, wet asphalt.

Mouth: Chewy, grainy, salt grains, tannins. Red wine, Shiraz, Australia. Chocolate, latte macchiato.

Finish: Espresso, black pepper, sticky, burnt sugar, sea vegetables, mussels.

89/87/85

Glen Garioch 1988 2025 36 yrs. Finn Thomson (FnTs) 45.2 %, WB272267

Prosaicness, I came across this word in a fantasy book. It means as much as mundane, unexciting, dull, average. When I drink whisky, I accept neither ordinariness nor dullness. This drink is highly poisonous, even lethal in certain quantities. Why should I drink ordinary whisky? For me, drinking whisky is always a special occasion and a mindful act, never ordinary or boring. This one here is far from being prosaic. Glen Garioch 1988, almost a relic of a bygone age.

Nose: Imagine the ancient library in Alexandria, here and there mould from the leaking roof, some books completely dusty and decaying, others fresh from the printing press. Wood and pencil shavings everywhere. Leather covers and worn furniture. Dunnage warehouse, with cognac and armagnac. These impressions are joined by light hints of lime and limoncello, lemon sorbet ice cream, vanilla pudding and crème brullee, rice pudding with a hint of cinnamon. Preserved

gooseberries.

Mouth: Wow, a very noble aged cognac, not sharp but oaky, very elegant and wise, deep and meaningful. The texture is unfortunately a bit thin, not viscous, watery, not sticky, not palatable. Charcoal in the mouth, smoked tofu.

Finish: The finish is long enough, but inappropriate for the age. A somewhat shy contemporary. Do not expect too much. Fragile! Subtle earthy aromas, forest floor and brown mushrooms linger in the mouth. A wonderful journey through time, far away from everyday life.

95/92/90

Ballindalloch 2016 2024 08 60.6 % #225, WB257280

Time and patience are the magic words when it comes to whisky. Both in maturation and in enjoyment, time and patience conjure up this amazing drink in the cask, and on the palate it is this very drink that enchants the senses and the mind. This one is only 8 years old, is that enough magic?
Nose: after a long wait, the first aromas are of sugar water with rose petals and vanilla, followed by alpine herbs and alpine flowers - cyclamen? In any case, the freshness of the mountains, a melting glacier, snow in the air, cheerful hikers resting in mountain inns, do I smell Kaiserschmarrn? There are also fresh waffles and vanilla ice cream.
The palate: Wonderful sweetness with lots of herbs and spices spread around the mouth. The sweetness is the sugar sweetness, but also some melon, honeydew melon, herbal tea served ice cold.
Finish: Oily consistency in the mouth, density, chewy, viscous, long finish, not very alcoholic, surprisingly. Some wheat beer on the finish to match the mountains, slightly yeasty and even hoppy. Banana and melon make a wonderful summer mix. Take your time and enjoy your time on earth.

89/89/88

Friday, 9 May 2025

Mortlach 21 2003 2025 58,3 % SV TWE, WB275255

One of the few worm tub distilleries. Apparently Diageo likes worm tubs. According to the Edinburgh Whisky Academy, the other worm-tub distilleries are Ardnahoe, Ballindaloch, Balmenach, Benrinnes, Brora, Cragganmore, Craigellachie, Dalwhinnie, Edradour, Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Knockdhu, Oban, Pulteney, Royal Lochnagar, Speyburn, Springbank, Talisker, Rosebank.

After 2 hours: Nose: Lemon peel, fresh herbs, lemon balm. Different glasses reveal different flavours. Chalk cliffs, freshly laid screed. Wet, freshly cleaned board, solvent. Dust, especially chalk dust. Sorrel. Pasture in the Allgäu, greasy sweet pastries, perhaps fried sweets? That's right, churros. A gym with freshly used equipment, magnesia in the air and on sweaty bodies. First impressions can be deceiving, it takes time.

The palate: Wow, nutmeg, cinnamon, minerals, herbs garden and soup. A few drops of water would make this even sweeter.

Finish: Sweetened green tea, Riesling Steillage Schiefer, a bite of chalky rock, some lemon zest, green apples, mildly spicy paprika.

