E-pistle #09/01 - 2003: Peaty or Pity?
by Serge Valentin, France

While 2003 was a catastrophic year for the world on various fields, it has been an excellent year for the malt maniacs, especially for yours truly, and many malty events worked like sort of a consolation for me. Don't worry, I won't continue this e-pistle in such a gloomy way, but sometimes I feel our love for the uisge beatha and the friendship that goes along is somewhat futile, compared to the nightmare most of this small planet endures all year long. Frankly, when ignorance, hypocrisy, greed and egoism rule all over the world, and when we have to swallow so many bitter pills, what's the use of enjoying a 200-euros-a-bottle malt? Kind of a discharge system, perhaps… After all, spirits have been used for that purpose ever since somebody invented the first very still. What's better than a good shot of vodka, schnapps, arrack or whisky to forget about problems and bad news?

So, 'santé' to all who suffered in 2003, and let's hope 2004 is going to be better and more peaceful.
Meanwhile, let me tell you a few anecdotes about what happened to me last year IN the whisky field, and sip a few good malts at the same time. And why not have some great Ardbegs, while we're at it? Few malts can hold a candle to a great Ardbeg, and yeah, after my sad, and even disastrous introduction – what, you're still reading this? – I guess we need a good deal of high-flyers… No bragging here, and no need to play the hotshot, because thank God I have several samples – not full bottles - of rare Ardbegs on my shelves, many having been sent to me by my friend Bert, from Holland. Olivier will join me with bells on for this heavily peated session, as it's always better to share some of the greatest drams with some good friends. I'm very bad at drinking alone anyway. And just because I don't drink like a fish (neither does Olivier), we'll have our spittoon on the table, even if we're not sure we'll use it this time. We'll also try to compare most of the Ardbegs to a benchmark, and which one is more appropriate than the 10yo (46%, OB)?

Okay, you're still with us? Good! Time to start with an Ardbeg 1978/1999 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice) then.
Its colour is pale straw, and it's quite light at first nosing. When nosing deeper, it gets grainy, and then some nice notes of fresh bread (baguette, no need to say), eucalyptus and camphor arise. Develops on fern, marzipan, and gets a little dusty after a while. A very refined and elegant nose, nothing to do with a peat monster! On the palate, at first it's very dry, much drier than the 10yo OB. It gets very smoky, and then we can feel quite a lot of liquorice stick, varnish, wood and old cardboard. It really gets bitter and austere then, and the finish is medium long. In short, we like it because of its nose, which is much more refined than the 10yo's. But the mouth is much dryer, less rounded. Its bitterness makes us like the 10yo 2-3 points better globally.
Our ratings: Olivier 86 points – Serge 85 points.

And while we're talking about bitterness, let's evoke one first anecdote that happened last year.
It was in October, during the time when I was contacting the industry to ask them whether they wanted to let some of their malts enter the 2003 Malt Maniacs Awards competition. The deal was simple: they just had to send us some bottle(s), and we would do all the remaining work: despatching the samples all over the world, tasting the malts, coming up with ratings, doing some statistics, publishing the results and finally sending out the awards, medals, and diplomas to the winners. Guess what, most of the distillers replied with much enthusiasm. UDV, W. Grant, Edrington, Campbell, Chivas, Bruichladdich, Glenrothes, Ardbeg, Springbank… Not to mention the bottlers like Douglas Laing, Murray McDavid, G&M, Duncan Taylor, Cadenhead, La Maison du Whisky or Wilson & Morgan, and I'm sure I forget many other ones. Of course, a few players didn't answer my request (no big deal), one declined (Morrison Bowmore, no big deal either), and one did send us quite a strange answer: Ian McLeod, of Chieftains' fame. In a nutshell, they said 'We don't know you, do some publicity for yourself before you ask us to enter the competition'. Yeah, sure, we'll get some one-page ads in Whisky Magazine, Decanter, Wine Magazine and, why not, The Times and the Pravda to get the right to taste two or three bottles of a bottler who's got the worst average rating on our lists anyway. So, instead of spelling a famous four-letters word, I'd say none of the maniacs is that masochistic, and I'll happily forget about Chieftains in the future, which is no hot ticket anyway. It's going to be a hard row to hoe! ;-)

Phew, I need another Ardbeg now. No Chieftains Ardbeg on our program - good news for them, I guess.
So, so let's have the Ardbeg 1974/1996 (40%, Spirit of Scotland) instead. Olivier says 1974 was to Ardbeg what 1972 was to Brora, which is brilliant! What's sure is that this one shows a wonderful nose, quite mellow at first. But then it gets heavily peaty. Smoke, garden bonfire, roots, and then lots of pepper. It's much smokier than the 10yo OB, the latter appearing to be somewhat 'slack' compared to the Spirit of Scotland. The first mouthfeel is really powerful. Nobody will guess its ABV is 6% lower than our benchmark malt's. The palate gets very medicinal, with a lot of iodine, diesel oil and smoke. Very 'organic' (humus). Then it gets quite dry, and finally some funny acidulated notes emerge. What a beautiful style! Bold and refined at the same time, almost austere. Long finish! In short, we like it a lot – better than the 10yo OB. Olivier 90 points – Serge 91 points.

Which brings me to another magic period of 2003: the malt maniacs' trip to Scotland.
It was absolutely great, and it allowed me to meet two 'remote' maniacs for the first time: Craig from Australia and Krishna , from India. Great guys, I can tell you! There's no point in telling you about all the fabulous stories from Scotland 2003, many great lines have been already written about these events on Malt Madness and Malt maniacs. Or perhaps only this anecdote, if you wish: the whole trip had gone without a hitch until the very last day. On that very Friday, I was driving our Ford Mondeo from Carrbridge to Glasgow, when we had quite a serious car crash. No maniac was injured, thank God, but the two cars were destroyed, and the Scottish guy who was driving the other car had his clavicle broken by the seat belt. I remember very vividly the moment when I went to this guy, after he had his shoulder plastered at Inverness hospital. I told him how sorry I was… Do you know what he answered? 'Oh ton't vorry, chust two carrs and a couple of bownes!' Hem, that's what I call being cool – or Scottish, if you prefer – I also remember what he told us when we drove him back home with our new car. We were talking about whisky, of course, and we were soon to understand that despite the fact that he was a genuine Scotsman, he didn't like whisky at all. And when we mentioned Ardbeg, he said something like 'Uh, this is the vorst of all! Tastes like petrol.' Good laughs in the car, no need to say!
And talking about Ardbeg, why not taste another one just now…

This one is an OB that's sort of underestimated: the Ardbeg 30yo 'Very Old' (40%, OB, Allied bottling).
Its nose is quite mellow, very mature, complex and refined. Beautiful wood, quite spicy (cinnamon). The peat is subtle: iodine and smoke, sure, but also some great notes of smoked tea (lapsang souchong). Then it gets a little buttery, with some fine tangerine, kumquat and orange zest. A beautiful nose, much subtler than the 10yo's. The mouthfeel is quite dry, with a pinch of salt and pepper. On the palate, it's peaty but in a subtle way. Smoky, and slightly woody, but not too much. Gets a little dusty (old cardboard). It's complex malt, but it's also a little thin, and the finish is a somewhat short. So, let's say this one raises a very complex nose, a great palate, but it lacks just a little power, which prevents me to rate it 90 points or more. The 10yo is more powerful, rounder and smoother, but again, the 30yo is much, much subtler. Too bad they bottled it at 40%; it would have been a winner at 46%! But we still think this one's an unsung hero. Our ratings: Olivier 91 points – Serge 89 points.

Speaking about winners, I also happened to taste my best malt ever in 2003, and yes, it was also an Ardbeg: the 25yo 1975/2000 October/October (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask, 702 bottles). A friend who was reviewing an advanced copy of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible told me Jim did rate that one very high, so I couldn't help plundering the few bottles that were still gathering dust at La Maison du Whisky, both for Johannes and for me. I know, I should have tasted it before, but I had to be quick! Good news, when I had the first sip of it, I felt that yes, it was worth more than 95 points, and I went for 96 points. Which doesn't mean I won't rate it even higher next time I have a go at it. But for the moment, I'm wondering whether some other great Ardbegs we'll have during the current session won't supersede it… Let's check if it's going to be the case with the…

Our next candidate was the Ardbeg 28yo 1972/2001 (43%, Silver Seal 'First Bottling', 288 bottles).
The other Silver Seal bottlings I had before have always been peachy. No wonder, because Silver Seal selects and buys their casks from Douglas Laing's. This one's nose starts with some big sherry, and makes us think instantly about the Provenance OB. A quick check with a sample of the latter leads us to this conclusion: it'll be very difficult not to get confused when tasting both blind. So, big sherry right at the start (crystallized orange, overripe pear) then a few grassy notes, then some big, bold and majestic peat with some very fine peppery notes. And, finally, all sorts of fruit (mostly orange, melon, apricot). Sherry and peat give each other a leg up, and this is endless. Beautiful! The first mouthfeel is balanced and powerful at the same time. The palate shows some great wood, pine tree resin and Havana cigar. Lots of peat of course, bandages, iodine, smoke and humus… Bold, rich, refined and balanced at the same time: what more would you ask for? It's a great Ardbeg, beautifully balanced, and the 10yo OB appears to be simple and somewhat ordinary when compared to the Silver Seal. Just the relatively low alcohol level prevents us from rating the Silver Seal higher than Olivier 91 points – Serge 91 points.

Oh, that makes me just think about a very special evening of 2003 where the ' alcohol level' was much higher. It was in spring, and we were spending a nice evening at 'Les Caudalies', which is a beautiful resort next to Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, in the Graves region. We just had a great dinner, and we decided to shift towards the 'fumoir', which is a fantastic room where you can smoke your favourite havanas while sipping a great Cognac or an Armagnac. As you can imagine, I asked for a single malt instead, after having spotted two interesting Cadenhead's cask strength behind the bar: a Jura and a Bruichladdich. As often, even at some supposed-to-be well educated places, the barman was preparing himself to put three or four big ice cubes into a long-drink glass, when I stopped him and asked for my Jura neat. You know, these guys are used to dealing with levels in the glasses, not measures, and so, after giving me a blank look – I guess he was a few bricks short of a load - he poured me something like 15cl of that cask strength Jura! A blessing in disguise, indeed! And when I asked for the Laddie twenty minutes later, he did the same! I still wonder how I managed to find my room at the end of the evening and under the moonlight…

Speaking of the moonlight, it's time to taste an Ardbeg coming from the famous and highly praised Italian company 'Moon Import', who takes many of its casks from Samaroli's. This Ardbeg 1966/1987 (46%, Moon Import 'The Birds', oak cask #2443, 264 bottles) was bottled in the eighties and should be far out. It shows a beautiful dark amber colour. Hmmm, another peat-and-sherry monster? Right, here goes the nose: dry sherry (heavy sherry yeast), fresh walnut skin, butter, plus heavy peat: burnt tire, burnt cake, smoke, and then lots of small fruit (blackberry, cherry, raspberry) and some heavy currant. What an extraordinary nose! The mouthfeel is powerful and very creamy. Very, very rich. On the palate, some beautiful wood, sherry, and some quite discrete peat, which is perfectly 'moulded' into the sherry, plus all sorts of dried fruit, Christmas cake, cooked pineapple. Wow, it's really bold and rich, yet complex, and no need to say that the finish lasts forever and a day. What's most remarkable is the way they bottled it 'on time', meaning before the cask would take too much of its share, like in so many bottlings. So, this is a true masterpiece, and I think it's still possible to find a bottle either in Germany or in Italy, provided you don't absolutely need the six or seven hundred euros it will cost you. Erm… yes, it's a little steep. I'm so happy I got a sample of it! For me, it was a great discovery. Oh yes, ratings: Olivier 95 points – Serge 93 points.

And while I'm talking about new discoveries, let me tell you about one special distillery I almost never tasted before 2003, and which I liked very much last year: Ardmore. To be honest, Ardmore being a Speysider, I always thought it was somewhat like most of its 'middle of the road' congeners (Strathmill, Allt-a-Bhaine and the likes): mostly bland and uninteresting. How wrong I was! I'm not saying the sherried versions are stellar and I could easily pass on most of those, even if I didn't have 21yo Century OB yet. But I came across several Signatory Vintage un-sherried expressions, which I enjoyed a lot for their fruit and freshness. For just thirty or forty euros, I advise you to try a bottle, if you didn't yet, and you'll be surprised by Ardmore's crystal-clear peat. I think Signatory Vintage really brings it off. Nothing to do with an Ardbeg, sure, but if you like a few 'variations on peat', have a go at Ardmore. But let's stay on the 'heavy peat' level for the moment, and taste the…

Next: Ardbeg 1974/2003 (52.3%, OB, Manager's Choice for Belgium, cask #2740, 120 bottles).
Yes, one of these high-end bottles which end up in the Ardbeg collectors' cupboards. Again, I'm glad Bert provided me with a sample. The full amber colour is very suggestive, while at first nosing, I can immediately smell that this one's a genuine peat monster. Extremely powerful, almost tingling, the nose is set up on full-peat mode. Very medicinal, it develops all sorts of smoke and humus. Pure and crystalline, it's also extremely clean, almost austere – or perhaps I'd say 'jansenist', and it's not 'tired' in any way. I'd never have said this one was almost 30 years old if I had tasted it blind. Wow! The first mouthfeel is incredibly balanced and powerful, and very salty. Then it develops heavy peat (iodine, diesel oil, smoke) before a few fruity flavours appear (Golden Delicious apple). Bold, robust and yes, austere, its finish is tremendously long, with a pinch of salt on the tongue. Absolutely great, what a rush! And while Olivier's wondering whether there was a special planet alignment in 1974, I have another go at the 10yo OB, just to compare it. I shouldn't have done that; the youngster is like a toothless baby when compared to the Belgian bottling! Our ratings for the latter: Olivier 96 points – Serge 94 points. Yes, wow! I'd have loved to taste it while facing a stormy ocean, on Islay's south shore…

Stormy? Oh, yes, another great memory from 2003…
It was in the Gers region, South of France, during a business trip I made in summer with my good old friend Paul, who's a real good egg. We were stopping for the night at a nice hotel and restaurant in the mountains, and we were just having dinner in the garden, right under the stars. Around us, a lot of tourists, mostly Brits, were enjoying their confits de canard, foie gras and poêlées de cèpes. Just like us. Suddenly, a few drops of rain began to fall into our plates. Nothing too serious at this moment, and the waitresses just put up some parasols to protect us. But the rain got stronger, and many diners decided to beat a retreat towards the dining room. We decided to remain in our seats, and to go on enjoying our food and our wine in the open. Five minutes later, it was raining cats and dogs, and the parasols couldn't really protect us anymore. Everybody went inside, except us, despite the fact that our waitresses insisted we should do the same. But Alsatians are stubborn as mules, and there we were, enjoying the hot rain that was starting to drown our dishes and wash our faces. And that was still nothing. Suddenly, we saw a few bolts of lightning, and five minutes later, it was hell. I had never seen such a storm before. Some parasols were flying in the air, even if folded, and we got completely wet instantly. It was really getting dangerous, so we finally decided to go inside. We were looking as if we just had a bath, with our clothes on. The owner of the place, who had just burst into laughter after having seen us in such a poor shape, proposed we should have a drink, and guess what, I asked for a single mat. They had only one: a Benrinnes Dun Eidean that wasn't that great, but it was one of the malts I'll have in mind for a long time, that's for sure! But let's check now, whether our next Ardbeg will be as memorable as that famous Benrinnes…

This one is much younger than the previous ones, and also stronger, as it's an Ardbeg 1993/2003 (58.6%, Cadenhead) which is almost white. The nose is extremely powerful, as you'd have guessed, and rather sharp. Ouch, it's almost impossible to nose it properly when neat, so we decide to add a few drops of water. It's still very spirity, with pear drops, pineapple and acacia flowers. And then, of course, a load of peat (extreme smoke). But even with a little water, our noses are somewhat anaesthetised, so we decide to add even more water before we drink it. That was a good idea, because the first mouthfeel is still very powerful, even at something like 45-50%. It's also oily and quite sweet. The palate is great: finely woody, with a lot of spicy (clove) and burnt cake notes. Of course the peat is well present (iodine, sea spray, sea weed) and after having shown some funny Turkish delight notes, it gets very dry, in a good way. In short, quite a beast, and I think I never had such a great very young Ardbeg before. The 10yo OB seems weak compared to it, which says a lot about this Cadenhead's. Our ratings for the latter: Olivier 93 points – Serge 90 points.

