May 2011 Tasting

Again with the delayed postings; this time because the May notes were lost (again), I knew they were in my apartment somewhere but apparently had more important things to do than look under the bed and come up with them. A record two months late, but better than never I suppose.

Our May tasting took place chez Dara, on the 20th (I think), and he is thanked for hosting a great club. It was great to finally have Claude down for a tasting, and were pretty pleased to help him get a bottle of Springbank off his hands we'd enjoyed tremendously at one of his charity tastings a couple months before. Big cheers to Max for procuring the other 2 bottles; to Jesse and Stevens on tasting #10; and a wee one for Rich on #5.

Attending: Me, Max, Derek, Mark, Dara, Ian M, Kevin, Jesse, Stevens, Rich, Kamran, Ian B, Kamran, Nicolas.

Springbank 12 Claret Finish (Highland - Campbelltown)
Many of us had sampled this a couple months before, and found it to be a great offering from the last of the Campbelltown distillers. We'd done a 16-year-old Oloroso finish back in October and quite enjoyed it. This expression spends 7 years in refill bourbon, 3 years in fresh-fill Claret, and finally 2 years in re-charred casks. I was pretty happy to give the guys a taste of what was probably the best of Claude's 10-whisky charity extravaganza.

Nose: Serious wine & vanilla. Sure smells like a cask strength - lots of sweet alcohol notes.
Palate: Grapey and sweet up-front over big vanilla and malt. Sweet, beautiful, complex and balanced.
Finish: Very dry, with a touch of smoke. Incredible balance with the wood. Great whisky.
Overall: Some of the best wood I've encountered in whisky. A whole pile of exciting flavours having a bloody great party where everyone gets along and there's no belligerent drunk causing everyone else problems. A solid 9/10, maybe a bit better.

Arran Malt Machrie Moor (Highland - Island)
One of Scotland’s younger distilleries, Isle of Arran is recently established and prides itself on an uncompromising “no peat, no caramel, no chill-filtering” operation. This is their first bottling of a lightly (14 ppm) peated malt they’ve been producing since 2004, and is also limited to a 9000-bottle release.

Nose: Peaty with a touch of malt. Really smooth.
Palate: Smooth arrival but a little watery up front. Lacks body. Strange little ketone peak just before the finish.
Finish: Woody and a little sharp. Decent peat, but nothing too overwhelming.
Overall: A pretty underwhelming scotch, altogther. I've had their 10-year-old on a number of occasions, and quite enjoyed it. This is nothing like it; and Arran should probably leave the peat alone for now. Barely rates 8/10.


Caol Ila 25 (Islay)
One of the club's perennial favourites, we've done 3 expressions of this already: the 12-year-old, the Distiller's Edition, and a 14-year-old cognac finish. All have been rated very highly by club members, and at least two of those are on my top-10 of all-time. Fair to say there was a good amount of anticipation for this bottle.

Nose: Rich, dark fruit, some peat and earth as well. Some sharp alcohol notes as well.
Palate: Heavy arrival is beautiful. Slick and oily, loads of big wood flavour, less of the signature oily, tarry peat flavours than I expected (and look forward to).
Finish: Very woody, a little bit of peat rising and trying to make itself heard. Cask strength alcohol content intrudes here, but water kills a lot of that beautiful oily arrival.
Overall: A good whisky, but a disappointment nonetheless. As so often happens with some of our older and more expensive whiskies, I feel the wood has overwhelmed the spirit a little and younger expressions deliver better balance of wood with the whisky itslef. Maybe I wanted too much... 8.5/10.

October 2010 Tasting

Our October meeting was held on the 22nd, once again hosted by stalwarts Max and Pat, whose apartment is rapidly becoming more or less our home. Thanks so much for the hospitality, guys. A big cheers to Mark, who enjoyed his tenth tasting tonight and his 32nd whisky with the club.

Max also distinguished himself once again in procurement, picking up three whiskies in Calgary that all looked pretty fantastic. Some big Highlands and Islays, all bottled at cask strength around 55%. Without a full roster of guys, some ended the evening somewhat worse for the wear. Bad enough that the tasting notes got a bit lost for about a month... Still, a great tasting overall with big, ballsy whiskies. And some experimental habanero cheese that burned the crap out of all of our tongues as well...

Attending: Me, Max, Mark, Laurent, Derek, Allard, Norm, IanM, Pat, Dave C

Edradour 16 (Highland)
Probably Scotland's smallest distillery, Edradour has only 2 employees and distills about 90 000 litres per year. I'd never tried anything from this distillery before, something that happens to me less and less these days. I wasn't sure what to expect, but had been recommended this distillery by a cute waitress once, and so had high hopes.

Nose: A bit spicy. Some wood, great berry and cherry-type flavours.
Palate: First sip is lovely, but it starts to get rough - some good toffee and subtle wine notes are washed out by a big mess of alcohol, ester, and ketone.
Finish: Woody, a bit of acetone. Some nice flavours, but big alcohol feel doesn't make it flow too smoothly.
Overall: Mediocre at best. The worst part is that the first sip or two actually taste fantastic, and things quickly go awry. Probably would have been a similar story with the waitress. 8/10

Springbank 16 Oloroso Finish (Highland)
Another distillery I hadn't encountered, Springbank is a family-run establishment and the last surviving still of Campbeltown. This bottling was exclusive to Kensington Wine Market, they bought the contents of an Oloroso cask and had it bottled and shipped over. Another cask strength with no chill filtering.

Nose: A little Bowmore character over some big wine notes. Huge sherry, maybe some spice in the back?
Palate: Great wine and and malt flavours: fat and rich. Touch of smoke and phenol towards end. Just fantastic.
Finish: Some Bowmore phenol here, too. Big and juicy.
Overall: What a great sherry-finished whisky should be - almost succulent. Great complexity and balance with some peat bubbling through all those great sherry flavours. 9/10

Bowmore Tempest (10-year-old, Islay)
An Islay that has escaped the tastings so far, Max and I were looking forward to this as we're big fans of the 12-year-old. This is also a rare bottle, with only one shop in Canada selling it. We're not likely to tire very soon of Max's Calgary visits.

Nose: Big toffee and a little citrus over Bowmore's signature (Murray calls it "Fisherman's Friend") aroma.
Palate: Amazing mouthfeel. Thick, rich and oily. Big toffee before the signature distillery flavours take over. Near-perfection marred by a touch of acetone towards the end.
Finish: A little raw, but complex and satisfying. Lingering toffee, iodine and phenol laid over subtle oakiness.
Overall: A great expression from one of my favourite distilleries. Huge character, incredible arrival, really just a fantastic whisky altogether. Between 9 and 9.5/10