91/91/92

Glenlivet 28 2024 50.1% The Fine Art of Whisky, WB270207

Another old school whisky. What can we expect? Pure inspiration. We live in a different time with different bottlings. So-called modern whiskies, spirits are distilled too quickly because time is money, filling strength is higher now than it used to be because interaction with the wood is quicker then, casks are artificially heated because maturation is accelerated then, first-fill casks are very wet, etc. And this one? Slow and long maturing, the complete opposite, ok, it's Glenlivet, but a different one.

Nose: Very elegant, herbs, powdered sugar, toffee, white chocolate, some Earl Grey, floral like white tea. Now sweet, creamy East Frisian tea with lots of cream and rock candy. Oregano, basil and a B minor aria in the background. The longer the infusion is left, the sweeter it becomes, but the character varies. Sometimes nougat, sometimes Raffaello, cream sweets or halva, ahoibrause or Haribo Tutti Frutti, paradise apples or toasted almonds.

Taste: Herbs, nutmeg, cinnamon. The sweetness is shy and still hiding, but wants to be poetically lured out. Don't be afraid, everything will be fine, come out and be brave. Be proud, you deserve it, a little chilli and a flood of flavours. A little bitter almond, grapefruit seeds, a few drops of water, a slight change. Nuts but not sweet kisses, depth and mature nobility.

Finish: Long and persistent, slightly oily, alcoholic, black tea and sesame, tahini, slightly toasted. Pure poetry, almost haikuish.

92/91/90

Friday, 2 May 2025

Glenburgie 28 1996 2024 54,8% GM, WB268134

It is incredible how many bottles are released every day these days. So how can an enthusiast like me try to taste them all? It is simply impossible, unhealthy or even deadly. What I do is hunt for worthy bottles, for gold and silver treasures, for precious stones, diamonds and smaragds. Every now and then I find a gem like this. Glenburgie, like Miltonduff, was home to a pair of 'Lomond' stills from 1958 to 1981, producing a malt known as Glencraig. In 2004 the old distillery was demolished and a new, larger, open plan distillery was built. A third pair of stills was added at this time. The distillery has been owned by Chivas Brothers since 2005.  

Nose: A warm summer fragrance with vanilla sauce, Werthers Echte and  other cream sweets, caressing, feels like home. I am embraced by coconut and white chocolate. Lots of nougat and a very flowery white tea. This nose can only be described as a feeling of having arrived.

Palate: A slight spiciness tingles on the tongue and wakes you up on the endless white beach. A few herbs emphasise the almost sugary sweetness of the drink. Balsen butter biscuits, but also Neapolitans and shortbread. Now toffee is also making its presence felt, oiling the mouth a little and numbing the lips like a spider woman's kiss.

Finish: Every beautiful journey ends, as does this one. The end is a long time coming, slightly warming, very melancholy like a sunset under palm trees, a reminiscence of the first great love, long gone. The longing grows to set off in search of new treasures, a really true gem, thanks to whomsoever.

93/93/94

Wednesday, 30 April 2025

Imperial 27 50,2 % 1998 2025 A Dream of Scotland BW, WB274788, straw-coloured

Wow Imperial in Carron, a back and forth of openings, closures and reopenings. Now closed and has made way for Dalmunach.

Nose: Candy shop, fruit sweets of all kinds, candy floss, lightly burnt caramel, banana, banana bread, fresh coconut pralines as if from the oven, other baked goods, light-coloured pastries, apple strudel, but also cinnamon pastries such as Franzbrötchen (cinnamon rolls), yeast dough, ginger sweets, forest floor, moss, coconut pralines such as Raffaello, other light-coloured fruits, apricot peach notes.
 

Palate: White pepper, cinnamon spiciness, rancid nuts, walnut, Brazil nut,

more pepper, black. Interesting, two three drops of water killed the whisky, no water, otherwise it becomes very flat and only tastes like a woody drink, badly matured white wine from the supermarket for 1.99 Silvaner. So without water, spiciness: almost like chilli.

Finish: tannins, oak, warming, but also bitter.
Somewhat disappointed.
 