Okay, now I need to tell you another funny anecdote that happened last year. Nothing to do with Ardbeg, I'm afraid… Or… Oh yes, it happened the day after we had our Islay breakfast at home, with the maniacs, when we first tasted the Uigeadail. Let me tell you the whole story: it was distillation day and we were having the aperitif in my garden. Several friends were there, including some malt maniacs, and one of my friends had brought some great oysters from Brittany. You ought to know that my place is very far from any sea, and that oysters aren't that common in Alsace. Of course you can get some, but they're quite expensive, and much less fresh than the ones my friend had just brought to us. Anyway, we were having these oysters with some great Riesling, when my friend Thomas asked Krishna whether they do also eat oysters in India. And Krishna quite candidly answered (or was he teasing us?): 'Oh yes, but only poor people eat them!' We all killed ourselves laughing, and then it was our turn to tease Krishna during the whole day. I remember having told him something like 'Caviar? foie gras? Ardbeg? It's only for poor people in Alsace!' God we laughed! But let's go back to our Ardbeg session now, and have another rather rare young one, the…

The label of the Ardbeg 10yo Cask Strength (57.8%, OB for Japan, bottled 2003, 900 bottles) is exactly the same as the regular 10yo's except that they wrote 'cask strength' instead of 'non-chill-filtered' in the golden cartouche. I don't know whether this was a marketing experiment, or kind of a pre-Uigeadail attempt to address the same market as the Laphroaig 10yo C/S's. But let's taste it! Like the Cadenhead's it's very spirity at first, and it's hard to smell anything else than alcohol. But with a few drops of water, it really opens up, and here we go: a blast of pure peat (iodine, diesel oil, smoke) and a few fruity notes (apple, melon). It gets just a little 'matt' after a while. Olivier says it's somewhat like the Lagavulin 12yo C/S, but even rougher, and I can't agree more. The first mouthfeel is very powerful and oily. Then the peat attacks, with the traditional sea spray, smoke, humus, and smoked tea notes. And just a few hints of honey. The finish is long. This is robust malt; I'd even say it's a little simple. Compared to its lighter brother the 10yo 'regular', it's slightly dryer and more austere, even when reduced to approximately the same alcohol level. We both feel it's worth 2 more points, just a cut above, and so we go for: Olivier 91 points – Serge 88 points.

After having told you about comparing these two 10yo OBs, maybe I should tell you about two other great – and funny – experiments with alcohol two maniacs offered me in 2003. A great way of recycling some not so great malts or spirits! The first one was made by Olivier, who presented me with a jar of prunes from his garden, marinated in some 21yo Coleburn. It's really excellent, certainly much better than the Coleburn on its own. So, here's my advice if you have one or several opened bottles of not so good malt: just put some fresh fruit into a jar, top those with the malt, close the jar hermetically, and wait for a few weeks. You'll see, it'll be excellent, and it'll work particularly well with prunes, cherries, raspberries, and blackcurrant. Then Klaus and Marlou presented me with the second great experiment I got in 2003. It's called 'Ostfriesische Bohnensuppe' and it's made out of rum, candy sugar, water and raisins. It's also very good, much smoother than Olivier's recipe, and I guess you can make it with some malt instead of rum. I'm sure Klaus will most happily send you the genuine recipe if you drop him an e-mail.

But let's go back to plain and pure malt, and taste another young cask strength Ardbeg, just before we switch to two Douglas Laing Platinums (Platina?). The youngster is the Ardbeg 1991/2002 (55.6%, Spirit of Scotland, bottled for Holland, cask #1182), another sample from Bert's. The first nosing lets us think it's somewhat blocked by the alcohol, and we feel some water will be needed again. Neat, it shows some beautiful peat (iodine, smoke) and is very maritime. But it's a little simple. With a few drops of water, a whole basket of fruit appears in front of our noses, most notably gooseberry and passion fruit. A little yeasty as well, but still very clean. The mouthfeel is rather balanced and oily. Then, as usual, iodine, smoke, bonfire, plus fresh and cooked apple arise. It's very robust and still a little simple. Medium to long finish, mostly on the peaty notes. In short, it's a very nice Ardbeg, but it somewhat tells its lesson. Not greatly original, but still worth 1 more point than the 10yo OB, as far as we're concerned. Yes, it wins by a nose! So, our ratings for this traditional Ardbeg are: Olivier 90 points – Serge 87 points.

By the way, while I'm talking about tradition, I should tell you about Vinexpo 2003 in Bordeaux. That was funny! First, you should know that the event was in June, and that even if the peak of the heat wave wasn't there yet, the temperature was already reaching something like 35°C in the shade. And second, the exhibition halls were quite poorly air-conditioned, as most huge exhibition halls, which means that the temperature was even higher inside. So, we were walking along the stands, carrying our jackets on our arms and having put our ties into our pockets, like everybody in the halls. We had already visited many wine stands, when I decided to go and have a look at the Scottish stand, where several whisky bottlers were supposed to be. And yes, there, right at the end of the largest hall, I could finally spot them! Oh, that was easy… You could see many men in their shirts-sleeves and many lightly dressed women. These were French, Italian, Spanish, American, Greek etc. And then you had a few guys wearing some heavy woollen kilts and jackets, and yes, you guessed it, those were the Scots, sweating and sponging their faces every five minutes… Hence my conclusion: the Scottish distilling facilities are state of the art, but their weather forecasters can do better!

Good, now is the time to taste two of the highlights of our Ardbeg session: some Douglas Laing Platinums. I never had some before, but I know the fabulous Broras quite well, so I can't wait…Both Islayers are from 1973, but one was bottled in 2002, the other one in 2003. So let's start with the Ardbeg 29yo 1973/2002 (51.4%, Douglas Laing Platinum, 137 bottles). Its colour is light amber, and it's surprisingly mellow at first nosing. Then comes a beautiful and refined peat, with a lot of freshness, and some cooked apple, almonds and pepper. Hints of spices (coriander), and some great perfumy notes (musk, Yves Saint-Laurent M7). What a great mixture! On the palate, the first feeling is very balanced, slightly drying. Then, of course, lots of peat, but more in the 'rubbery' style this time. Very smoky, and a lot of pepper, but very few fruity notes this time. Again, it's quite austere, yet refined. The finish is medium to long. This one is a work of art, and it's almost 'symphonic'. The nose's freshness could have led me to rate it 96 points, just like the 1975 OMC '702 bottles', but the mouth is just a tad simpler and less fresh. That's why we came up with these ratings: Olivier 95 points – Serge 95 points. And no need to say there was no point in comparing it to the 10yo OB… Would have been a blowout!

But let's try the second platinum now; Ardbeg 30yo 1973/2003 (51.9%, Douglas Laing Platinum, 94 bottles).
Yes, only ninety-four bottles! And no, this cask hasn't been split into two different bottlings! So, I guess we can say that the angels have got their fair share of it. Happy angels, because at first nosing, we feel it expresses an absolute delicacy, and again a great freshness. The peat is extremely delicate and refined, with all sorts of smoke (bonfire, cedar wood, pine tree, herbs from Provence) and tarte tatin (cooked apple and caramel). And, finally, some fresh pink pepper notes. How great, how fresh! That's just incredible considering this malt's age. Another work of art, really. Its mouthfeel is slightly more powerful than the previous one's and creamier, or let's rather say a little more on the 'cowboy' side. Very smoky, and lots of cooked apple flavours. And, again, a pinch of fresh pepper. Long and beautifully fresh finish, which brings us to these ratings: Olivier 96 points – Serge 95 points. Comparing this one to the 10yo OB? Easy: they're just worlds apart.

And talking about freshness, I remember my sister-in-law Marion,
who hardly drinks any whisky (but she loves Armagnac), telling
me last year on Agadir's beach that there's only one place where
she likes to have a little glass of malt: it's in front of the sea or
the ocean. Which made me think she was absolutely right: I often
experienced that even the most disastrous rotgut can be quite
good when sipped in a maritime environment.

So, here's my advice: whenever you're heading towards Ibiza,
Malibu, Brighton or Juan-les-Pins, don't forget your hipflask!
And again, you won't need to fill it with a high-flyer like the last
Ardbeg we'll taste this evening (just before we taste three last
surprise malts).

By the way, this last Ardbeg will be the Ardbeg 28yo 1972/2000
(50.1%, bottled by Douglas Laing for Alambic Germany, 234 bottles).
Strange ABV, considering this one was bottled in the traditional 'Old
Malt Cask' livery, which is usually bottled at 50%. Did they miss the
50% vol? Was it meant to be a cask strength version?

Anyway, again, at first nosing we're stunned by the fantastic freshness and cleanliness that reach our noses. The peat is much more straightforward than in the two Platinums we had just before, with lots of iodine, sea spray, smoke. And again some cooked apple, but the fruity notes are more muted here. This nose is tremendously pure! The first mouthfeel is even more powerful than the Platinums', and also less creamy. On the palate, lots of peat (bandages, iodine and smoke) and some tar we didn't get in most of the previous Ardbegs we had during this evening. The peppery notes are even heavier here, and we also get all sorts of white fruit (white melon, gooseberry, apple, white peach). Wow, this one is another great, great Ardbeg! Magnificently bold, rich and majestic, yet very clean and pure. It simply has everything! Our ratings: Olivier 96 points – Serge 95 points . Yes, another world-beater.

And now that we're finished with all the Ardbegs on tonight's program, and even if we already had our share of stupendously great malts, we're no cheap drunks and we're still in the mood for three more malts – no less – provided these can match the fabulous Ardbegs. Uh! Not easy, eh? Hum, why not check on my Brora shelves if I've got something really special… Oh, yes, there! Let's have a little sip of the most legendary of all Broras, the 22yo 1972 Rare Malts. But just before, and while we're talking about Brora, let me tell you a few words about one of the other highlights of 2003: the launch of whyskyfun.com.

Well, in fact, as Brora is my favourite distillery (don't worry, Ardbeg comes close), and as Johannes was very busy reconstructing malmadness.com after his hard disk crashed (or should I say his computer's hard disk?), I decided to build my own little website, whyskyfun.com. Oh, don't worry; it's far from a competitor (maltmadness has no competitor!) It's just a place where you can find several extensions of maltmadness: the monitor, which lists more than 4,000 ratings, various interesting statistics, and our picture book… And also my pages on Brora (its history, all the bottlings, many tasting notes etc.). Now that the site is three months old, approx 500 different visitors visit it every month. It's not amazon.com, nor maltmadness.com, sure, but hey, not bad for a start, is it? But yes, I know, I'd better taste the Rare Malt right now, instead of babbling about the website.

Okay, let's go on with the Brora 22yo 1972/1995 (58.7%, UD Rare Malts).
Erm… I'm inclined to get more than a little emotional at this point. This one is supposed to be the best Brora ever, and as Brora is my favourite distillery, well, it should be my best whisky ever, shouldn't it? Let's find out right now! Its colour is straw, and when nosing it, you get a huge pepper blast at first. Wow! Then it goes on developing on some very bold and structured peppery notes, and then, suddenly, it gets a little thinner. That's strange… But wait here it comes: a beautiful load of fine peaty (smoke, bonfire) and coastal (dried seaweed) notes that keep developing until it becomes even more organic (soy sauce, ginger, haycock). And finally some great acidulated fruit (passion fruit, tangerine). Bold, rich and powerful: this one takes no prisoner, and I'm not disappointed in any way for the moment. But will it defeat the Ardbeg 1975 OMC 702 bottles and earn 97+ points on the Sergio-scale? It's too early to decide, let's check how it'll behave on my palate first… The mouthfeel is very powerful, with a beautiful sweet and sour taste, and yes, some salt. I mean, a salty feeling ;-). Then, an extraordinary peat arises (smoke), accompanied with a lot of peppery notes. A lot of lavender as well, and some acidulated fruit like tangerine, green apple and redcurrant. How wonderful! Again, it's extremely bold and rich, yet very austere, especially when compared to the Ardbegs. No need to say that the finish is very long, mostly on the peat and pepper mode. In short, this beauty is very complex, very rich, and very refined at the same time. The whole shebang! And yes, this is the best Brora I ever had, and the fact that we just tasted some fantastic Ardbegs allows me to give it a very high rating without fearing I'd overrate it – on the contrary! So, our ratings for this more than brilliant malt are: Olivier 96 points – Serge 97 points. Yes, that's right, my best malt ever! But too bad, I made a quick check on the web, and I could only find one bottle for sale, in Germany, for 390 euros… Quite a chunk of change, isn't it?

Oh, while I'm talking about expensive whiskies, let me tell you that 2003 saw also the launch of what's perhaps the smallest whisky club in the world: the A.W.E.S.O.M.E., which means the 'Alsatian Whiskyfans' Extraordinary Society Of Malty Explorations'. Yeah, I know what you think, but I was in a hurry when I had to come up with a name and well… Anyway, we're only five members (maniac Olivier, Christophe, Jean-Jacques, François and yours truly), and we get a bang out of it, I can tell you. Each members brings two bottles on a particular theme (Islay, Islands etc.) and we taste all those. Then we split what remains in the bottles into samples, so that each taster is able to have another go at it at home, to make up his mind definitely. All sessions we already had were really great, and we happened to taste several top dogs. I especially remember a Longrow Samaroli 'Dreams' (95 points), two cask strength Bowmores (1965, 92 points and 1968, 91 points), a Talisker 1955/1993 G&M (91 points), again an Ardbeg which scored 96 points (a 1976 for Feis Isle), and the Bunnahabhain 1968 'Hogmanay Dram' (93 points). We'll have some North-eastern Highlands during our next session at Olivier's place, and I can't wait… Frankly, I can't wait to taste our next – and last - two malts either, because they should be very special…

The first one, again, came back from Japan, and is supposed to be one of the peatiest experiments ever. In fact, it appears that the Isle of Jura distillery bottled two or three casks of heavily peated malt for Japan, coming from a batch that had been distilled in 1999 (they made 20,000 litres within two weeks). This peated Jura was intended to be vatted with some ordinary Jura, hence producing the famous Isle of Jura 'Superstition', but they finally bottled some casks as 'single casks', again, only for Japan.
The sample I've got is the Jura Whisky 3yo 1999/2002 (60.7%, OB, cask #92 for Japan, 447 bottles). Its colour is quite astonishingly dark straw, despite its very young age. The nose, as expected, is quite sharp and powerful. Then we get a huge blast of peat (smoke, lamp petrol) mixed with coffee, bitter chocolate and black toffee. Very impressive, and a style on its own, really. The first mouthfeel is also very powerful and oily. Then it develops on some heavy peat (smoke) and, again, cold coffee and cold tea. It's really bold and robust, and just slightly unbalanced, with a long peated finish. What's most interesting is that this Jura is already very mature despite its young age, not a babe in arms at all, and that it's got its own, smoky style. I hope they kept a few other casks for later bottlings! As for ratings, we feel we must applaud this one most loudly, and so we go for: Olivier 90 points – Serge 90 points.

And now, as for our last malt of the evening, let's just have a mystery malt! I don't know whether it's a Dutch tradition, as Johannes always likes to send – and to get – some blind samples, but Bert did also send me an unlabelled sample. I must say I really enjoy tasting a malt blind, and it's fun – and painful when you get the answers – to try to find out about which distillery it is. Except that many friends like to send you some blind malt that does not taste like the distillery's regular output at all, precisely!

Anyway, let's play the game now and have 'Bert's Mystery Malt'.
Colour: straw. First nosing: very warming, big bold Kalhua (coffee liquor) and Irish coffee blast. That's sherry! Second nosing: it goes into deeper coffee notes and torrefaction but remains very fresh. Then it becomes somewhat meaty. Hints of parsley, vegetable clear soup, wild carrot, and still a great freshness. Then mint and eucalyptus arise, and it gets buttery and creamy after a while. Extremely interesting, that's for sure. But what can it be? Mouth: starts on cold coffee, fudge, toffee, vanilla ice cream. Then develops on cake, dried fruits, Grand-Marnier and dark rum. How complex and bold sherry! It's also very rich, but there's always kind of a freshness that remains, preventing the malt from becoming too heavy or dull. In short it's very interesting and good. It's very special, for sure and it's going to be very difficult to put a name on this one… As for our ratings, here they are: Olivier 89 points – Serge 87 points. Yes, no less. Okay, let's try to find out about which distillery it comes from now. Hum, I have to go whole hog! The freshness leads me to claim it's not far from the seas. Lochside? The coffee notes, which mustn't obligatorily come only from the sherry, make me think of Ben Nevis or Braes of Glenlivet. And then you have these grassy notes, which lead me towards Banff, or perhaps Ardmore… Okay, let's ask Bert if I'm way off the tracks or not… Answer by Bert: Actually it's a Clynelish 1982/1996 Cask Strength. It was a special bottling for a Scottish bar in Glasgow, and the total number of bottles was 196. I think Cadenhead/ Duthies had done the bottling.
Wow, a Clynelish! Beautiful… And what a surprise!

