Off-topic Single Malt Scotch Notes
Bill Spohn
Notes from a tasting of single malts recently.
All (my) samples were nosed and sampled straight and with the addition of a
small aliquot of water. In general, the whiskies that are matured in sherry
cask need little addition of water, and indeed may suffer from too much, while
the ones matured in Bourbon cask are far more tolerant and in fact normally
benefit, particularly in terms of bringing out the finer grace notes in the
nose.
Arran - I was attending an horticultural meeting recently, and by coincidence
they had pictures of Arran - one of the islands that has trees! It also has a
fairly new distillery, that has recently made its first release of whisky. It
has a lemony nose, a touch raw and hot, but is a decent dram in the mouth, with
light fruity elements. Less grassy than Auchentoshan, and a promising look at
the future for this producer.
Jura - a distillery that closed in the 1920s and was reopened in 1968. It uses
both sherry and Bourbon casks. A lightly peaty sweet nose, much smoother than
the Arran, with flavours that develop in the mouth. Pleasant.
Scapa - like Highland Park, an Orkney malt. A rather nice sweet nose. A hot
front end, which then smooths out, to a nice long finish. I prefer the Jura,
but this was nice as well.
Bunnahabhain - an Islay malt that left everyone a bit cool toward it. It had a
very unusual nose that conjured up nothing much but wet rubber (for some, I
suppose that alone might be a virtue!). It was an interesting whisky, better
without water, but not my style.
Bowmore 12 year Old - a comparison of a couple of malts from this producer -
they have been perhaps the most successful in producing the 'yuppie' malts with
any number of different labels and treatments, and I attribute their success to
a basic quality of product that runs through all their releases. This one had a
nice smoky peaty nose with an intriguing floral (one taster said 'lilac')
element. Good dram.
Bowmore 'Mariner' - a 15 year old malt, this had a bigger, peatier, more
band-aid sort of nose (I think I preferred the 12 year old in nose at least).
More medicinal, with a good shot of vanilla, smooth and complex in the mouth,
this was a very enjoyable whisky.
Laphroiag 10 Year Old - the quintessential Islay malt, finished in Bourbon
cask. Very peaty smoky nose. Sweet and not too hot in the mouth, the addition
of water smooths it out further and also improves the nose. One of my favourite
tipples.
Talisker - another interesting comparison with these next two. This was the 10
year old, and it showed a pure hot nose, tasty, hot and sweet in the mouth, and
quite peppery, with a long finish.
Talisker Double Matured 14 Year Old - More vanilla here, and lemon, hotter in
the mouth with a definite sherry character coming through. Long and smooth, but
perhaps with a bit less character than the previous whisky.
Lagavulin 16 year Old - Smoke, peat, seaweed in the nose were as expected, a
mouth filling powerful whisky that (being sherry matured) didn't require much
water. We mused afterwards, though, that we remembered it as being even bigger
and peatier in the 'good old days'.
Next time, Speyside malts.
Bill S.
a...@stratsplace.com
Darn, I see we have another thing in common !
Have you tried the Glenmorangie 12 year "Port Wood Finished" ??
A friend gave me some to add to my collection here .... although I'm
afraid this one will last a long long time. I just don't like it.
The port wood finishing adds a sweet backing that, to me at least, is
really objectionable. I wonder if they will continue to do this or if
it was simply a marketing ploy
Art & Betsy Stratemeyer
=============================
http://www.stratsplace.com
A Community Celebration the Joy of Wine,Gardening and the Arts
john taverner
"Bill Spohn" <wsp...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010421212526...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
>
>
> Notes from a tasting of single malts recently.
>
> Lagavulin 16 year Old - Smoke, peat, seaweed in the nose were as expected,
a
> mouth filling powerful whisky that (being sherry matured) didn't require
much
> water. We mused afterwards, though, that we remembered it as being even
bigger
> and peatier in the 'good old days'.
>
Bill
I found our tasting of malts hard work, I preferred the sherry casked
samples.
I detest Isaly malts, you either love or hate. They smell of Listerine or
disinfectant.
John
cwd...@webtv.net
malt as Chateau Chalon is to wine. Both are bold, extreme drinks that
most people either hate or love. There seem to be few neutral reactions
to them.