41 – Karuizawa Asama (bottled 2013 – 1999 & 2000 vintages)
Wood, maple syrup, brown sugar, butter and pancakes. Brown bread, creamy, woody, dried porcini, liquorice all sorts, hot cloves, all spice, lemon pith.
42 – Mars Komagatake Wine Cask Finish 10 Years
Boozy banana bread, yeasty dough, butter cream icing, plastic. Very light on the palate, maraschino cherries, cough medicine, rose cream, autumn leaves.
Opening of Bar White Oak at Whisky and Alement. Rare Japanese whisky incoming for the next couple of months probably until I go to Japan.
37 – Ichiro’s Malt Bartender’s Choice 2015
Yeast, banana bread, grainy, honeydew melon, stone fruit, chocolate mousse. Banana leaf, bitter leaves, salt, brown bread and cold salted butter, orange pith.
38 – Ocean (Karuizawa) Hanshin Tigers (early 2000s)
Cream, wood varnish, salt and white pepper, plump raisins. Figs, prunes, slight salty and bitter notes, very elegant (for a baseball team!), peanuts, ice coffee with whipped cream.
39 – Ichiro’s Malt and EPower Chichubu Casks #1490 and #1683
Honey, toasted grains, pollen, green bananas, pizza dough, toasted banana sandwich. Vanilla cream, cloves, grain bread, bananas.
40 – Mars Komagatake 1988 Cask 555 White American Oak
Wood glue, boot polish, maple syrup, vanilla bean, geranium. Slightly medicinal, maple, wood, Manuka honey, salty, herbaceous, butter, apricot brandy.
35 – Black Gate 007 cask #7
Almond paste, flap jacks, crumpets, honey, yeasty dough. Pretty weak on the palate – just nothing. Something has gone wrong here in bottling, surely?
36 – Overeem Port Cask #92
Cedar, sap, chicos, maple syrup, brown butter, banana muffins, brown sugar. Burnt wood, maple syrup, vanilla, rose petals, white pepper, clover, bitter salty herbs.
33 – Adelphi’s Liddesdale Islay 21 Years Batch 8 (Bunnahabhain)
Gassy, chocolate truffles, peaches, apricots, honey, cocoa. Really easy on the palate, intense stewed stone fruit, geranium, vanilla, milk chocolate.
34 – Ben Nevis Port Pipe 10 Years 2002
Glue, dust, honey, melted butter, apricots, intense passionfruit, creme caramel, pancakes and maple syrup, toasted marshmallow. Wood, musk, vanilla, raisiny, cocoa, honey.
28 – Mackey Distillery Cask 4 (Port Barrel 6 years)
Chocolate, turps, pine, maple, marshmallow, cucumber skin, apricots, white pepper, cloves, vanilla cream, cinnamon. Apricots, Christmas spices, barley, oily, raspberry, raisins, sarsaparilla.
29 – Signatory Clynelish 1996 18 Years
Charcoal, honey, leather, sulphury, dried apricots, maple syrup. Spices, orange zest, rubber, slightly creamy, dried fruit finish.
30 – Signatory Blair Athol 1989 23 Years
Hazelnuts, underripe white peaches, dark chocolate, marzipan, roses. Passionfruit, passionfruit vine, creamy, salted fudge, toasted hazelnuts, snickers bars.
31 – Wilson & Morgan Ben Nevis 1995 18 Year
Chicos, chocolate tart, vanilla essence, salty. Green herbs, garden thyme, stone fruit, lpg, lemon zest.
32 – La Maison du Whiskey Artist #4 – Batch 2 – Bunnahabhain 10
Cream, stone fruit, pavlova, dried pineapple, maple syrup, passionfruit, crushed ants. Honey, dried fruit, salt, pepper, dried pineapple, cloves, cream, milk chocolate.
25 – SMWS 82.20 Big bold and beautiful (Glencadam)
Aspirin, honey, rubber, sulphury, blackberries, salted butter, dusty. Mangoes, rubber, flinty, gunpowder, pink musk sticks, green leaves.
26 – SMWS 10.85 Live life on the edge (Bunnahabhain)
Honey, motor oil, chestnuts, huge nose that is difficult to define. Clear and luxurious honey, salt, the sweetness of raw scallops, salt, seaweed, floral, cocoa and dark chocolate truffles, blue cheese.