Hum, I feel I should wind up now… Anyway, as you can see after these long lines, no need to tell you anymore that 2003 was a great year, full of big events (read my fellow maniacs e-pistle for the big thing), and full of tiny, yet funny anecdotes as well. I'm sure 2004 will be even greater, and as thrilling as our latest Ardbeg session. By the way, the spittoon was still empty at the end of the evening, which says a lot… We'll attend Whiskylive London in March, then we'll fly to Scotland again in May, not to mention all the further tasting sessions we'll have. Yes, we have a full plate, but I'm sure it's going to be a bed of roses. So, my advice is: stay tuned to maltmadness!

Santé

Serge
 

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E-pistle #09/02 - Frozen Over (Winter 2003-2004)
by Michael Wade, USA

As I sat in my den overlooking the glistening treetops of the Merrimac Valley, dram of single malt in hand, I looked out onto the vast winter landscape.  Chilled from the arctic temperatures of my recent foray outside, I gazed at my snow boots and winter jacket, covered in a thick soup of sleet and ice. Bone rattling wind whipped at the windows, demanding entrance- one last measure of revenge before eventually giving way to the forgiving tropical winds from the south.   The sun shined down in blinding rays, an oasis of water in a desert of dry parched death.  This too proved an illusion; as the temperatures dipped to ten below zero Fahrenheit; bringing a new meaning to the word cold.  The Sun offers no solace in these cold times.  Its futile attempt wanes in the face of a cold that seeps to the core of your being.  The world outside stands as if frozen in time, a great glacier struggling amidst an ocean of ice.

I cast my mind back through time, back through the year that has past. 
Breaking free of my icy reigns, I glide easily through the peaks and valleys of my mind; back to warmer days and longer nights.  Back even further, to the red and gold of autumn and then the powerful scents and sights of spring; until the cycle is complete and I stand amidst the cold once again.  I grabbed a bottle and sorted through my memories, digging for something to prove that the world was still moving; that progress was being made.  That the ice would not rule forever.  Where better to start than with Edradour.

2003 was an important year for Edradour.  The respected independent bottler Signatory stepped out of the shadows in the summer of 2002 to purchase the tiny property bearing the oft-disputed title of "Scotland's Smallest Distillery".  With it came a respected brand and tourist business; not to mention a decent stock of aging spirit.  Long having wanted a distillery of their own, the timing seemed perfect, and another distillery was rescued from the fate often relegated to "non-core brands" by the multi-national conglomerates.  Whisky drinkers world wide waited to see what the eminent Andrew Symington would do with his new investment.  Would treasures long locked away in old, earthen warehouses be revealed?  Would the line be expanded to include multiple ages, interesting finishes and wood aging?  He did not disappoint.  A steady stream of malts flowed; catering to entry level, connoisseur and luxury markets.  This helped to raise brand awareness and, just as importantly, up-front capital for much needed work. The general consensus on Edradour is that it of a quality malt with a lot of potential; but often limited by lack of investment and marketing beyond tourism. Signatory built upon the ideals of quality and introduced an already established and successful production, marketing and distribution vehicle.  It was exactly what Edradour and Signatory needed.  It wasn't long before bottlings cropped up in specialty shops worldwide. I was able to get my hands on a bottling for the American market; branded under the Signatory "Un-Chillfiltered" line; a popular range appealing to consumers knowledgeable in the production and marketing of single malt whisky.

Edradour 10yo 1992/2003 (46.0%, OB Signatory Un-Chillfiltered, Cask 387, Bottle 323/497, 750ML)
Color: Reddish Gold. Nose: Sherry sweetness, butterscotch candy, cinnamon and rock sugar.  Very sweet and somewhat winy.
Palate:  Oily mouthfeel, a burst of sherry, followed by some delicate smoky flavors in the front palate. 
A fading taste of dark spices and red, ripe fruit.  At the end, a bit of an astringent bitterness lingers.
Finish:  Lasting, but tinny and bitter.
Score: 82 points .  One for the sherry lovers.  Could have aged more in a different cask; but very pleasant all the same.

Beginning to warm, thanks to the life-giving amber liquid, I sent my mind reeling back, back to a very old place, a place I felt a deep connection to- a place that didn't warm my body- but it did melt my heart: Islay.

2003 was also a very important year for another distillery; a very old and well respected distillery on Islay called Laphroaig.  The distillery has long marketed and sold a very succesful 10 year old single malt; and the further addition of a 15 year old into the range; as well as a host of limited additions and rare offers, such as the 30 year old and the ultra rare 40 year old, have only done more to bolster its international reputation for quality and consistency.  However, the island, and the world-wide whisky community was stunned and saddened to hear of the retirement of long-standing and much loved distillery manager Iain Henderson in 2002.  An icon in the business, Iain instituted the Friends of Laphroaig; a worldwide community of Laphroaig lovers given a way to collaborate and contemplate together; all in the name of their favorite tipple.  Not only was it just what consumers needed, providing a personal touch to those feeling left out in the cold by the large drinks corporations hungry for profit; it was also a brilliant marketing maneuver; much like Glenfiddich's pioneering of the visitor center.  Literally thousands have signed up for the program, chatting on the web site and visiting the "plot of land" they "own" at the distillery, and collecting the "rent" (a dram of Laphroaig 10).

Suffice it to say, Iain's departure was bittersweet.  I attended the Manager's Ball at Bunnahabhain distillery during Feis Ile 2002 and it was a sad day.  But hope was soon to come; and it came in the form of Robin Shields, the New Guy at Laphroaig.  Bringing his own significant experience to the table, he decided that Iain's shoes were hard to fill indeed; and he would forge his own path.  While still honoring tradition, in 2003 Robin began to make many welcome changes around the distillery and in the Friends society.  He also began preparing for 2004 (the 10th anniversary of Friends of Laphroaig) by putting together a special bottling.  In addition, another special bottling is planned; and these limited bottlings may become more frequent in the future.  Exciting news indeed, and a breath of fresh air and new direction for an old soul.  I decided to dust off a bottling of Laphroaig I had tucked away for a cold day and see what secrets it held, to toast the departure of the Old Guard; and to welcome in the New Blood. 

Laphroaig 10yo 1990/2001 (60.6%, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection, Bourbon Barrel, 192 bottles, 750ML)
Color: Clear gold. Nose: Peat smoke, pear, green, under-ripe apple.
The smoke diminishes as it warms in the hands. The peat is refined, intertwining among the fruit notes.
Palate:  Oily and mouth coating. Up front the peat hits, as it coats the tounge mingling with notes of sour apple and sap.
Burnt notes and harshness in the midpalate fade with a bit of water. Gradually building in warmth.
Finish: Very long, with some astringency.
Score: 85 points.  Not a peat monster per se, but a wallop of a dram anyhow. Again, could have been aged longer, but a decent peek at Laphroaig's true flavors beneath the smoke- and at full strength!

Finally beginning to warm inside, I still had trouble feeling my extremities A final dram was in order, I'd decided; and perhaps one more trek.  I reached for another bottle, hands aching with the stiff pain cold brings. I sent my mind back again, back to the heart of the Highlands, back to a place of mystery and tradition.  A place where even the soul can find warmth: Speyside.

The folks at Macallan sure have had a busy year.  Improving the standard for excellence abroad; Macallan announced a deal with American Airlines in September, setting the course for a rapid increase in duty-free sales.  Continuing the trend of world-wide excellence and recognition, in particular in Asian countries (where it commands a rabid following), they launched a Japanese website in May and opened a private club in Singapore in June.  You would think them busy enough already, not even counting the normal business of new releases, creating initiatives in important markets such as Italy and the day to day machinations of the distillery itself.    Despite all this, in late 2002, The Macallan announced the launch of "The largest range of vintage single malt in the history of the Scotch Whisky industry".  The collection encompassed 10,000 bottles from 26 different years.  36 rare vintages are represented; with a cumulative price tag of £14.5 Million (Approx. $26.5 Million US dollars).  During 2003, their ambitious program had begun to prove a success; their groundwork having been laid down for years, catering to the luxurious and well heeled.  Collectors, investors and aficionados from around the world lined up to buy at surprising rates.  Starting in January, 2003, they auctioned off the rarest of the vintage collection.  The range contained 5 bottles pre-dating the turn of the century.  The "youngest" was an 1897 vintage, the oldest, 1856.  Each received bids over the reserve prices, and although the final price is not revealed; no doubt each sold for thousands of pounds (the reserve for the 1897, the youngest, was £6,500, the 1896 was £6,700).

Sound improbable?  Sound impossible?  Sound unimaginable?  Read on, if you dare….
I give you the following from their own website:

The Macallan 1926.  YEAR BOTTLED: 1986.  AGE OF WHISKY: 60 Years Old
TOTAL OUTTURN: 40 Bottle Equivalents.  750ml: £20,000.00  
Due to high orders for this bottle we only have a limited number available.
Our 1926 will only be sold as part of a full collection of all 37 bottles of Vintage Macallan.

Yes, you read it right.  "High orders", "…Only be sold as part of a full collection"…
According to The Macallan, this range will last 5-7 years, as the whisky is slowly bottled and released as demand requires.  That's an approximate average of 1,600 bottles sold per year.  No worries though; all vintages (save the ridiculously rare 1926) have 50ml miniature bottles available for those of us not so financially endowed.  The cost: £61-£320.  For some, a small price to pay to taste history.  No wonder "Malt Advocate" named them Distillery of the Year 2002/2003.  On this day I seemed to have misplaced my bottle of The Macallan 1926.   So for now, I'll have to dig out something else.  Something a little more affordable, but no less obscure.  The Macallan 15 yo.  What does this have to do with 2003?  Well, you see, The Macallan practically ran out of "vintage dated" Macallan whisky from the mid-eighties (now slated to become 18 years old).  This created an immediate need; which the 15 year old would fill.  It was vintage dated 1984 and released in 2002, only to be discontinued in 2003.  It was replaced by the no age statement "Cask Strength" bottling in the US. 

The Macallan 15yo 1984 (43.0%, OB, 750ML)
Color: Amber. Nose: Heavy sherry influence, a hint of sulphur, christmas spices, molasses. Very rich and intoxicating. Slight prickle.
Palate:  After the expected sweet blast of sherry, the midpalate is drowned in thick, tarry and smoky flavors.
This is enhanced as the sherry sweetness quickly fades leaving a pleasant smoky, resin aftertaste.
Finish: Long, deeply warming, somewhat spirity.
Score: 87 points.  No doubt plucked a bit early.  A more rough-and-tumble Macallan, a bit rough around the edges, but I am enchanted by the smokiness. 

Back in my house and in my own when, I realized that the world wasn't stuck in some cold time warp.  You see, as my own hands and face warmed, reddening in fullness and throbbing with heat, I stared down at the empty glasses before me.  I attempt to focus my gaze, unable to.  An hour, perhaps two had passed since I came in from the bitterness; every bit the abominable snowman and feeling like the fires of hell could not warm me.  I looked over at my jacket and boots, and the puddle of water steaming beneath them.  Through the window, fogged by my own breath dancing in eerie patterns to the drums of my heartbeat, I see the wind had subsided.  The sun increased its intensity; the abysmal clouds and gusts retreated back north in the face of the charging southern wind.  The branches of the mighty oak in the yard hung low and sad; weighted by winter's wrath.  Yet- on those branches an amazing thing was happening.  The ice was melting.  A small stream formed at the base of the tree and made it's was down my driveway, digging an angry groove in the ice; finding the road and chasing it to some unseen conclusion.

Consumed in that silly, momentary fear of being forever-cold; I had not noticed the gradual warmth the whisky provided.  Caught up in searching for proof that the world would not stay forever-frozen, for a tiny speck of hope- I had not noticed the cold subsiding outside.  Just as history had proven in my memory-journeys; the world moves on.  The icy grip of winter will tighten and loosen; eventually fading and letting go; only to come back stronger again.  It was the ebb and flow of the tide; birth and rebirth; life and death- eternal concepts rediscovered in the mundane. 

2003 was a good year for the whisky industry and consumers.
As the winds calm and the sun warms all, here's to hoping for an even better one next year.

Michael J. Wade
 

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E-pistle #09/03 - 2003 In Retrospect
by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada

"Your Malt Madness site is great" , I wrote in an email to Johannes in January 1999, and thus began a great adventure that each year has managed to outdo itself.  Not long after, while dramming together in Amsterdam, Johannes floated the idea of my joining him in writing for Maltmadness.  He wanted to put together a team of international correspondents.  Several drams later I accepted.

Maltmadness did not create my interest in malt whisky, but it certainly has nurtured it, so when I sit down now to look at the year that has passed, it's no surprise that Johannes' international team, now called the Maltmaniacs, has had a central role in the highlights.  I enjoy whisky for its contemplative qualities.  I have never enjoyed inebriation nor spending money to feel awful.  Whisky affords me a past-time so disconnected from my daily life, so sensually pleasing and so intellectually stimulating that each dram almost becomes a mini-vacation.  And it's a discovery vacation I try to take every week.

That is why in 2001 I set myself The 52 Challenge.
My goal that year was to taste at least one previously unknown whisky each week.  It was a real challenge too, for in 2001, there were probably no more than 40 malt whiskies available for sale in Ottawa while across the river, in Hull, things were even more bleak.  As I drank number 52 that year, how could I have known that in 2003 I would sit down at a table at Tom Borschel's house with more than a hundred top-flight malts open in front of me? How could I have guessed that in 2003 Johannes and I, over a single extended weekend in Amsterdam, would sample that magic 52 previously untasted malts and that I would then take all I could carry home with me?  2003 ends, thus, with the solid belief that yet another unsurpassable year has just been lived.

March saw me in San Francisco for the World of Whiskies Expo.  This was my first real commercial whisky fair, and I must say I was positively impressed.  Lots of great whiskies were on hand to sample, but to my surprise, most of those attending hadn't a clue what they were tasting.  It was a night out for the local dating crowd and I watched in amazement as impatient girlfriends glowered at their dates downing wonderful drams like shooters.  The crowds around the tables were deep and some of the better bottles ran out early, but it was a great chance to taste new malts and talk with distillery representatives.  The highlight of the evening was probably the Talisker 25yo (OB), while the disappointment was Old Potrero.  This was my first taste of Old Potrero, and it was much anticipated, but the whisky just fell flat, reminding me of nothing so much as lime sherbet fleeing from my tongue.  At the end of the evening folks at one of the Irish whiskey tables offered me their left-overs including a nice portion from Connemara.  My overall impression?  If you can be there, do so.  It's crowded, despite controlled ticket sales, and it ends too soon, but there is so much to taste and learn.  This year the event will be moved to the Hilton and have twice the space so the crowding should be reduced.  Now if only they can find a way to have people queuing at the tables.

