October 2015 – grey whisky

Whisky 2015 – 145-152 (Adelphi Tasting)

145 – Adelphi Glenborrodale 1
Textas, plums, strawberries, bacon, rubber balls. Crazy sweetness on the palate, plums, xmas fruit, nuttiness like macadamia, some peat in there.

146 – Adelphi Fascadale 9 (Ardmore 14)
Shoe leather, hand cream, white peaches, pepper, walnuts. Vanilla cream, pepper, stone fruit, ashy.

147 – Adelphi Liddesdale 9 (Bunnahabain 21)
Chocolate mousse, struck matches, salty, stone fruit. Cloves, caramlised fruit, stewed apricots.

148 – Adelphi Ben Nevis 1996 18 Years
Rope, honey, hay, plum cake, lemonade, botrytis, really floral. Crazily floral, like a botrytis, chocolate and cocoa. best dram of the tasting… I bought a bottle.

149 – Adelphi Longmorn 1992 23 Years
Maple sugar, salted butter, peanut butter, caramel pudding, dusty, mandarin and menthol. Loads of cream, pepper, golden syrup, coffee.

150 – Adelphi Ardnamurchan distillery new make
Barn yard (but not in a bad way), bog, salt, ethanol. Cucumber, chili, honey, salt.

151 – Adelphi Ardamurchan 11 Month
Banana and caramel, cloves and cola, honey. Spicy, bubble gum, cucumber, honey and salt.

152 – WhistlePig The Boss Hog Barrel:63 13 years (Not part of the tasting, obviously)
Star anise, dry ginger, bubblegum, vanilla pods, watermelon, cream, cloves, fly spray. Rubbery, hot an absolute destroyer, overwhelming crushed ants, loads of dry spice and vanilla cola.

Whisky 2015 – 142-144

142 – SMWS 29.161 (Laphroaig) A bodega is burning
Wow – chocolate, plasticine, peat, leather. Slight iodine, medicinal notes that mix up with cocoa, smoke and chalk, some passionfruit(?!?), wet autumn leaves.

143 – Whiskybase Ben Nevis
So much honey, aspirin, maple syrup, butter on crumpets. Melted salted butter, cloves and vanilla cream – it’s such a beautifully structured whisky nothing is offensive or is aggressive, pipe tobacco, tiny bit of pineapple and mango.

144 – Heartwood Any port in storm
Sarsaparilla, dark chocolate, musk, musty, dark leather, coffee liqueur. Perfume, gasoline, butter, maple syrup, wood, caramels, cloves, leather, salty, dried stone fruits. So good.

Whisky – 137-141 (Campbeltown)

137 – Springbank Cask Strength 12
Rubber, fake Parmesan cheese, oil paint, glue, toasted nuts, toffee, sea salt. Charcoals, soot, bracken, toffee and coffee.

138 – Hazelburn 12 Sherry Cask
Toasted peanuts, oil paints, raisins, dates, honey, chestnuts. Cream, herbs, bone, bracken, peppercorns, salt

139 – SMWS 93.56 (Glen Scotia) Moby Dick meets Alan Titchmarsh
Rubber, glue, paint, vegetable stew, salted eggplant, tobacco, honey and turps. Seaweed, iodine, pepper, tobacco and honey.

140 – Springbank 18
Honey, leather, salt, pepper, clove, dry ginger. Green sticks, pepper, glacé ginger, slight salty butter, Xmas cake.

141 – Longrow 10 100% Proof
Glue, heather, clove, shortbread, flowers, lemon zest. Coffee, bracken, dry wood, flowers with rubber, rice flower, brown butter.

Whisky (Whiskey) 2015 – 134-136

134 – Tullamore Dew Whiskey 12 Sherry Cask
Banana, caramel, marshmallows, slight citrus, yeast. Spice biscuits, gooseberry, stone fruits, passion fruit, dried tea leaves.

135 – Teeling 23 Years Vintage Reserve Cask 6836
Grilled peaches with maple syrup cream, dried peach, apricot square, musk, wood. Peaches+++, slight rubber, maple sugar, blossoms, pollen, coffee trifle, iced tea. One of the best for this year.

136 – Teeling Single Cask 1159 White Burgundy
Yeasty bread dough, brown bread, white peaches, underripe apricots, lemon drizzle cake. Stewed peaches, blue vein cheese, passion fruit (& vine), brown bread.

Planning for Scotland

I’ve decided on an October 2016 trip to Scotland. In my normal way, I am already planning. If you have any suggestions, please send them through. I’ll probably have between 10-16 days.

At this stage I am thinking; Edinburgh to Aberdeen, hit Glenfarclas, Glendronach, and quite a few other distilleries (let me know which ones you like) on the way to Scrabster, before jumping on a ferry to Orkney and visiting Highland Park.

Whisky 2015 – 132-133

Big thank you to Kevin for pulling out these older bottles to share. The 1960s JW was very interesting.

132 – Glenfarclas 25 (late 90s bottling)
Marshmallow, pepper, salt, maple syrup, clove, sarsaparilla and musk. Pink musk sticks, gentler spiced than most Glenfarclas, some rubber and sulfur (odd for Glenfarclas) and pipe tobacco.

133 – Johnnie Walker Black 1960s bottling “Extra special old scotch whisky”
Honey, slight brown sugar, pepper, herbaceous, slight cream, tobacco. Smoke gives way quickly to honey and sugar, then some great tobacco which keeps kicking on.