88/100

Friday, 25 April 2025

Hunting Distilleries in Scotland, Aberdeen - Speyside 13.04.-18.04.2025

More pictures klick here
Day one: Starting in a hell of a night. Leaving with my Maltmate first by car at 2.30am!!! Flight from Amsterdam, big adventure starts in Aberdeen. First stop for hunting distilleries shortly after landing: Glen Garioch Warehouse No 4 tour. A lovely tour, very interesting, lovely drams, lots of background
information. Our guide is a real enthusiast. He is able to answer all my technical questions. Did you know that Glen Garioch has reinstalled malt floors and is now one of nine distilleries using malt floors? The others are: Balvenie, Benriach, Bowmore, Dunphail, Highland Park, Laphroaig, Springbank, Kilchoman.

No time to lose, our next stop is Speyside. I've been here before, twice. But back then I was a seeker and then a believer. Now I come back as a priest. Strathisla Distillery, a standard tour, but let me tell you, all our tours have been anything but standard. Strathisla is all about Chivas, Chivas here, Chivas there, the distillery and the location is great. At the bar you can try lots of drams (for free!).

Inspired, want more, any dates left? Yes, the great Macallan. No tour though, just the shop and the chance to have a quick look at the cathedral.

What a luxury, what a waste, wtf... What am I doing here?

Day two: In a hurry, first to the cooperage in Craigellachie, yes, where the famous Craigellachie distillery is located. I've already seen a cooperage in Balvenie. It is a very important and skilled craft. Without casks there is no whisky. The quality and nature of the cask determines the result of the maturation. It's really alchemy and sometimes a miracle.

So is my next tour at Glenallachie. The tour is great, the drams are terrible, because all these experiments with wood finishing and refilling unnecessarily disturb the drink and in a way kill the mighty spirit, imo. Slow, quiet maturation is not possible. But, hey, some folks love this style. Whisky is a broad church. So why is the tour for me still a miracle? Because of our guide. He is honest and an artist and not the sort you would expect to find in a distillery. All our guides have been very special people.

The more time you spend on this sacred ground of Speyside (for Scotch drinkers), the more you are influenced and captivated by the magic that has been manifested here over the years through the art of distilling. There are other sacred places I have visited, such as the Highlands (north, central, east and west), Orkney, Arran, Islay, Isle of Skye, Campbelltown. But the Lowlands are still waiting.

Back to day two, not finished yet. The Aberlour distillery is currently (2025) undergoing a major renovation and refurbishment, as is Glendronach. The production process could not be shown. But we do the deconstructed tasting, great drams alongside. The order of the drams is debatable 1) 48%, 2) 60.8%, 3) 40%!, 4) 43%!, 5) 62% ABV.

Lorries thunder along the newly tilled barley fields from A to B, then back to C. Some distilleries don't bottle on site, they don't even store their barrels here in Speyside but in the Glasgow - Edinburgh belt. Other distilleries store their casks in different places, in warehouses belonging to other distilleries, as precaution, as we were assured, in case something happens. So there's a lot of traffic here and tourists too, although very few of them are here for the scenery. If you live along the road, you can't sleep at night.

Day 3: Cragganmore is unfortunately a little-noticed but very interesting distillery. It is one of the distilleries with wormtubs and has an unusual still, which has simply been cut off at the top, i.e. the typical lynarms are... they are different. The Pinnacle tour is very exciting, also because of our guide, who comes from South Africa and has exciting stories to tell and knows a lot of languages.

The next distillery that awaits us is Glenfarclas. On my last visit, our female guide shocked me when she mentioned casually changing the yeast cultures. Wouldn't that change the basic character? It's like two different types of milk from different supermarkets, she said, you couldn't taste it, I was put down. And this time? Our guide is very young, but has learnt her lines well. I don't ask any technical questions this time, but I do ask about Paxarett later, because of the exciting Dacade tasting. She's never heard of it. She casually mentions that GF has changed the filling strength of the casks, as have Glendronach (we find out later that this is also the case with other distilleries). The ABV filling streghth is the subject of scientific papers, as can be read on the daily.sevenfifty.com site, 'understanding the science of barrel entry proof in whiskey', or there are several other articles, for example on whiskymag.com.