The whisky year began in earnest in April at Whisky Hill Dram Jam, Tom Borschel's annual PLOWED get together.  Although I had drammed with Dave Russo and Michael Wade in 2002, WHDJ was my first official Plowed event, and quite the event it was!  Peter Silver was there as were Michael Wade and Dave Russo.  Jay Stosky flew in from Germany, Alan Robinson from the west coast and Marty Brunet drove down from Montreal.  All in all, more than a dozen serious malt heads gathered at Tom's alter to add to and sample from a collection of some of the finest malts I have ever seen together in one place.  From among the hundreds, these are what I tasted that weekend:

74  Aberlour-Glenlivet 12yo (43%, OB, Bottled 1970's)
95  Ardbeg 27yo 1972/2000 (50%, Old Malt Cask, D 1972 November, B 2000 July, Sherry cask, 144 bottles)
97  Ardbeg 29yo 1972/2002 "Ardbegeddon" (48.4%, Old Malt Cask, D Oct 1972, B Nov 2001, 227 bottles, sherry cask)
95  Ardbeg 1975/1999 (46.7%, OB, distilled 26 Dec 75, bottled 20 Oct 1999, bottle 137 of 238, Italian Bottling)
95  Ardbeg 1976/2002 "Feis Isle" (53.1%, OB, Cask #2390, distilled 24 Nov 1976, bottled 27 Apr 2002, bottle 270 of 494)
89  Ardbeg 1975/2000 (43%, OB)
96  Ardbeg 1974 Provenance Very Old (54.7%, OB, bottle #1965, distilled 1974, bottled 199? (illegible)
88  Ardbeg 1977 (46%, OB)
92  Balvenie 15yo 1974/1989 (57%, The Prestonfield, casks 18103 – 18130, bottle 103 of 1200)
81  Ben Nevis 1991/2001 (61.1%, Blackadder Raw Cask, Hogshead #2622, 264 bottles, D 2nd Aug 1991, B Sept 2001)
80  Ben Nevis 26yo 1971/1997 (52.2%, OB, distilled 1971, bottled 1997, cask no. 4248, bottle 33 of 17)
93  Brora 30yo (52.4%, OB, no. 1064 of 3000)
86  Brora 19yo 1982/2001 (46%, Chieftain's Choice, distilled June 1982, bottled Dec 2001, sherry butt)
85  Bruichladdich 1993/2000 (43%, Blackadder, Spring distillation, BRU 1566, 440 bottles, D 29 April 1993, B Sept 2000)
93  Bruichladdich 18yo 1979/1997 (56.1%, Cadenhead's, distilled Mar 1979, bottled September 1997)
94  Bruichladdich 31yo 1970 (44.2%, OB)
89  Dailuaine 40yo 1962 (46.3%, Douglas Laing Platinum)
88  Glen Garioch 21yo 1965/1986 (43%, OB)
83  Glenlivet 17yo 1977/1994 (56.5%, Glenhaven) distilled March 1977 bottled October 1994
93  Highland Park 12yo 2000 (55.7%, OB) limited edition cask strength bottle 1194 of 2000
85  Highland Park 14yo 1988 (46%, Signatory) The Unchillfiltered Collection cask 709 bottle 109 of 361
86  Inverleven 1989 13yo (62.5%, MacKillop's Choice) single cask, cask strength sherrywood
80  Isle of Jura Superstition (45%, OB)
86  Lagavulin 25yo (57.2%, OB) bottle 3058 of 9000
87  Linkwood 1984 10yo (43%, Whyte & Whyte) single barrel (sherry cask)
94  Longrow 1992 9yo (57.2%, Cadenhead's) authentic collection
50  Port Charlotte clearic 40 ppm (a sample of the stuff Ralph Katznell obtained from a leaky transport pipe)
93  Port Ellen 17yo (61.7%, Cadenhead's) distilled Aug 1980 bottled Sept 1997
95  Springbank 1966 Local Barley (55.1%, OB) distilled Feb 1966 bottled Feb 1997
89  Springbank 1989 13yo Whisky Fair (Limburg) cask sample (not bottled yet)
93  Tomintoul 30yo (45%, OB) Stillman's Dram no. 39 distilled 1969 cask 5347 one of 298 bottles

I also sampled some vatted malts; Moidart 21yo Pure Malt (46%, Cadenhead's, 78 points) and Moidart 30yo Pure Malt (46%, Cadenhead's, 84 points).  Canada was represented by the Breton Hand & Seal Blended Canadian Whisky (40%, OB, Batch no I239-6, 70 points) and the Bush Pilot's Private Reserve 13yo Unblended (43%, OB, Cask #A045, Bottled 1982, 85 points).  I even got to try some mezcal; Del Maguez Single Village Mezcal/Chichicapa 1988 (47.8%, OB, 100% agave espadin).  Not scored but very, very good – well into the 80's on the enjoyment scale.  If some of these scores seem a little high, there were several factors at work.  Since the marks are based on enjoyability, the general ambiance and the company could not help but emphasize the general high caliber of malts.  Thanks Tom, for one of the most enjoyable and memorable weekends of my life in malts.

Every true malt maniac must make the pilgrimage to Scotland , and for me, 2003 was the year.
It was a whirlwind week of distilleries, malts and whisky shops, all brought together by the incredible hospitality of the Scottish people.  We met industry icons like Iain Henderson at Edradour, toured the Gordon and MacPhail warehouses (no coastal influences there) drew our own bottles from the cask at Aberlour and managed to taste more than 50 malts for the first time.
Here is a list of the ones I sampled:

78  Allt a Bhaine 1989/1999 (50%, Milroy's)
83  Ardbeg 8yo 1992/2000 (43%, Sig)
93  Ardbeg 24yo 1975/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
94  Ardbeg 27yo 1973/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
86  Ardmore 11yo 1992/2003 (43%, Sig)
80  Balblair 10yo (40%, G&M)
82  Balmanech 10yo (43%, Scottish Wildlife)
81  Banff 18yo 1980 (43%, Chieftain's)
84  Benrinnes 15yo 43%, OB Flora and Fauna)
78  Benromach 18yo (40%, OB)
82  Benromach 1973 28yo (40%, OB)
74  Blair Athol 12yo (43%, OB)
76  Brora 1982 (40%, G&M CC)
76  Bruichladdich 11yo 1986/1998 refill sherry (46%, Murray MacDavid)
82  Bruichladdich 1983/2001 Ceramic (46%, OB)
89  Bunnahabhain 1964/Feb 1990 25yo (46%, Sig)
85  Fettercairn 1970 26yo (57%, Sig)
82  Garneath Single Grain (47%, Humbrecht)
76  Glen Garioch 12yo (43%, OB) 
92  Glendronach 20yo 18.2.70/7.90 casks 513-518 (56%, Sig)
76  Glenfarclas 8yo bourbon cask (70%, single cask distillery sample)
78  Glenfarclas 8yo sherry cask (70%, single cask distillery sample)
81  Glenfarclas 8yo (70%, vatting of above two (Rosemary Daniels))
77  Glenfarclas 10yo (43%, OB)
82  Glenfarclas 105 (60%, OB)
81  Glenfarclas 21yo (43%, OB)
90  Glenfarclas 22yo (43%, OB)
90  Glenfarclas Milleneum 22yo (43%, OB)
84  Glenfarclas 25yo (40%, OB)
87  Glenfarclas 30yo (40%, OB)
77  Glenlossie 10yo 1989 (43%, MacGibbon's Provenance)
72  Great Outback NAS (40%, OB, Australia)
89  Lagavulin 12yo Special Release 2002 (58%, OB)
73  Lammerlaw (New Zealand) 12yo (50.5%, Meignons)
62  Lark's 3yo  ex-bourbon Jim Beam barrel(Australian)
66  Lark's Jan '03 4yo (Australian) Muscat cask
79  Linkwood 1968 b. 1996 (40%, G&M)
84  Linlithgow 1982/2000 (61.6%, Scott's Selection)
75  Lochside 10yo (40%, OB)
87  Macallan 1976/1995 (43%, OB)
64  McDowell's (Indian) Oak Matured Single Malt Whisky (42.8%, OB)
78  Nikka White (Japanese) (43%, OB)
75  Old Pulteny 1990 (64%, OB) cask strength
90  Rosebank 20yo 1969/1999 (60.1%, Rare Malts)
73  Royal Lochnagar 12yo (40%, OB)
79  Springbank 10yo (46%, 2003 distillery visitor's bottling)
65  Sullivan's Cove 2yo (Australian) (not the same batch I tried before) (40%, OB)
88  Talisker 8yo 1988/1996 (45%, Milroys)
78  Teannich 1982/1998 (40%, Gordon and MacPhail's Connoisseur's Choice)
81  Tomatin 21yo (43%, Culinaria)
82  Tomintoul 16yo (40%, OB)
90  Tomintoul 1966 30yo (52.7%, Sig)

2003 was also the year of the first MaltManiacs Awards, truly a milestone in my malt career.  The other Maniacs thought I was crazy flying to Amsterdam to participate in the awards.  The Americans arranged to have their entries delivered to them, but I know the problems of getting anything across the border into Canada, so felt I needed to make the trek.  In the end, I got my malts through customs, though not without a thorough (but respectful) inspection.  As I write this, some months later the competition is over and the American Maniacs are still awaiting their samples, so I'm glad I made the effort to pick mine up.  There's a Silver lining though for Peter who will get what's left of my share of the entries.

Picking up the awards entries in Amsterdam also afforded an opportunity to dram with Johannes.  While I had intended to get a head start on the awards malts, Johannes was determined we would work on filling in gaps in the Matrix.  After 8 seconds of heated debate I gave in and we set about working through Johannes' open bottles looking for those that others hadn't tasted yet.  Again some serious miles were added to my malt mileage:

78  Aberfeldy 12yo (43%, OB)
79  Aberlour 11yo 1989/2001 (43%, Aberdeen Distillers) Oct 1989/Sept 2001 oak hogshead
71  Arran NAS Non-Chillfiltered (46%, OB)
78  Auchroisk 1989/2001 Port Wood Finish (43%, Chieftain's)
74  Balmenach 11yo 1990 (43%, Chieftain's)
83  Balvenie 15yo 1985-2002 (50.4%, OB, cask #286)
86  Bladnoch 14yo 1989/July 2003 (53.6%, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection) bourbon barrel
95  Bowmore 1965 (50% OB)
87  Braes 12yo 1989/2001 (62.1%, Cadenhead's)
84  Braes 17yo 1979/1997 (58.1%, SigV)
88  Bunnahabhain 24yo 1979/2003 (45.7%, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection) 1979/July 2003 Bourbon Hogshead
84  Clynelish 14yo ,OB
68  Convalmore 16yo 1981 (43%, Ultimate)
86  Cragganmore 1976/1993 (53.8%, G&M)
75  Glen Albyn 22yo
87  Glenfarclas 15yo (46%, OB)
89  Glenfarclas 1983/2001 Family Reserve #4 (46%, OB)
82  Glenglassaugh 1986/1998 (40%, macPhail's Collection)
85  Glenglassaugh 1973 (40%, Family Silver)
72  Glen Grant 10yo (40%, OB, single malt, 1990's)
70  Glen Grant 10yo (40%, OB, vatting, 2000s)
74  Glen Mhor 12yo
78  Glen Moray 12yo 'Classic' (40%, OB)
88  Glen Ord UDRM
79  Glenrothes 1987/2000 (43%, OB)
74  Glen Scotia Full Proof (54%, OB)
84  Highland Park 12yo March 1989/Sept 200 (43% Aberdeen Distillers) March 1989/Sept 2001 Oak Butt
83  Highland Park 13yo 1989/2002 (56.4% Cadenhead's Authentic Collection) 1989/June 2002
90  Highland Park 18
79  Highland Park 22
71  Imperial 18yo 1982 (43%, Chieftain's)
69  Knockdhu 12yo (43%, OB)
74  Knockando 1986/1998 (43%, OB)
84  Lagavulin MurMac Mission
72  Ledaig NAS 'Peated' (42%, OB, Sherried)
68  Ledaig NAS 'Peated' (42%, OB, Un-sherried)
75  Ledaig 7yo 'Peated' (43%, OB)
77  Ledaig 20yo (43%, OB)
75  Linlithgow 18yo 1982/2001 (43%, SigV)
83  Littlemill 14yo 1989/July 2003 (61.9%, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection) bourbon hogshead
81  Macallan 10yo Cask Strength (58.8%, OB)
84  Macallan 12yo 1989/2001 (60.2%, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection) 1989/October 2001 sherry butt
77  Mannochmore 22yo 1974/1997 (60.1%, UDRM)
87  Mortlach 1989/2002 (43%, Coopers Choice, Sherry cask)
82  Mortlach 21yo (40%, Sestante)
87  Port Ellen 1982/2001 McGibbon's
91  Port Ellen 1979/2001 Annual Release 77 - Royal Brackla 16yo 1984/2001 (43%, Coopers Ch.)
90  Talisker Tactical
94  Talisker 20yo OB Sherry
80  Tamdhu-Glenlivet 10yo (58.9%, Cadenhead)
60  Tobermory NAS (40%, OB)
63  Tobermory 10yo (40%, OB)

(Click HERE for a full report of of the proceedings.)

Fittingly, the crowning glory of 2003 came in December.  With the competition over, but for compiling the results, and the year drawing to a close Serge invited the Maniacs to join his distilling day in Alsace.  For 15 years some of the top wine makers in Alsace have joined Serge in making eau de vie and this year was no exception with the product being a gewürztraminer marc.  Now I have to tell you, I'm pretty dedicated to my malts, but lately I have also been cultivating an interest in wines, and without a doubt my favourites are Alsacian gewürztraminers, so this was to be a real treat. 

The distilling day crowd was decidedly wine-oriented, but with so many Maniacs at hand, Serge had scheduled a major Brorathon along with a lot of free-style dramming.  Again, a long list of new malts was prepared, including an introduction to 8 stunners from The Bottlers, but for me the highlight was the distillation, particularly watching as true artisans renewed the still, collected the distillate and on second distillation selected the middle cut.  Gewürztraminer mark tastes a lot like other new make when it's running off the still, but being there making our own distillate also gave me the chance to taste the foreshots.  These are carefully collected, not for re-distillation as I expected, but to be used as liniment.  Now I know what I'm tasting when I taste liniment in a whisky!

So those are the highlights of 2003, but what of 2004? 
What's a new year without a few resolutions?  Well here are mine:

1. Aultmore
2. Ben Wyvis
3. Caperdonich
4. Coleburn
5. Glencraig
6. Glenesk
7. Glen Flagler
8. Glen Spey
9. Glenugie
10. Glenury Royal
11. Killyloch
12. Kinclaith
13. Ladyburn
14. Loch Lomond
15. Miltonduff
16. Mosstowie
17. Pittyvaich
18. Tullibardine

These are the distilleries from which I have not yet tasted any malts.
My first resolution for 2004 is to try at least one malt from each so I can complete my liquid tour of Scotland.  Second, I plan to continue expanding my palate; so many malts and so little time, to turn aphoristic.  At least I need to beat the 52 Challenge.  The year has started well on that count, for already I have experienced the peachy delight that is Jameson's 18yo and the exquisite pleasure of l'Orangerie with chocolate cake – two rare treats on the menu when I visited my friends Johanna and Charles.  And there's a new pub in town, The Highlander with 125 malts on the bar and a friendly barman who let me nose the Jura 36yo he sells for $100 a dram.  Fortunately he pours long drams. 

So, 2004 is shaping up nicely. 
Will it surpass '03?  Only time will tell, but already it's off to a great start.   

Davin
 

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E-pistle #09/04 - Highlights of 2003 
by Craig Daniels, Australia 

Highlights of 2003: A Trip to Scotland and a Convention Downunder

Where to start?  2003 was full of great malt moments, easily my busiest malt year ever; the malt mileage surged and I met some great whisky people, including three of the maniacs (Serge, Krishna and Davin) for the first time and such great scotch whisky ambassadors as Derek Hancock of Gordon & MacPhail, Ronnie Cox and Marion Ferguson of Glenrothes, Stewart Laing of Douglas Laing & Co, Bill Lumsden of Glenmorangie and spent quality time in the company of raffish raconteur and whisky polymath, Jim Murray in England (June) and in Australia (September/October).

Scotland in May was excellent, with the VIP treatment at Glenrothes and Glenfarclas memorable standouts and the own-bottled casks at Aberlour with the Malt Maniacs the stuff of legend.  Digging in with the Maniacs in our own cabin in Speyside was excellent too and there were some stellar malts, none better than the 20yo Glendronach that Davin found in Robertson's of Pitlochry.  It was also great to catch up with some other whisky luminaries such as Fiona from The Whisky Shop in Dufftown and Alex Kraaijeveld (malts-L regular and editor on Celtic Malts website).  While in Dufftown, I became a member of a very exclusive club when Fiona offered me a dram from a bottle from the very first cask filled at the Kininvie distillery - I'm pretty sure it was distilled in 1991 and drawn from the cask in 2002.  She did say it was definitely an 11 year old.  They had been watching over the cask and drawing cask samples every year or so, and she reckons it was at its peak at 9 years old.  I felt privileged to get something as unrepeatable as a 'first cask' sample from an 'unbottled' distillery, even if the whisky was on the woody side. I also got to try my very first Convalmore (a 20yo but I didn't get any other details.)  Eminently  forgettable as a whisky and just kind of reinforces why some distilleries didn't survive.

Being the chief organiser and main public face of the first National Malt Convention in Australia meant lots and lots of work and pressure, but there was a great sense of achievement once it was over and we'd made it work and we'd trebled our whisky networks with much more solid connections made with local and Scottish industry people as well as connecting with other Australian based whisky connoisseurs.  Having the opportunity to launch a brand new Australian malt whisky in Bakery Hill Single Malt Whisky was wonderfully serendipitous as well as personally rewarding, not in any material sense, but I like the idea of being a party to a little bit of history and the release labels are framed and hanging with pride of place on the Lyne Arm Malt Room wall.

In Australia, it was a privilege to spend nearly a fortnight in Jim's company escorting him around this wide brown land and sitting in rooms seeing him advise distillers and watch him present his chosen whiskies from blended through vatted malts, Irish and Single Malt scotch to eager audiences in four capital cities around Australia.  There were a couple of profundities (I can hear Jim protest, "what, only a couple??") worth sharing with a wider audience.  Jim has very strong views on water in whisky and while the argument that adding water to 40% spirit means it's no longer scotch is a wee bit facile, his other point that people put it in the bottle at that strength for a reason, so that's the strength that it should be analysed at and that it's the only way that different nosers can approach the whisky in anyway near identical circumstances are much more valid.

He also made a very good point (at least I thought it was profound) in that he tries not to hype his tasting notes and take too many liberties with descriptors.  He reckons people who exaggerate and hyperbolise tasting notes (and you know who they are - ever read anything from the more florid exponents and thought "what a load of crap"!) are actually showing contempt for their audience and have the potential to put people off as if new tasters can't find "bladderwort" or "mink" in a whisky will think that their olfactory equipment is less than optimal, when it just might be the tasting note writer who's at fault and off with the pixies.  More is less with tasting notes and I take Jim's advice to heart: don't be tempted to make things up because they sound cool, or are likely to give the in-crowd a laugh.