27 – Whisky Exchange Bunnahabhain 16 Years
Smoky raisin water, maraschino cherries, peaches and apricot log. Coconut, smoke, honey, dark chocolate. This is VERY good but I’m haviving difficulty describing it.
24 – Smith’s Angaston 15
Maple syrup, sultanas, wood polish, musk sticks, golden syrup, hot melting butter with cake spices. Roses, maple syrup, pain au raisin, sugar cane, spice cake.
Some cask strength Australian whisky here.
21 – Heartwood DREGS #1
Pine resin, retsina, Sherry soaked sultanas, buttery pastries, rose petals. Syrupy, amazing floaty caramel, whipped cream, dry cake spices, dried green herbs, marzipan, rose water.
22 – Heartwood Spiritual Journey
Wood polish, maple syrup, sultanas, ham, cola, cloves. Tobacco, cured meats, maple syrup, warm cola, loads of sultans.
23 – Black Gate 520s
Leather, wood, crushed ants, smells really like Australian bush kangaroo poo and eucalyptus (but in a good way). Bitter chocolate, cloves, loads of vanilla and a super creamy finish with a hint of red gum smoked ham.
They also had this bottle of Corio Whisky at Bad Frankie, but it wasn’t for sale! Out of the bottle it had a lovely Xmas pudding nose.
12 – BenRiach 10 Years
Rubber, honey, slight vanilla, warm cola, slight banana, Xmas fruit, red apple. Stewed Apple, vanilla, tobacco, green grass, firm green pear slices.
13 – BenRiach 16 Years
honey, slight floral note, almost rose petals, apricot jam. Vanilla, stewed pears, dry cake spices, apple tea cake.
14 – BenRiach 20 Years
Apricot jam, brandy snaps, slight cola, runny honey, hand cream, chocolate. Cream, passionfruit, pepper, something green and salty, butter, banana flavoring.
15 – BenRiach 12 Years Sherry Finish (50% Olorosso 50% PX)
Cream, brown sugar, cola, milk chocolate, cloves, egg whites, overripe apple, toffee apple. Quite dry, powdered apple, cream, slight toffee.
16 – BenRiach Curiositas 10 Years Peated
Herbaceous, cream, sight medicinal note, rosemary and thyme, proper bacon, fruit sweetness. Apple, campfire smoke, BBQ chicken, cream and toffee apple, slight molasses and liquorice, minerals.
17 – BenRiach Cask Strength Batch 1
Loads of apricot jam and cream on scones, dates, some dry white characteristics, dried pineapple, butter and maple syrup, floral. Dates, figs, cream, vanilla, dried apricots, butter, some salt and herbs.
18 – BenRiach 25 Years
Really deep apples, marzipan, light musty note, meringue, whipped cream, my Nan’s pavlova, stewed apricots. Cream, orange citrus cake, young mangos, passionfruit vine, juicy apricots.
19 – BenRiach PX Cask #5171 1998
Salted butter, brown sugar, vanilla essence, my mum’s stewed apricots. Cream, stone fruit, brown sugar and Greek yoghurt.
20 – BenRiach Oloroso Cask #8687 1999
Cola and honey, salted butter, chicos, apricot jam, egg whites. Apricots (again) in a pound cake with lashings of creams, some citrus zest, honey.
Hi all – been a bit sick and busy. Haven’t been able to do as many tastings as I would have liked, unfortunately. Anyway, back at it and I had a couple of Adelphi drams.
9 – Adelphi Longmorn 23 Years
Apricot jam, almond biscotti, chicos, marshmallows, nutri-grain, strawberry and cream. Aero bars, milk, nutty, jammy stone fruit, a big mouthful of melted butter.
10 – Adelphi The Glover 14
Herbal, red dates, clove, medicinal, tobacco. Focaccia with salt and thyme, some cream and butter, slight sulfur note. I expected a lot more, given the hype. The 22 year version is very expensive and I may just skip it based on this tasting.
11 – Adelphi Glen Garioch 22
Wood polish, egg white, cucumbers, sultanas, green bananas, maple syrup and butter on pancakes. Butters, rose petals, salt, green herbs, maple syrup.
grey whisky 