The traditional methods no longer seem relevant, traditional processes redundant. Old school? It used to be. Sustainability is the keyword you hear very often. A lot of changes are justified by sustainability. Increased production, greater yield? Not a word. Greed for money? Of course not! Shame upon him who thinks evil upon it. Glendronach argues the bottling strength with space problems, GF says nothing about it. Who am I to judge. I'll keep my thoughts on this to myself. Why do they want to kill GF so badly?

The tasting is an enlightening event, a lot of Family Casks, you get to try a very exciting 4th fill bottling, with the associated background knowledge, later whisky from the 60s with lots of sulphur. The historical facts about the whiskies are an excellent accompaniment to the event. Still reveling in the history of GF, I take a taxi back to my accommodation.

I spend the evenings at the Mash Tun. The restaurant with a very large selection of whiskies has nice staff who unfortunately have absolutely no idea about whisky. Orders from a completely outdated list cannot be served, prices for selected whiskies (point your finger and ask for a dram) cannot be found or are guessed at. Less suitable for vegetarians, the few vegetarian dishes don't taste good. Never miiiind. French fries with ketchup are delicious!

Day 4: A short journey of about an hour to the south to the Cairn distillery. Before that, I visit a Wool Mill, a museum that unfortunately didn't really get back on its feet after Corona. Their only weaver has given up her job and they now have fewer products than when I was there a few years ago. Cardhu is just round the corner, but we get so engrossed in the conversation that we soon have to leave in a hurry. Cairn is obviously built in a nature reserve with enormous restrictions. One wonders why build here. A very modern, architecturally outstanding distillery, without (!!!) warehouses. The warehouses were not allowed to be built here, instead the spirit has to go to the Benromach distillery to be filled into barrels and stored there. Crazy. Gordon MacPhail's, the owner, has apparently given up the business as an independent bottler, selling only the remaining stock and focussing on Benromach and this new baby. The tour is like a cinema show, first the past, then the future. Malt blends are currently on display to give an idea of what the whisky will be like. Everything is very clean and sterile, the process is highly optimised, both digitally and analogue. However, the food in the restaurant is delicious! Somehow everything here reminds me of Macallan, hmmm.

Then comes the stark contrast, an old farm. The old building is a listed building, so the new distillery had to be squeezed into the old walls somehow. The result is Ballindaloch, with an output of 100,000 litres per year, no better than Edradour. The distillery has the balls to use Wormtubs, respect. However, the current bottlings are still a little too harsh and young. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

Another evening at the Mash Tun, French Fries and Ardnamurchan, good job.

Day 5: Unfortunately, my journey has already come to an end, after very intense days another giant awaits me on the road: Glendronach. The first impression is: what a dump, everything has been left to decay. Supposedly, however, a lot is now being invested and everything is being modernised. The place really is a huge construction site. What has been already renovated, however, are the car parks, a strange priority. It's about the masterclass tour, I didn't want to do it under that. Our female guide turns out to be a walking whisky encyclopaedia, all my questions from fermentation time, mash tun brand, mill to type of wood, paxarette, everything was answered. Speaking of mash tun, it is not Lauter yet, produces a cloudy wort, but will be replaced by a Lauter, which unfortunately creates a clear wort, but they want to save the cloudyness somehow. Just amazing what's going on. The tour is meticulously planned, everything runs according to a script, you actually feel like you're in a film again. The final tasting is all the more disappointing, we are unfortunately rushed through the drams, she throws flavour notes at us without waiting for our impressions or making any reference to them. I didn't say another word. Very overpowering. What a pity.

I say goodbye with mixed feelings and again doing the mental note not to buy Glendronach again for the time being.

Day 5/6: Aberdeen, the city everyone warned me about. In fact, the first impression of the city is not very overwhelming. At second glance however, the city proves to be very ambivalent. There is the old town and even a very long, very beautiful coastal strip that starts just behind the legendary AFC stadium. In the city centre is the Aberdeen Whiskyshop, which very generously let me sample some interesting whiskies. After a short search, we find the Grill, an excellent whisky bar where the time passes very quickly. Back to Amsterdam the next day. I'm already longing for the next trip, back to Scotland, again worshipping spiritual holy grounds and hunting distilleries.