Having said that I can smell "eau de cologne" herbs in Glengoyne 21, "wintergreen" in Irish whisky like Jameson 1780 and I definitely can smell "Dunlop bicycle tyre repair kit" in Ardbeg's of a certain age and I will defend my right to use them as descriptors.  I also think a lot of descriptors are location specific so exactitude is not expected, but if people adopt an attitude and think it's smart to take the piss when they write tasting notes, then I think they are the bunch of smug but sad assholes, who aren't doing the malt world any favours.

I tried a lot of good to great malt in 2003, not least of which were the samples for the Malt Maniacs Awards.
Malt Whisky Highlights of 2003 (in descending order - MManiacs Awards malts highlighted in green):

94 - Caol Ila 20yo 1983 (55.4%, SMWS 53.64, January 1983)
93 - Millburn 1978/1997 (65.6%, G&M, Cask #3166)
92 - Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 (62%, OB, Sherry Casks)
92 - Port Ellen 24yo 1978/2002 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
92 - Ardbeg 17yo 1979 (62.4%, SMWS 33.46, Distilled November 1979)
92 - Ardbeg 27yo 1973/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, 240 bottles)
91 - Brora 30yo (52.4%, OB, Bottled 2002)
91 - Caol Ila 1988/2002 (40%, G&M Private Collection, Sherry Wood)
90 - Laphroaig 16yo 1987/2003 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, 276 bottles)
90 - Port Ellen 1982/2002 (40%, G&M Connoiseur's Choice)
90 - Talisker 25yo 1975/2001 (59.9%, OB, Bottle #1936)
90 - Macallan 18yo 1984 (43%, OB)
89 - Bowmore 22yo (43%, OB, Seagull Ceramic Bottle)
88 - Ardbeg 1977/2002 (46%, OB)
88 - Royal Lochnagar ??yo 1977/???? (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
88 - Lagavulin 12yo Special Release (58%, OB)
88 - Glenglassaugh 18yo 1983 (53.8%, SMWS 21.20, Distilled June 1983)
87 - Ardbeg 21yo "Committee" (56.3%, OB)
87 - Bruichladdich 17yo (46%, OB)

Other fun whiskies with a lot of admirable characters were Cutty Sark 25yo (45.7%, OB, 86 points), Glenrothes 1979 (43%, OB, 86 points), Bruichladdich 15yo (46%, OB, 85 points, hard not to like this as it even has a little whiff of peat along with the fresh straw, malt and honey) and the Isle of Jura Superstition (45%, OB, 84 points, a lot better than I thought it would be).

Craig
 

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E-pistle #09/05 - 2003 Wrap Up
by Louis Perlman, USA 

2003 was a relatively quiet year for me, and there were two major contributing factors. First, the state of the economy didn't leave me with tons of money for whisky acquisition. Not that I was poor or broke, just that I had to limit myself to spending what normal people would think was crazy. As for the second factor, there's an old saying that sometimes you look in the mirror, and you don't like what you see. After Serge's contribution in MM6 detailing his adventures to the far reaches of his collection, I got this uneasy feeling that something similar was awaiting me. And my intuition was corect. While compiling my Malt Mileage back in May, I discovered a total of 89 opened bottles!!

These were categorized as follows:

34 Current Bottles (Bottles that have been open for 0-2 years)
18 'Oldies but Goodies' (Older stuff that I really like, am in no rush to finish, and are either no longer available or too expensive to replace)
21 'Odds and Sodds' (Bottles that I don't have much interest in anymore)
10 bottles that may never get finished (Cask strength bottlings of uninteresting malts)
6 on the way out (Down to the last couple of drams)

So with limited funds and plenty of open bottles, the obvious solution was to drink down as many bottles as possible. The good news is that I managed to polish off about a dozen of them, with perhaps an equal number on the way out. By adopting a strict 'minimum 2 for 1' policy for opening new bottles, I'm slowly getting things down to a manageable level. Of course some simple arithmetic shows that this could take a decade or so, but that's another story.

The first highlight of the year was the tasting event with John Hansel , also published in MM#6.
And I also finished off the samples that I smuggled out of Whiskyfest in October 2002. As it turned out, I really did save (one of) the best for last, this being the Linlithgow 25yo 1974 (57.5% Scott's Selection). Since the UDV Rare Malts series isn't imported to the US, I've never been able to try Johannes' beloved Saint Magdalene 19yo 1979/1998 (63.8%, UDRM). If these two are anything alike, then I finally know why Johannes has made it his favorite dram of all time. The nose was quite perfumy. Body was firm, but gentle. The flavors were nicely presented, first some fruitiness that was a continuation of the aroma, and then some licorice candy. The finish was more of the same. Too bad I only had about 30ml, but I snagged one of the last bottles left in the US. Rating is 93 points.

After finishing my Malt Mileage in May, I was looking forward to the summer drams, but I had to wait a bit longer. We had Scotland weather in June, with rain almost every day, and moderate temperatures. The dram of the month turned out to be the Ardbeg 1978 (43%, OB). Yes, Ardbeg in June, who would have ever thought. But the weather straightened itself out by July. As a reward for finishing off various bottles, I allowed myself 2 new summer malts. First up was: Linlithgow 18yo 1982 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask). I had the bottle in my reserve stock and since it was a bit less expensive than the Scott's Selection, I decided to open it first. Very similar to the SS, giving up perhaps just a bit with the slightly lower proof and younger age. Rating is 89 points.

In the past, I've enjoyed the Scapa 12yo (43%, OB), a pleasant, non-demanding dram for warmer days. It had a honey and vanilla profile, although hardly the last word in complexity. Having read somewhere that Scapa does better at a younger age, I picked up the  Scapa 9yo 1991 (43%, Signatory, D&M club selection bottling). I didn't actually buy it from D&M, but that's what the sticker on the label said. And I paid $36.95 instead of $49.99 as well. Michael Jackson finds hay as a consistent element in Scapa, I didn't really detect in in the 12, but it was quite noticeable here, with the vanilla pretty much missing in action. The overall effect was quite pleasant actually, resulting in a better defined character overall. I'll raise the 12yo two points to 81 points.

Towards the end of the summer, I was trying to hook up with Peter Silver. We picked a date which turned out to be the evening of the great blackout of 2003. It took a while to reschedule, but the date ended up in early October, the Saturday night after Whiskyfest. Also in attendance were local whisky fans Todd and Jay, and also Dave Russo of Plowed fame. The evening was certainly a success. It was great to finally meet Peter in person, as well as his lovely wife Erica. Helping to keep things interesting was Peter's cat Ella, a tabby-tortoise shell mix, while Max, a white Persian, only made a brief cameo. Dram Central Station is most impressive. It's hard to think of any significant whisky that isn't there, and that's not even counting lesser known independents. However, I declined Peter's offer of any open bottle being fair game in order to avoid a repeat of my 2002 Whiskyfest fiasco. Therefore, I limited my consumption to bottles that were on the tasting table, and here is the list:

Glen Elgin 12yo (43%, OB '2003 release')
Longmorn 12yo, 1981 (43%, Whyte & Whyte)
Glenlivet 21yo (4?%, OB 'Briefcase')
Glenlivet 25yo 1975 (43%, Montgomerie)
Glenlivet 26yo 1972 (54.29%, OB 'Vintage' from 5 pack)
Springbank 30yo (46%, OB)
Talisker 20yo 1980/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask 'Tactical')
Talisker 25yo (59.9%, OB)

The Glen Elgin was a nice surprise. A middle of the road unsherried Speyside, a bit malty, with a touch of honey. This type of whisky is generally not available in the US, and would be quite welcome. I gave it an 81, a point up from my starting-to-get good malts. The Longmorn was very similar. Moving on, the Talisker 20yo 1980/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask 'Tactical') was my favorite of the evening. The peat was more restrained than the other Tactical that I've had, and there were some sweeter notes as well, probably courtesy of the bourbon cask. A really superb dram, I'll give it 92 points.

As for the Glenlivets, Peter had just picked up the Glenlivet 25yo 1975 (43%, Montgomerie), and I was very impressed. It was simply a very fine GL, similar in character to the 12, but a whole lot better. The 'Briefcase' came in a leather briefcase. It originally was supposed to sell for something like $600, but was being dumped for a fraction. It turned out to be way to sherried for my taste. The 1972 was sampled late in the evening, and was too strong for me to get much of an impression at that point. And speaking of which, late was when the Springbank 30 and Talisker were sampled. I really couldn't get much of an impression of the Talisker as well, due to the 60% ABV. The Springer was, well, pretty much exactly what would be expected of a 30 year old Springbank, but I didn't want to rate it without comparisons with a few other expressions, and I wasn't up to it at that point. However, I brought home a sample, and will find a good night to revisit it.

Moving on, I decided to allow myself to open a few more bottles. After polishing off a handful of Highland Parks, the 1977 and several independents, I decided to try the Highland Park 14yo 1988 (46%, Signatory 'Unchill Filtered, cask #709 bt249/361). Now as far as I am concerned, the Highland Park profile can be described as honey, smoke, and heather. My bottles of the distillery 12, 18, and 1977 all were very close, just displaying levels of goodness in accordance to price and age. The independents however, all seem to lack at least one element, usually the smoke. They end up more like Highlands, minus the Park. The Signatory does the best job yet, of approaching the distillery bottlings, although it is just a bit lighter. One odd thing, the body is lighter than I would have expected for something that is 'unchill-filtered' Rating is 85 points for now, it may change if I can compare it to one of the official versions.

Announcing Project 1984

Nothing to do with the book, but that's the year I got married in. With my 20th anniversary coming up, I've decided to acquire as many bottles distilled in 1984 as possible. More on that later, but I kicked off the project with the Bowmore 16yo 1984 (59.5%, Cadenhead). Here are The Malt Advocates tasting notes. Antique gold color. Aromas of peat smoke, damp earth, exotic pepper, vanilla, and fruit. Medium body. A great balance of flavors, with a lovely Islay character. The whisky begins sweet up front, ultimately turning pleasingly dry towards the finish. In between you'll enjoy flavors of peat smoke, vanilla, spicy pepper, and delicately honeyed malt, with just a hint of the sea. This is a very nice dram. I sampled it along with Bowmore 17yo 1983 (50%, Old Malt Cask) and Bowmore 10yo 1989 (46%, Murray McDavid). Both of these date back to late 2001, but I wasn't much in the mood for composing in the aftermath of 9/11 so they never got reported on. Both are bourbon casked, as opposed to the 1984 which is sherry casked. But with just the last few drams left of each, I really need to give them some attention.

So here is the deal. It is the Bowmore party line that only the distillery bottlings offer the 'true Bowmore character'. The independents just have to be a bit off. I'm not sure why this should be, as they all start off in the same place, but that's what they claim. Well, I can tell you with a 100% confidence level that the distillery's claim is nothing but hot air (peat smoke?). The two bourbon cask versions blow away the 12, 15, & 17, and I am a huge fan of the 15. The OMC is the best Bowmore that I have ever tasted. It still has some intensity left, but offers a very high degree of refinement. The MMcD has a lot of youthful exuberance. You get the standard dose of peat with some sweeter notes, probably from the cask, but the iodine add a subtle mean streak. The 1984 shows the effects of the sherry cask, but is by no means a sherry monster. But all three are unmistakeably Bowmores. The OMC set me back $72, but is no longer available, so buy on sight if the price is reasonable. The Murray McDavid I've seen it for around $40, where it is an automatic buy. Ratings are 92 for the OMC, 89 for the 1984, and 88 for the MMcD.

Around that time, the Brorageddon finally showed up. This was the third Plowed bottling, and is:
Brora 30yo,1972  (50.8%, Douglas Laing Old malt Cask)
It turns out to be a mixed bag (bottle?). The good news is that the whisky has aged very well, with plenty of character, and not a trace of wood. But it is also very heavily sherried, and the peat barely makes it's presence known. If someone had told me that it was a Macallan or Glengarclas, I would have been really impressed. But for what is supposed to be an intense dram, it falls short. I'm rating it 88, as this is really not my style of whisky. Having said all that, the Brorageddon is an excellent late night dram, and about half of the bottle is gone after only a few months. Go figure.

And to close things out, it's time for a bunch of Laphroaigs. Much as I love peat, I realized that I have been ignoring the peat monsters over the last few winters, so my pre-New Years resolution was to hit the peat as much as possible this time around. So I decided to open my liter of Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength (57.3%, OB) I had a sample for the Laphraoig JOLT), and I also acquired the Laphroaig 14yo 1988 (46%, Signatory 'Unchill Filtered, cask #3595 bt357/679). Just to make things exciting, I also dug out my Laphroaig 12yo 1984 (59.8%, Cadenhead) which was the Superheavywieght Champion in my Peat Monster Bash a couple of years ago. Back in early December, we had a preview of the cold weather that has settled in with us in January. Since we weren't used to cranking the heat up yet, I decided to try some liquid central heating, which provided the perfect opportunity to let the 'froig 'freesome show what it could do. The Signatory UCF is really the Laphroaig for those who don't like Laphroaig. Klaus would probably have very little nice to say about this mellow expression. My wife actually said that it didn't taste so bad, a compliment from her for a peat monster. Lets call this the 'introspective Laphroaig'. The Cask Strength is nothing new in these pages, and I really don't have much to add. A big improvement over the standard 10 year old, the last two bottles of which, have not impressed me a whole lot. But the Cadenhead one again struts its stuff. Throwing about great swirls of peat and iodine, it is the perfect cold weather dram. As for ratings, 85 points for the Signatory, 87 points for the cask strength, and 93 points for the Cadenhead.

That's it for 2003. I've got some good stuff in the rotation for the new year, some new 12 year old Springbanks, Ardbeg 1977, and the Compass Box Monster. Also some updates on Project 1984. Stay tuned.

Louis
 

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E-pistle #09/06 - Whisky Club Part 1: 8 Bimbos from Islay around the Pool
by Olivier Humbrecht, France

Launching a new whisky club sounds quite an easy thing to do. There are so many wine tasting clubs around, that a 'whisky' tasting club would be just another motive to gather a few people together. But then, when you go into the practicality of tasting whisky, it isn't that obvious. Serge decided to start the club with 5 members, perhaps up to 6. We would meet half a dozen times per year, changing location for each tasting. Every member brings 2 different malts (closed bottles). After the tasting, the remaining of the bottles is divided into sample bottles, giving the possibility to re taste all the malts later on. Not bad, no?

Our first reunion was held at Serge's main offices and marketing
headquarters: his terrace by the pool, under a warm May evening.
We were only 4 for the first evening, the fifth member being unable
to join us. Serge flew to Paris the very day, pretending to work, but
in fact he went there to pick up a few goodies to eat with the malts.

That was Friday 23rd May. Guess what happened the next day on
a remote Island of Scotland? I can't even mention it, because, as
much as I like Serge's terrace, I'd rather have been driving one of the
antique car of Mrs MacKenzie of Islay (the only car rental available)
towards a little remote cottage somewhere on the island, preparing
for the Islay Whisky Festival. (Arrghh, I mentioned it).

It was easy to choose our first evening subject: Islay single malts.
To start with panache, only 20yo or plus! Not bad either, no?

As soon as I knew this, I went frantic through my whisky shelves and started to list whatever was from Islay and over 20 yo. My classics are Ardbeg 1975 OB, Bruichladdich 20 yo OB, Bruichladdich 1970, Port Ellen 20 yo and 22 yo UDRM, but I was also curious to try some recent releases. I eventually fetched the highly praised Hogmanay Dram and a distillery release Ardbeg 1976. I knew this bottle meant a lot to Serge, because he… no I won't mention it again. Each time I mention the fact that they were lost with his suitcase coming back from Islay, he really gets sick. Don't you, Serge?  Serge: Oh thanks, Olivier! Here we go again! Anyway, thanks for having let me taste that great Ardbeg… I just hope that the robbers who stole my bottles appreciated the malt, and didn't drink it as if it was some Johnnie Red!

In order to prepare our palates, Serge brought a blind whisky he bought on the very day. I thought it could have been one of his weird findings at the airport, especially when I saw the white wine colour. The nose was elegantly surprising: very malty, yeast, little cask influence but quite aromatic. Palate is round, good length and some peat, not strong, but there nonetheless. Very nicely balanced and good introduction, could this be from Islay? Perhaps, since we were going to taste them after. Eh no, it was in fact Ardmore 11yo 1992/2003 (43%, SigV, cask 1374). Rating: 83 points. Serge: Yep, good whisky, eh? Some Ardmore bottlings are elegantly peated, and like Brora and Ledaig, Ardmore may make you think of an Islayer. I found some peach and melon as well. My own rating is 83 points, just like yours.

