Category: Uncategorized
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Decadent Drinks: Island Hopping
Bunnahabhain 21 year Old Islay/Decadent Drams (55%) N: dried, dirty leather, some fruit leather too and browned pear skins, dead leaves, oily fried scallops, black walnuts. With water: a little sweeter, cleaner, is there some cream cheese frosting in there? P: smoked black peppercorn, burned walnut, dirty leather, and breaded deep fried shellfish. With water:…
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Master of Malt Spring 2026 Exclusives
Five of the eleven, anyway, as I’m saving the others for different lineups. Invergordon 16 year Master of Malt exclusive (52.2%) N: very pale, butter melting into syrup on pancakes, a bit of pepper and leafy vines, ivy or what have you, but above all a breakfast joint (am I imagining some egginess now? French…
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That Boutique-y Whisky Company Series 13 – Episode 02
The one with James on, it seems Girvan 35 year old That Boutique-y Whisky Company (45.8%) N: sweet porridge, like honey almond oatmeal maybe, with butter and a hint of maple. Just slightly peppery P: butter in grits or on unsweetend pancakes, some pepper, chrysanthemum tea. A little harsh actually, especially on the finish 81…
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Nannoni Grappa di Brunello Riserva (3 year) and Il Poggione Grappa di Brunello Riserva Vigna Paganello (5 year)
Nannoni Grappa di Brunello Riserva (40%) N: whole grains, raw oats and rye berries, a workshop with old wood tools covered in sawdust. Fainter notes of banana and maple, as well as caraway P: Honey-sweetened puffed wheat cereal, with some fruity-spicy rye too. Fuller bodied than the Poggione despite lower proof, and the wood tastes…
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TDL 22 year 2003 Planteray
TDL 22 year 2003 Planteray (47.8%) N: grassy, minty caramel, rosemary salt, banana and citrus P: soft butter and caramel leads, then makes way for a fresh blast of mint and lemon zest and newly cut grass. Love all the freshness, that’s what I want from TDL above all, but I do wish it had…
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Caol Ila 18 year 2007 Signatory Vintage Cask Strength
One more modern, first fill Oloroso malt as a nightcap… Caol Ila 18 year 2007 Signatory Vintage Cask Strength (58.1%, first fill Oloroso cask 1) N: honeyed ham, South Carolina bbq, candy-crusted almond P: pretty much the same, though it’s a little too hot for clarity. With a few drops of water: more vegetal peat…
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Three sherried Speysides: a 15 year Linkwood, a 17 year Dailuaine, and an 18 year Craigellachie
Three IB Speysides of similar vintage and age, all in rather modern first fill Oloroso casks. Let’s see if distillate character comes through, or if the casks dominate. Linkwood 15 year 2009 Gordon & Macphail Connoisseur’s Choice (53.8%, first fill Sherry, cask 22605907) N: dark, sweet, spiced nuts, no mistaking which century or cask type produced…
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Coquerel Calvados 35 year single cask
Coquerel Calvados 35 year single cask (42.8%) N: a liqueurish intensity, almost Amaro Montenegro levels of sappy, floral, and mildly bitter citrus, but dense apple too, in that irresistibly rustic wild cider-Calvados way P: not quite so syrupy here, pretty dry and moderately tannic, but again loads of apple density and now also iced tea…
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Marolo 9 year, 12 year, 15 year, 20 year, and 27 year 1987
I’ve been looking forward to doing this tasting formally for a long time. The 1987 Marolo was a life-changing spirit for me, really my introduction so the greatness that pomace brandy is capable of and still my favorite that I’ve tasted. All of these are made exclusively from Barolo pomace. Marolo 9 Year (50%) N:…
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Armagnac: Michaud (Aficionados x Grosperrin) 37 year 1985 and Bellair (Darroze) 1981
Grosperrin x Aficionados Michaud 37 year 1985 (49%) N: cherrywood, sappy but drying cherry-raspberry fruit, woody spice, plenty of rancio for its age, a bit of buttered pastry dough on the verge of burned P: in the palate this moves a step toward sweet spice, sweeter than the Bellair, again with a more vinous (and…