All the glasses were tagged with the whisky names (yes, one glass per whisky, in order to be able to compare them during the tasting) and we could start. We decided to taste them from the low to high peat and maybe keep the oldest for the end. Serge: I really think that having all the glasses in front of you is a great experience, because you can compare #1 and #5, #8 and #2, etc. Then, your ratings and ranking get much more precise!  I did also let some round glass lids being made for us, so that the whisky won't evolve too quickly in the glass.  By the way, Olivier, thanks for having brought the dozens of glasses!

Number 1: Bunnahabhain 20yo 1980/2000 (54.8%, Prestonfield, sherry butt #9063)
Yellow gold colour. Glorious and intense nose. Dry fruits, Christmas cake, pears, light and beautiful peat. What a start! Absolutely fantastic. The palate is just as intense, nice peat. Finishes very elegant. To drink! Elegant sherry, giving a round sweetness on the finish. 90 points. Serge: yes, I liked that one very much as well. Agreed on the nose. I found the palate to be just a little too woody, too drying, but it's superb whisky, still. I got a little salt on the finish as well. Now, knowing that The Prestonfield is a Signatory Vintage brand, I wonder how they decide whether one specific cask should be bottled as a Signatory bottling, or a Dun Eidean one, or a Prestonfield one. Anyway, my rating is 90 points, just like yours.

Number 2: Bunnahabhain "Hogmanay Dram" 1968/2002 (43.8%, OB Auld Acquaintance)
Amber colour, much darker. The nose is less powerful than the Prestonfield's, but develops slowly strong heather, grass, hay and again, a very delicate subtle peat. The nose just kept opening and became more and more interesting through the tasting (whisky needs air like wine?) Absolutely fabulous. The palate is elegant, dry, quite tough (seems more than just 43.8%) and powerful with a nice savoury/salty taste. Again, great sherry influence (dry fruits, apricots). Light smoky character, sea sprays and maritime influence especially on the finish. A must buy whisky! 93 points. Serge: oh yes, that one was fa-bu-lous! Very complex and refined, and I got a whiff of menthol as well… It made me think of the Auchentoshan 1966 OB we had together last year, or the Bruichladdich 1970 we tasted from the cask. In other words, it's just brilliant cask selection, I think. And yes, it is a must buy.
My rating is even higher: 94 points.

Number 3: Port Ellen 23yo 1979/2002 (43%, Sig Vintage, cask #5151)
Light white wine colour. The nose shows the classic rubber & peat combo, somewhat warm and still young and vibrant. The palate is balanced, fresh, soft, not too strong (I always take the 20yo UDRM as a reference). I guess it is a very good Signatory Vintage edition (worth buying) that made me think of a young Ardbeg. The finish is elegant, not powerful, with nice flowery character. 89 points.
Serge: true, if we had tasted it blind, we would all have thought it was a much younger whisky. Very delicate and flowery, besides the peat, of course. I think it lacks the power we're used to get from the RMs, but hey, here is some good news: all the remaining Port Ellen casks aren't just crappy! My rating: 88 points.

Number 4: Port Ellen 23yo 1978/2002 (54.3%, Sig Vintage, cask #5344)
Yellow colour. The nose appears very delicate, almost faint. Ripe apples, fruits, citrus and some sulphur notes. The peat doesn't show through, a least not for me, even after over an hour in the glass. Disappointing for Port Ellen! The mouth is powerful, dry cask character, some milky/lactic flavours. Finish is also very dry. The fact that I like a lot Port Ellen made my rating perhaps very severe on this one, but definitely less interesting than the previous one: 85 points. Serge: well, I was really disappointed. I thought the bad wood made it indefinite, and kind of "dirty". Nowhere near most of the other PEs I tasted. Severe? I think you were quite generous when rating it 85 points. I would go for 82 points – max!

Number 5: Lagavulin 23yo 1979/2002 (46%, MMcD "Mission")
Yellow white wine colour. Nose shows dry grass, hay, maritime with peat and salt. The peat is strong on the palate, but overall stays delicate. Again the nose needed time. (Again: is air needed for recent releases versus older ones?) Very good and long finish with smoke character. I really liked it. On its own, it appeared having a dry powerful, subtle palate. Unfortunately, the flavours weren't that intense and faded away against the Auld Acquaintance, and then the Ardbegs served just after this one. 89 points. Serge: agreed. It was very clean, but a little "constrained" for an old whisky. One could think it's a younger one, and perhaps the wood isn't a strong support enough here, for a "prestige" bottling. But it's much, much better than the 25yo OB, still. Again, my rating is the same as yours: 89 points.

Number 6: Ardbeg Provenance 1974 (55.6%, OB)
Mythical bottle. I could so far only admire the scores in the matrix! The colour is pure gold. Sweet, ultra intense peat, rich caramel, toffee. Fantastic sherry influence. I am not disappointed at all. This is great malt whisky. The palate is powerful, elegant, not dry but not sweet either. Strong peat, but nicely soften up by the sherry cask: nuts; dry fruits, mocha, vanilla, chestnuts, and heather/lavender on the finish. Really fabulous. 95 points. Serge: yeah! The perfect balance between sherry and peat. A masterpiece! Perhaps, I said perhaps, just a little lack of "finesse". But yes, it's worth 95 points. But thanks God we won't rate the packaging. Kitsch at its best…

Number 7: Ardbeg 1976/2002 (53%, OB distillery release, sherry cask #2390)
Dark gold, almost amber colour. Exxxtremely powerful peaty/maritime nose. Very strong, sharper than the Provenance. Strong heather, smoke, burnt green wood nose. Again, beautiful sherry and peat combination. Mega top mouth: long, dry with great cask influence. Absolutely fabulous. The finish shows burnt flavours and smoke. Wow ! 96 points. Serge: oh no, this is just crap. I hated this bottling. I can't understand why you rated it 96 points. Forget it! My rating: 69 points… Okay, okay, 96 points , you're right. But why did the f*cking Heathrow employees steal my suitcase? Booh-ooh-ooh… I had 2 bottles of that one in it… Booh-ooh-ooh…

Number 8: Bowmore 1965 (50%, OB, full strength)
Serge told me all about the story in finding this bottle in a pizzeria in Italy. I was impressed that he decided to open it. Actually opening an old malt can be quite a tough job, since the cork was very soft and crumbly. Thank god there is a dentist amongst our group who could exercise his skills and managed to remove the cork without any damage (the top part of the cork broke away, and the remaining was too crumbly to extract it with a cork puller). The colour is amber. Strong coffee, mocha and light peat on the nose. Very complex. Clearly shows some bottle age. Salt, caramel, sulphur, mineral and the palate. Develops vegetables, greens, burnt flavours on the finish. Long finish. Great style with plenty of personality. I'll never enter a pizzeria again without checking their drinks cabinet! 94 points. Serge: I'm going to tell you why I decided to open it: I remember when I bought the bottle in Italy for something like 85 Euros, Johannes was there. He was kind of jealous, I think, and he kept telling me, after a few days, that the bottle had been stored under the spotlights, that the level was somewhat low, and that the whisky might well have faded away… Or perhaps he was just teasing me like I tease him right now? To be honest, Johannes might have been right. So, I was really curious! Besides, I was the last member of the club to select the two bottles to open, so, after having seen that you already selected some Port Ellen and Ardbeg, I did want to go for something different… And although I've seen that this bottle goes for quite a lot of money at auctions, it was a pleasure to open it in such a great company. Anyway, yes, it was very refined and complex. My rating: 92 points.

At the end of the tasting, Serge, our host, couldn't resist in bringing another whisky: Brora 32yo 1970/2002 (58.4, OMC platinum). Great surprise! Light yellow colour. Very sharp nose, ultra powerful with apples/peat flavours. Superb palate, again with powerful peat, smoke, ashes, very mineral. Not to be ashamed against the champions we just tasted previously. The finish is very dry but not tannic, concentrated with complex peat and leaves the mouth with an oily rich sensation. What a great distillery Brora was ! 94 points.
Serge: Yeah, I always wanted to compare the best Broras to the best Islays, and that was the ideal occasion to do it. I think the 3rd Platinum batch isn't the best one, but it's great whisky, still. I do agree, they can compete! I didn't rate the Brora that time, but my former rating was only 89 points (Klaus did rate it 95 points). Perhaps am I too severe with what I like best? Anyway, we'll have a big-ass Brora session late this year, and we'll find out about the best bottlings!

This is the conclusion of our evening:
OH SV - Malt (ranked by average score):

96 96  - Ardbeg 1976/2002 (53%, OB distillery release, sherry cask #2390)
95 95  - Ardbeg Provenance 1974 (55.6%, OB)
93 94  - Bunnahabhain "Hogmanay Dram" 1968/2002 (43.8%, OB Auld Acquaintance)
94 92  - Bowmore 1965 (50%, OB, full strength)
94 89  - Brora 32yo 1970/2002 (58.4, OMC platinum)
90 90  - Bunnahabhain 20yo 1980/2000 (54.8%, Prestonfield, sherry butt #9063)
89 89  - Lagavulin 23yo 1979/2002 (46%, MMcD "Mission")
89 88  - Port Ellen 23yo 1979/2002 (43%, Sig Vintage, cask 5151)
85 82  - Port Ellen 23yo 1978/2002 (54.3%, Sig Vintage, cask # 5344)
83 83  - Ardmore 11yo 1992/2003 (43%, SigV, cask 1374)

Not bad! Serge: Absolutely, and the evening's average rating is higher than 90 points! It'll be hard to go on on the same level… Are we going to make it? Didn't we start too high? Only the future will tell…Anyway, what's sure is that we'll taste something rare next time: I have bought a mini of Ben Wyvis 1968 C/S for our next meeting…

AWESOME Part III:  8 northeasterners around the meat pie

Well, summer and autumn are over, snow is falling up the stork nests in Alsace, and it is about time for our third reunion.
Awesome ? I forgot to mention it. Our chief marketer Serge brainstormed himself over a weekend to come out with this new name for our club of single malt drinkers. My guess is that A is for Alsace, W has to be whisky, S for Single, M for ….I let you guess the rest! Serge: Well, awesome means awesome, period. Okay, it means Alsatian Whiskyfans' Extraordinary Society Of Malty Explorations', actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah, rather bore some…

This time the tasting was around a table and not beside the pool, a warm home-made meat pie helped us to settle our stomachs, and we were ready to explore this lesser known part of Scotland: northeast Highlands. Doing over 20yo Islayers to start with, followed by Islanders for our second reunion, we were choosing safe areas. I was personally curious to try malts from this part of Scotland, having been agreeably surprised by a few Ardmores recently, but I must say that we had only a vague idea on what to expect, What a jolly surprise it was !

As a starter malt, I chose a Macduff 36yo 1965/2002 (49.2%, Platinum, 516bt) which I have been enjoying the past two months. I really do not know why I decided to buy it, I just remember that it was part of the first platinum series that DL released. The nose is quite neutral at first approach, but gradually shows delicate flowery aromas. It has a powerful palate, with smoke, grain and wood spices. The wood is relatively well balanced for a whisky of this age. There are obvious tannins, but I didn't found them aggressive. It was a nice introduction to our evening. 87 points. Serge: pardon me, Olivier, I know this bottle should have cost you a pretty penny, but I felt it's easier to find out about what this malt isn't… It isn't peaty, it isn't too sherried, it isn't very woody, it isn't very fruity, it isn't too strong… Nor is it very subtle. Okay, I might be a little too severe here, perhaps because this Macduff did finish me off last time we had dinner together at your place. Yeah well, perhaps the litres of wine and malt I drank before had something to do with that, and the Macduff did simply put me out of my misery… While tasting the first malt, it took us a few moments to sort out the order of tasting. So we went from lower in alcohol, lower in sherry character and younger to the more sherried, higher alcohol and older.

Number 1: An Cnoc 12yo (40%, OB, new label)
This is a bottle that will be relatively easy to find. Pale yellow in colour, it shows nice grain, bread, flour aromas. This is by no mean a standard nose, it has a different character, well worth experiencing. The mouth has a great punch, is vibrant. Totally surprising, especially after the cask strength we tasted just before. Very intense and attractive, this will certainly go into my top 10 12yo OB. "This is a clever whisky made by clever people" Serge said ! 86 points (the group gave very consistent notes). Serge: oh yes, this brand new version of An Cnoc is so much better than the old An Cnocs or Knockdhus 12yo! A bang-for-your-buck malt, me think.

Number 2: Glendronach 13yo 1990/2003 (46%, MMcD, bourbon cask, 1/1990 – 2/2003)
This is a very interesting bottling of Glendronach, with no sherry at all. It has the classic pale colour of MMcD young malts. The nose is very pure and intense, developing liquorice, esters, dry beer. Again a malt with a strong personality. The mouth is vibrant, fresh and quite exciting with hay, anis, and some vegetal character. Some fruits (peach) at the end. Very seductive, well worth it and interestingly not sherried. "This is a young girl malt" says Jean-Jacques. I do not know if he thought that this whisky is good for young girls if they drink it or if he drinks it ! It is a very good dram anyway. 87 points. Serge: I agree! (Not about the girl stuff). Unusual versions of well-known distilleries are often interesting, but not always good. Like many unsherried Macallans or Glenfarclases. But this time, it works very, very well.

Number 3: Ardmore 21yo 1977/1999 'Centenary' (43%, OB)
I was looking at this bottle on my shelf since I bought it last year and was eager to try it, but also weary of its potential quality... Ooops, quite dark yellow orange color…is this a good sign? A quick nosing, and, yes, fantastic! Bitter orange peels, light elegant peat and smoke, some grain character. Fabulous complex nose. . The palate is quite spicy and round, not really long, but so pleasurable. The finish too was interesting, I thought that I could get some iodine/maritime character. Odd for Ardmore! I gave the highest mark of the group, but I really enjoyed this whisky. 91 points. Serge: yeah, yeah, that was good malt! I liked it much better than the 12yo 'Centenary'. I remember you were surprised by the fact that I didn't buy the 21yo when it was for sale at World of Whiskies Heathrow… Well, yes, it was a mistake.

Number 4: Glen Garioch 21yo 1965/1986 (43%, OB)
Héhéhé. I am very proud to say that I got this bottle for Christmas from my wife. I am sure that some other malt maniac from Turckheim helped her, but this was a brilliant finding. Thank you! The color is dark amber. Absolutely sublime nose, with walnuts, bee-wax, dust, caramel, toffee…great. The nose immediately made me think of the 1965 Bowmore we tried earlier in 2003. The nose is so amazing, that I really feared to take it in the mouth. I looked around the table, and when Serge said 'holly shit', I knew it was good all the way through. My first impression was a fantastic peaty smoky storm on the palate, totally unexpected on the nose, followed by mocha, spices and caramel. The length and power just blew away the three first whiskies.
Amazing for just 43%. Ab fab whisky. 96 points (in my top ten now). Serge: hehehe, you must introduce me to this other maniac from Turckheim. But hey, did I really say 'holly shit' when drink it first? Do you have the tape?

Number 5: Glendronach 25yo 1968/1993 (43%, OB, 100% sherry)
I really do not know what went through the head of the person who decided to write '100% sherry' on the label, because this whisky has a deep dark amber color. Leaving no doubt on how much sherry there can be there. Perhaps they produced 200% sherry whiskies. It is possible (some people do this with wines: 200% new oak). For whisky, one could imagine the first 10years in a fresh sherry cask, and then another 10 years in a fresh sherry cask. I am amazed that some innovative bottlers like Chieftain's Choice haven't thought about that yet! So yes, the colour is dark amber, the nose shows wonderful sherry character, not aggressive at all and very refined. The palate is rich, round with some tannins, but so well balanced. This was definitely bottled at the right age. Some vanilla and wine flavors on the finish. I wrote fantastic in big and underlined it a couple times. Unfortunately, it didn't quite compare it to the Glen Garioch in terms of complexity and power. 94 points. Serge: 200% new oak? Oh yeah, you're talking about Pingus, right? Anyway, if a bottler – preferably NOT Chieftains – tries your double-sherry trick one day, we'll know where it'll come from…

After those two oldie but goldie monsters, we were concerned about the next whiskies and in order to avoid loosing concentration and objectivity, we decided to have something to eat and rest our palates. No, in fact we were starving, and a good meat pie from granny was just what we needed at this stage of the evening… Serge: Olivier, your grandma should launch a mail order business! Her recipes are absolutely fantastic, and I remember certain maniacs who ate triple portions of her world-famous beckahoffe last time…

Shorry, I'fe got my mouf full.
Serge: Laughing out loud!

Number 6: Glendronach 26yo 1974/2001 (47.5%, OMC, 198bt)
This again should be an interesting unsherried bottling. Yellow/pale colour. The nose is very refined, almost tingling with a very young character. Some said that it is too discreet or even closed. I liked the austerity of the nose, and found some white fruits aromas, some grain/malt character. The mouth is quite powerful but also very subtle with some vegetal notes. I did say it would be difficult after numbers 5 & 6 and the meat pie! 86 points (the ratings were very inconsistent, going from 82 to 93!). Serge: Yes, I brought that one, and again, I had been attracted by the fact that it was an un-sherried version of Glendronach. I must say I didn't like it so much… It didn't have the 'cleanliness' of the Murmac we had before… And it was much steeper!

Number 7: Knockdhu 23yo (57.4%, OB)
We all spent at least 5 minutes admiring the packaging and the bottle of this whisky. We also hoped that the whisky inside would live up to our expectation. Often, the more ugly and deformed the bottle and the packaging are, the more interesting the whisky is. No? So I was very curious to try this one. And well, it proved that there are always exceptions to any theory. The nose is showing very interesting combination of peat and malt character. The mouth is ultra powerful, but classic and enjoyable. Great length, a little bit monolithic to deserve a 'great' status. 89 points. Serge: Again, agreed. Knockdhu/An Cnoc was one of the great revelations from that evening.

Number 8: Glenglassaugh 31yo 1967/1998 (55.8%, Silent Stills, cask 2893, 217bt)
Another of these distilleries that are not really inspiring. Jean-Jacques (he brought this bottle) told us that this was a heavily recommended bottle from his supplier? Yeah yeah, they all say this…but, wow, what a nose! Fresh cut grass, for Serge, it reminded him his 'smoking' days! Does anybody have any idea on what he meant! This malt has wonderful brain twisting smells of herb juice, very ripe apples, white truffle oil. The palate is complex, maritime. It finished quite dry and clean, with no heaviness or sweet character. Fantastic. 92 points (very consistent high marks from the group). It also went very well with my marinated prunes in Port Wood finish Laphroaig - the best way to drink any port wood finish whisky in my opinion... Serge: Erm… my smoking days were when I used to smoke two Partagas Lusitanias per day, no need to say. And if you go on teasing me like that, I'll never give you back the Brora The Bottlers you forgot at my place last time! Anyway yes, who'd have said we would rate a Glenglassaugh well above 90 points! Jesus ! I forgot about this one, I did think that I drunk it pretty quickly…

Number 9: Banff 34yo 1966/2001 (50.1%; Silent stills, butt 3437, 528bt)
Well, if you calculated correctly, there shouldn't be a number 9 (we were only 4 tasters), but clever Jean-Jacques admitted that he had this bottle in his car, just in case one of the other two he brought would be too disappointing. Well, both the Glendronach 1968 and the Glenglassaugh 1967 were exceptional, but hey! It doesn't matter, we had to try this one too, no? It showed a light amber colour. The nose was very 'rock'n roll' according to Serge. Sure, why not! It was actually very powerful and extravagant. Light sherry, some milk/old butter character (be reassured, not off), coffee, under-wood, humus. The mouth was elegant and easy, salty, round. Very nice malt and very consistent good marks. 91 points. Serge: yes, again, an exceptional whisky. And why 'rock'n'roll', you ask? Because of its year of distilling, obviously…

Uh ho! Jean Jacques didn't come with just one bottle back from his car.
He couldn't resist sharing his last purchase with us: Ardbeg 1974/2003 (43%, G&M).
I might certainly repeat myself, but Ardbeg aficionados should know that this distillery, the moon, the sun and the peat planet in the whisky galaxy were very precisely on a strait line in 1974. We are not really sure when this will happen again, but very serious investigations are being made by the distillery as I write these lines. They actually trained a dog whose job is to observe the sky 24/24 to spot this very precise moment. Have the people from G&M captured this magic moment in this bottling?

Nice yellow straw colour. The nose is nice and elegant. Gradually the peat comes in powerful waves, showing the textbook dry Ardbeg smoke. The palate is light, elegant. What a pity it is not a cask strength version. It really lacks the kick on the palate to deserve a higher rating. Light elegant should not be the description of an Ardbeg 1974. It is still a very good malt, but we didn't get the magic cosmic influence. 89 points. Serge: again and again, agreed. It lacked some power, but perhaps are we too used to cask strength Ardbegs now. I remember last time I tasted one of the 1975 OBs, I found it to be a little weak, while it had never been a state secret that I liked it a lot before.

So, this is the conclusion of our third session:
OH SV - Malt (ranked by average score):

96 96  - Glen Garrioch 21yo 1965 (43%, OB)
92 92  - Glenglassaugh 31yo 1967/1998 (55.8%, Silent Stills, cask 2893, 217bt)
94 90  - Glendronach 25yo 1968/1993 (43%, OB, 100% sherry)
91 91  - Banff 34yo 1966/2001 (50.1%; Silent stills, butt 3437, 528bt)
91 89  - Ardmore 21yo 1977/1999 (43%, OB)
89 87  - Ardbeg 1974/2003 (43%, G&M)
87 87  - Glendronach 13yo 1/1990 – 2/2003 (46%, MMcD, bourbon cask)
89 85  - Knockdhu 23yo (57.4%, OB)
86 86  - An Cnoc 12yo (40%, OB, new label)
87 82  - Macduff 36yo 1965/2002 (49.2%, Platinum, 516bt)
86 82  - Glendronach 26yo 1974/2001 (47.5%, OMC, 198bt)

Maximum 4 points between Serge and me. Not bad! Average of the Northeasterners (excluding the Ardbeg): 89 points! It would have been hard to do better than the Islay tasting, but, hey, nobody would have expected this from this part of Scotland. As Serge always says, 'small places, big whiskies'. Serge: Yes, again, it's been malt mania from head to tail. Thanks Olivier, till next time!

Olivier (& Serge)
 

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E-pistle #09/07 - A Malty Trilogy
by Krishna Nukala, India

I  - The Malt Maniacs Awards 2003

Another maniacal venture originated when Johannes informed us about the 2003 MM Awards.
that the Malt Maniacs would be awarding medals to the best malt whiskies in the industry and Serge was working on it silently towards the logistics. Serge had obtained many bottles from various distilleries and independent bottlers and his plan was to distribute these between the 12 maniacs scattered over the globe for ratings. He asked each maniac how the consignment to be sent.

Unknowingly Serge drove me into a depression. Because the last time Johannes sent me 6 samples, I received a show cause notice from the Indian Customs as to how I had illegally and without proper import license imported some liquid chemical samples from Amsterdam. I told the customs that they were urine samples of some of the weird human specimens from Europe who are habitual whisky drinkers and I was on to some experiment relating to their genetic disorders. The customs cleared the samples immediately. Since I thought that a repeat lie could be ineffective, I was in a dilemma as to how I should receive all these specimens. I could never allow all these  gems to end up in some lousy Indian customs warehouses unclaimed. Then Serge declared that that there would be some festivities in Turckheim like distilling Alsatian gewürztraminer at his home, visit to Olivier's winery and that Davin, Mark and Klaus along with his friends would be joining the party. Johannes informed that the awards tasting could be done at his apartment in Amsterdam followed by a drive down to Turckheim. It was an irresistible offer.

Obtaining a visa to Europe is a painful procedure.
One has to appear in person in Mumbai or New Delhi for a Dutch or
French visa. I did not want to go to Mumbai or to New Delhi for a
personal interview, as it would have involved a lot of travel; 3-4 days
at least. A clever travel agent came out with a brilliant idea that Austria
issues Schengen Visa without personal appearance and that after you
enter Vienna you are free to go any where in Europe. So I applied for a
Schengen Visa through Austrian Consulate in New Delhi and obtained
it within 4 days. So far so good. My route was as follows:
Hyderabad-Dubai-Amsterdam-Vienna-Amsterdam and back to home.

By now most of the European maniacs had received their samples
and were already finished with their part of the tastings.
So did Craig from Australia, Roman from Israel and Davin from Canada.
There was no news about the arrival of samples in the USA. My deadline
was to finish all samples in three days at Johannes place. Owing to my
Charlie Chaplin-like build I requested Johannes to show some pity on
my liver and asked for some extension of time. But he (like head master)
firmly refused. Johannes and Serge promised to our sponsors that the Malt Maniacs would declare the awards by evening of December 1, 2003 and the deadline had to be met. I learnt my first lesson: tasting malt whisky is no fun - it is serious business.

After a whole day's sightseeing in Vienna, I arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol airport around 6:30 PM on 29th December. My plan was to meet Johannes and Mark at Amsterdam Central railway station at the Burger King on platform #1. But due to some mix up I missed them at Amsterdam Central and managed to find my way to Johannes apartment (courtesy – a good Samaritan at Bullewijk railway station). Johannes and Mark arrived just a few minutes later.

After some warm greetings, usual backslapping and driving the Good
Samaritan out of apartment (who would have otherwise become
Johannes's permanent guest) Johannes ordered a Chinese rice plate
for dinner. We were down to serious business. It was already 11:00 PM
and I was dead tired. But Johannes is a tough taskmaster. Before the
final assault, Johannes declared the strategy. He would pour about 10ml
in his large goblets and the tasting would be blind. He had already tried
and rated all the malts and he would act as a master of ceremonies.
With plenty of water around, the tastings started on a quiet note.

The night of Nov. 29, 2003 saw us tasting 14 malts in the competition.
Although none of the samples could be identified, both Mark and myself
guessed all the Speyside malts correctly and in case of Talisker we placed
it in Islay. None of the notes and points was declared till the drams were
finished. Surprisingly, the scorings were uniform barring some exceptions.

The evening ended with a complimentary Loch Dhu 10yo (40%, OB).
Johannes, I shall never forgive you for this prank. It was my first Loch Dhu
and the colour carried me away. It tasted more like weak wine with lots of tannins. Cloying and fruity. Never saw such a dark whisky before and after 14 malts my mind was too tired to award points rationally. I gave the Loch Dhu 85 points and it made Mark and Johannes jump out of their seats. They looked at me as though something had seriously gone wrong with me. This was the highest ever rating given to a Loch Dhu as none of the Maniacs ever gave it beyond 70 points. The lowest, I think is as low as 11 points.

We also tried a 3-month-old whisky matured in a wine cask, supplied by Serge.  That one really blew me apart. It was a bomber on the tongue. The nose was like red wine, fruity with faint hints of smoke. There was no strength mentioned and we guessed Serge might have bottled at beyond 50%. We hit the beds immediately after. It was past 4:00 AM.

We started November 30, 2003 with a quick brunch and we were off. Johannes suggested H2H tastings.
I said: "I've never had any heart to heart tastings before". Mark and Johannes fell out of their seats again. Silly me, I don't know how many times I was going to make an ***hole out of myself. Anyway, having known what H2H means (Head-to-Head) we embarked upon our noble mission. As Johannes had tasted all the samples before, he came out with an ingenious way of pouring similar kind of blinds. Johannes, who was playing master of ceremonies, in fact is now toying with two helpless victims.
It was another marathon session - the tastings went on again till 4:00 AM.

The finale of the MM Awards was on December 1, 2003.
Twenty more malts to go and the tastings started very early after a hurried breakfast of bread and ommlettes. I can't give the details (we promised the sponsors not to reveal the losers or the number of entries) but I can tell you about some strange results with some award winners. When Mark and I sampled the Longrow 10yo 1993 (46%, OB) we thought it was an Islay malt, while we mistook the Lagavulin 16yo (43%, OB) and Lagavulin 1986/2002 DE (43%, OB) both for Speyside malts! Again the tastings ended around 4:00 PM and Johannes had to feed the data into the computer. He had to declare the results in consultation with Serge. No prizes for guessing the Unanimous Overall Winner: Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 Sherry Casks (62%, OB). All the maniacs scored it in 90s and I was very happy to fall in line with the guys, having scored 92 points for this exceptional malt.

Since we had lot of time left for the day and also for the next two days, Johannes let us have several other malts from his whisky collection to increase our mileage. "A big Thank you, Johannes", for all those wonderful malts.
(see Johannes' Log Entry #150 for an overview of the whiskies we tried.)
 

II  - The Journey; December 4, 2003

Johannes hired a car for the long journey from Amsterdam to Turckheim.
Since we had to reach Serge's place same evening to join the Brorathon, we started early at 9 a.m. From Amsterdam we headed towards Arnhem to enter the German border. Remembering the heroes of "A Bridge Too Far", the iconic examples of human bravery, we moved forward. Halted for a short brunch at Bocholt, a small town at the beginning of Ruhrgebeit. I had no idea that Germans eat so much for breakfast. I ordered something in German and a huge pig hoof landed on my plate with a mound of potatoe paste and my plate was overflowing with food. Despite my polite request to Mark to share my food, he refused to do so. "Sorry, Mark" if I had offended you. The journey continued and Johannes, by now was using the gas at 180 Kmph. The German Autobahns are really fast. At around 12noon we crossed Cologne and after half an hour I had a doubt that we were actually traveling backwards on the same road we crossed Cologne. I didn't dare to express my doubt to the head master who by now has all ready missed a couple of right exits. Anyhow, at around 2 p.m we knew, we were on a wild goose chase and despite our best efforts to follow a general southerly direction towards either Bonn or Koblenz, were actually heading north towards Düsseldorf.

Finally, we managed to take an easterly direction towards Holland and stopped at Venlo to take stock of the situation. By now, it was 4;00 PM. Since Serge and other Maniacs would be eagerly waiting for our arrival, we made a call to Serge to explain the situation. It was decided to abandon the plan of reaching Turckheim by car and instead try a different plan. So we decided to go back home and take either an aerial or a train route. Finally at around 9 pm we were back to pavilion. After a short and quick dinner we were drawing plans for another assault towards Turckheim. A few quick telephone calls to Amsterdam Central revealed that a train was starting at 11 p.m towards Strasbourg. If everything goes right we should be in Colmar by midday.

The journey involved changing trains at least at 5 stations and a long nightly stop-over;
11:00 PM Amsterdam – Utrecht. Change train to Eindhoven.
00:00 AM Eindhoven – Venlo.
01:00 AM Arrive at Venlo; wait for train to Düsseldorf.
04:30 AM Venlo – Düsseldorf. Change train to Cologne.
06:30 AM Düsseldorf – Cologne. Change train to Mannheim.
08:30 AM Cologne – Mannheim. Change train to Strasbourg.
10:30 AM Mannheim – Karlsruhe – Strasbourg, change to local train.
12:00 PM Strasbourg – Colmar.

As Johannes was totally exhausted and was not in a position to take any more journeys, he excused himself from joining the train trip to Turckheim. However, he was very gracious in accompanying us to Amsterdam Central and load us into our first train to Utrecht. Undaunted and unfazed by what has happened, the two missionaries proceeded on their mission. It was freezing cold.

Opera in Venlo

The train reached Venlo at 1 am and the next train to Dusseldorf
was at 4.30 am. We decided to spend the night inside the station
that was found to be relatively warm. It came as rude shock to
learn that the Dutch railway stations close during the night and
nobody is allowed to stay inside - not even two freezing maniacs.
A policeman was already on his way to drive us out of the station.
There we were, in the middle of a freezing night, on the open road,
without a place even to rest our bottoms. A statue in front of the
station said it all: 4 men frozen to death at Venlo waiting for a train.
Perhaps they didn't carry a bottle of Lagavulin. Just before leaving
his apartment, Johannes stuffed half a bottle of 16yo Lagavulin
into Mark's bag and whispered "just in case it is needed….".
It was the most sensible act of any of us during that day.
Was it "needed", Johannes? You bet!

Lagavulin straight form the bottle, John Wayne style in a Western Movie.
After a few gulps, the tenor came out of Mark. It was the highest form of natural adult male voice I had ever heard.
The town reverberated with the voice of Mark, singing Pagliacci with such an emotion that I stood spellbound. He sang different pieces of the opera explaining the meaning of each piece and tears rolled out of my eyes. Pagliacci could not have been staged at a better place ever before. The European Union Anthem was adopted at Strasbourg and how could Mark miss the Ode to Joy? The fourth movement of the 9th Symphony is always a joy to hear and Mark sang it so well. Then Mark forced me to sing. I was a bit shy at first. Since no body was around to hear my dreadful voice and with fire in my belly with Lagavulin, I burst into singing one of my old favourite songs – a revolutionary song written by Wolfgang Bierman during his days in erstwhile East Germany.

Soldat, Soldat in Grauer Norm
Soldat, Soldat in Uniform
Soldat, Soldat ihr seid zu viel
Soldat, Soldat das ist kein spiel
(The song goes on…)

Then a Bengali version of Old Man River written by Paul Robeson. How strange! Two mad men singing at odd hours of night in some foreign soil and in all languages except their mother tongues! The singing went on until we realized that it was time to catch train to Duesseldorf. Time just flew by. It was the first 1000-point Lagavulin ever tasted by any one.
 

III  - The Festivities

We arrived a little after noon at the Colmar train station.
With Christmas around the corner Colmar looked like a fairytale town
straight out of the medieval period. We were greeted by the Alsacians
and some of their guests; the picture shows (from left to right) Serge ,
Mark, Olivier, Klaus (lovingly glancing at his girlfriend Marlou hiding
behind Oilivier), Davin and yours truly . We enjoyed a little stroll in
the old town before settling for lunch at a typical French restaurant.
The restaurant was adjacent to the house where Auguste Bartholdi,
the famous sculptor of Statue of Liberty was born. The restaurant itself
must've been a cellar in the old days going back a couple of centuries.
Everything about Colmar is historical. After a hearty lunch, Serge and
Olivier drove us to Turckheim, a half hour drive from Colmar. Serge
arranged the stay for me and Mark in a small hotel, situated just a
7 minute walk from his house. Serge knew we were tired and permitted
us to take rest till evening. Around 8:00 PM he knocked on my door
announcing that it was time to head for DOMAINE ZIND HUMBRECHT,
the vinyard of fellow maniac Olivier. Great!

Olivier, the first Master of Wines in France was already waiting with the rest of the maniacs in the cellar of Domaine Zind Humbrecht. Under subdued lighting, in the bowels of his cellar Olivier lined up the best wines that Domain Zind Humbrecht produces not only in the province of Alsace but also in entire France. I would be fooling myself if I comment upon the tasting notes of the wines that Olivier produced in our honour during the evening. Even without possessing much knowledge on wines, I could vouch that the wines were of exceptional taste and quality and in pure malt-maniacal terms, they all scored above 90s. Although it was not permitted to swallow the wine in wine tasting sessions, I did go to corners to steal some full gulps. The stuff was too precious to spit.

The wine tasting was followed by a sumptuous dinner at Olivier's house. The Master Wine Maker is also a Master Chef. He cooked an Alsace specialty direct from his grand mother's recipe. Baekaoffa (baker's oven), a delicious stew of beef, lamb and pork cooked in wine with potatoes, onions and lots of herbs. With such good wines and food, it was ambrosia. After dinner we all gathered in the study for the final round of tasting of Olivier's collection of Malts. Olivier has an amazing collection of malts I had ever come across and he placed in front of us the following to taste:

86 - Linlithgow 26yo 1975/2001 (51.5%, Signatory Vintage)
84 - Ben Nevis 30yo 1971/2001 (55.6%, OB)
90 - Ardbeg 30yo (40%, OB, Black Label)
94 - Ardbeg 25yo 1975/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
82 - Bruichladdich 18yo 1983/2001 (58.8%, OB)
92 - Laphroaig 30yo (43%, OB)
90 - Laphroaig 40yo (42.4%, OB)
82 - Highland Park 17yo 1984/2001 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
89 - Highland Park 23yo 1978/2001 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC)
80 - Macduff 36yo 1965/2002 (49.2%, Douglas Laing OMC)
86 - Glenfarclas 21yo 1978/1999 (60.3%, OB)
78 - Glenfarclas 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, OB, Plain oak cask, June 1990/May 2001)
80 - Glenfarclas 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, OB, Olorosso cask, April 1990/May 2001)
82 - Glenfarclas 11yo 1990/2000 (46%, OB, Fino sherry cask, Feb 1990/May 2000)
96 - Brora 29yo 1972/2001 (59.5%, Douglas Laing Platinum Collection, 240 Bottles) - The best malt whisky I ever tasted!
85 - Glenlochy 49yo 1952/2001 (43%, Douglas Laing OMC) - The oldest whisky on the Matrix!

It was almost 3;00 AM and it was decided to call it a day (or night). Had it not been for early morning gathering at Serge's place the next day, the session would have gone forever. It was one of the most amazing days in my life.

The Moonshiners

The self-contained distillation plant (the picture at the right was taken
by Klaus' friend Michael) was brought to Serge's house the day before.
Serge's friends arrived well in time and already the white wine was flowing
by 8:00 AM in the morning. All of Serge's friends who came were connected
with wine industry in some way or the other. So, you have special wines
brought from the private cellars of master wine makers themselves.
 
Someone ordered fresh oysters from Brittany and the party started with
oysters with white wine and a dash of lemon. Could there be any better
way to start the day? After some greedy grabbing of oysters, one of the
inquisitive friends of Serge asked me, "Do you eat raw oysters in India?"
I did not know how to react or answer immediately. Since some varieties
of oysters, clams and mussels are available so cheap in India and form a
normal part of diet of some low income groups, I blurted out,
"Yes, but only poor people India eat them".
 
Having just spent a fortune on bringing the fresh oysters from Brittany,
the Frenchman simply did not know how to react to my strange reply.
He said "but we are poor people in Alsace".
 
By now the flame steadied and the machine was charged with local
gewürztraminer wine, out of which the final product would evolve.
See Serge's E-pistle #05/11 for a detailed account of the distillation
process or Klaus' report about Santa Klaus Day in Alsace for many
more pictures (and more details) of our Alsacian adventures.

During the entire day there was a steady stream of guests and it was very heartening to see such strong family ties. Everybody knew eachother in Turckheim. Since there were so many guests, help came from every family. Serge's wife was constantly at work in the kitchen helped by his dear daughter and friends. Variety of red wines was brought specially for the occasion and the festivities continued till late in the evening. By seven in the evening the second distillation was over and the distillate was brought for tasting. It looked like arrack with a fruity nose. The palate was better than the nose and at more than 50% abv, it was a bomber on the tongue. May be with some aging it could mellow down. Serge had already prepared the labels for the bottles with an apt name. WMD from Alsace! In the evening somebody mentioned that there was an opera singer in the group and  Serge had to ask Mark to sing for his friends. And so I had the honour of hearing Mark again and his Pagliacci. Very nice, but I thought the rendering of Pagliacci at Venlo was far more enjoyable.

The next day, after a sober breakfast at Serge's house, Mark and I bid farewell to his friends and especially his wife and children. Serge and his daughter dropped Mark and me at the train station for our journey back to Amsterdam.  Thus ended the festivities of Turckheim with fantastic food, fabulous wines, fantabulous whiskies and above all, fanatical friends. I cannot recall any occasion when I had so much fun in my entire life!

Krishna
 

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E-pistle #09/08 - 2003 Annual Annotations
by Johannes van den Heuvel , Holland

Well, 2003 was a big year for the malt maniacs, that's for sure.
For one thing, we organised the very first edition of the Malt Maniacs Awards and received lots of encouragement from 'the industry' in the process. It was particulary fulfilling to receive reports from some liquorists that some of the big winners of the MM Awards were going out of stock rapidly. So, it seems some people actually take our advice seriously. Actually, more and more people seem to do so; despite the crash of my hard disk in may 2003 and the arrested development of the site that followed, the number of visitors of MM has kept on growing steadily. I'm very happy that Scotchwhisky.com is sponsoring the hosting of the site, otherwise I would have to pay for all those gigabytes of traffic myself. You'll understand that I'd rather spend that money on malts instead....

On a more personal note, I got to meet two 'new' malt maniacs in real life this year.
I already had the pleasure of meeting Craig, Davin and Serge before, but meeting 'that little Indian bastard' Krishna was one of the highlights of our pildrammage to Scotland in may and june 2003. You can find a full report on our adventures (including distillery visits to Aberlour, Benromach, Blair Athol, Edradour, Glenfarclas and Glenrothes) in my Liquid Log Entry #140. If you're interested in some alternative views on our adventures, check out MM#7 for the reports by Krishna and Davin. I got to meet Krishna again in November when he flew to Europe once more for the MM Awards. That was also when I met American maniac Mark for the very first time. You can read all about our adventures (or at least a shorthand version) in Liquid Log Entry #150. Circumstances conspired against me joining the Alsacian festivities this year, so I missed out on meeting French maniac Olivier too. Not to worry though, we've already made plans to meet up in march 2004 in London for 'Whisky Live'.

I've already covered most major malt events of 2003 in my Liquid Log , so there's little point in repeating the same information in this E-pistle. However, I'd like to take a moment to take a look at some of last year's 'amazing discoveries'. At the top of the list we find several Ardbegs. The Ardbeg 1976/2002 'Feis Ile' (55.6%, OB, 94 points) was bottled especially for the 2002 Islay Festival and it's a real beauty. Definitely worth a trip to the Islay Festival, because that's the only way to get yourself a bottle. Fortunately, there are some splendid alternatives available for most of us who lack the time or means to hop over to Scotland on a regular basis. Even though it was bottled in the 1980's, you may still be able to find a dusty bottle of Ardbeg 1974 'Provenance' (55.6%, OB, 93 points) at some liquor stores. If you do, I suggest you go for it. The Ardbeg 21yo 'Committee' (56.3%, OB, 92 points) was bottled in 2001 so that one should be much easier to find. Why not take to opportunity to find out why we awarded this one a gold medal in the 2003 MM Awards? The Ardbeg NAS 'Uigeadail' (54.2%, OB) was released shortly after the submissions for the MM Awards closed, but I got the chance to try it a few weeks ago. Its style seemed quite different from the 10yo and 17yo bottlings; a worthwile addition to the range. My score for the first dram from the bottle was 89 points, but that could go up a notch after the bottle has broken in. And those were just the official bottlings. So far I've tried three different Douglas Laing OMC Ardbegs that were distilled in the first half of the 1970's and all of them easily made their way into the 90's. They were Ardbeg 24yo 1975/2000 (50%, DL OMC, 713 bottles), Ardbeg 25yo 1975/2000 (50%, DL OMC, 702 bottles) and Ardbeg 27yo 1973/2000 (50%, DL OMC, 240 bottles). I don't often say this, but in the case of these old OMC Ardbegs I think a street price of more than 100 Euro's is not unreasonable.

I also got to sample the 'pizzeria' Bowmore 1965 'Full Strength' (50%, OB, 95 points) that Serge picked up in Milan when we visited Giorgio d'Ambrosio in 2002. I was pleasantly surprised by the heavy sherry character. This old school Bowmore (it was bottled in the 1980's) is very different from the modern day expressions I've tried; much more complexity and none of the unpleasant soapy notes. Quite an exquisite 'blast from the past'. Apart from this Bowmore and the Ardbegs there was one other Islay malt that caught my eye in 2003; the Bunnahabhain 34yo 1968/2002 'Auld Acquaintance' (43.8%, OB, 90 points). The nose was simply stunning and if it hadn't been for the relatively weak palate it might have scored even higher. The Port Ellen 23yo 1979/2003 (46%, Wilson & Morgan Barrel Selection, Butt #6769, 91 points) was absolutely fabulous as well - another sherry monster with a powerful bite. Meanwhile, the affordable Laphroaig 10yo 'Original Cask Strength' (57.3%, OB, Green Stripe) is still going strong. Maybe my score of 94 points is influenced slightly by its utterly charming price (around 50 Euro's for a litre), bit since that means that I can keep enjoying this dram for a few more years to come I'll stand by it.

So, plenty of Islay malts on my 2003 hit list - no big surprises there.
But what about the rest of Scotland? Well, if we were to follow the coastline of Scotland in a clockwise manner, we would eventually wash up on the shores of Skye. And that's where they make Talisker. There were two expressions that really hit me in the nuts this year; the 'non plus ultra' winner of the 2003 MM Awards Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 (62.0%, OB, Sherry Casks, 9000 Bottles) and another OMC beauty, the Talisker 19yo 1980/2000 'Tactical' (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask, 348 Bottles). Following the coast of the mainland further east, we arrive in the Northern Highlands where we find Brora. I sampled my very first Brora's a little over a year ago at Serge's place and it didn't take me long to figure out why he loves the whiskies from this legendary distillery so much. At the moment, my favourite expressions are Brora 19yo 1982/2001 (50%, Silver Seal, Sherry, 240 Bottles), Brora 20yo 1975/1996 (60.75%, UDRM), Brora 24yo 1977/2001 (56.1%, UDRM), Brora 28yo 1971/1999 (50%, DL OMC, 283 bottles) and the OB that was submitted for the 2003 MM Awards; Brora 30yo 1972/2002 (52.4%, OB, 3000 bottles). My personal favourite Brora ever (at least so far) was the Brora 29yo 1972/2001 Platinum II (59.5%, DL OMC, 240 Bottles).

I've made no other amazing discoveries in the Northern Highlands this year (nor the Western or Eastern Highlands for that matter), so I guess Speyside is our next stop. I love sherry monsters, so until last year the highest scoring Speysiders on my Hit List were produced by Aberlour and Macallan. This year, I found two fabolously sherried whiskies that proved that there's more to the sherried side of Speyside than Aberlour and 'Big Mac'. The Longmorn-Glenlivet 1971/1999 (57.8%, Scott's Selection, Sherry Casks, 92 points) and the Glendronach 20yo 1970/1990 (56.0%, Signatory Vintage, Casks #513-518, 91 points) both made it easily into the lower 90's. Although none of the Braeval bottlings I tried made it into the 90's, I think we can qualify the Braes of Glenlivet distillery as an amazing discovery as well. All bottlings on the matrix made it into the upper 80's, even the relatively young ones. When you ask an experienced drammer about his favourite 'underdog' Speysider you're most likely going to hear names like Ardmore, Linkwood or Mortlach. Well, as far as I'm concerned Braeval/Braes of Glenlivet plays in the same league. I really can't grasp why the owners mothballed this distillery in 2002. I can understand the closure of distilleries like Benriach and Glen Keith, but I strongly feel Braeval deserves better.

Following our trek south, we finally arrive in the Lowlands.
The Saint Magdalene 19yo 1979/1998 (63.8%, UD Rare Malts, 95 points) still reigns supreme on my Hit List, but last year I found another fabulous expression; the Saint Magadalene 24yo 1978/2002 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, 504 bottles, 91 points). Please note that that score applies to the big 70cl bottle. A 'refill wine treated' version with the same vintages in their 20cl 'Advance Sample' range was very different - but very interesting as well with a score of 86 points. Another remarkable Lowlander that didn't quite make it into the 90's was the Inverleven 1989/2003 (45%, G&M, Bulky bottle, bottled for La Maison du Whisky, 87 points). Quite spectacular! It has to be the most 'coastal' Lowlander I've ever tried - and it could very well be the best G&M bottling I tried so far as well.

Unfortunately, most of these whiskies are quite old and they will cost you a pretty penny.
So, any amazing discoveries in the 'bang-for-your-buck' area? Well, yes! I already mentioned the Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength. I haven't tried the 'Red Stripe' version yet, but with a litre of the 'Green Stripe' going for 50 Euro's I'm not shedding too many tears about the 're-invention' of my old favourite Lagavulin 16yo. Most of the new 'Port Ellen' bottlings still offer pretty good value, but if the rumours about UDV's new policy (more accessible profile, higher prices, limited supply) are true it seems they are about a decade late. Ten years ago there were hardly any alternatives for the Lagavulin 16yo in that price segment, but these days things are very different. More than 50 Euro's for a 'dumbed down' Lagavulin that will only make me cry about what was lost? No thank you, I'll save myself some money and go for an Ardbeg (10yo, 17yo or Uigeadail will do just fine) or Laphroaig instead. Or one of the many, many independent bottlings available these days - I've tried some fabulous Islay malts from Murray McDavid and Douglas Laing.

Speaking of which... I have to mention Wilson & Morgan as well.
I didn't know this independent bottler from Italy until they submitted half a dozen bottles for the MM Awards. They are not regularly imported into Holland, although I've seen some of their bottlings at De Still. It's a crying shame we can't get them, because some of them did very well indeed. I already mentioned their fabulous Port Ellen 23yo, but for a pennypinching Dutchman bottlings like the amazing Macallan 12yo 1990/2003 (57.5%, W&M, Cask #8748, 89 points) and Glenrothes 1990/2002 (46%, Wilson & Morgan, Sherry Cask) might be even more interesting with prices below 50 Euro's. Their 'House Malt Born on Islay' did very well at the awards too, but that's a 'bastard malt' and the recent change from Lagavulin to Caol Ila illustrates why we don't include those in the matrix.

And what about affordable OB's?
The Balvenie 12yo Doublewood (40%, OB) won this year's 'Bang For Your Buck Award'. A great dram at a great price, unlikely to offend anybody. It seems hard to find a decent, affordable Macallan OB these days (well, except for the 10yo C/S of course) and the Glendronach 15yo I used to love is becoming scarce. That means that the faces of sherry lovers around the world have turned their blurred gaze towards Aberlour. All batches of the A'bunadh I've tried scored between 87 and 90 points, but with current prices around 75 Euro's it isn't the bang-for-your-buck whisky it once was. You might want to check out the Glenfarclas 150 instead. If peat is your thing and you want to expand your horizons a bit, I can suggest the Connemara NAS Cask Strength (59%, OB) from Ireland or even the Black Bottle blend. Both offer good, peaty value.

And that concludes my 'quick & dirty' review of 2003.
Please check out my Liquid Log for tasting notes and further reflections on the whiskies I mentioned.
Or, better yet, jump to the next E-pistle of MM#9; Santa Klaus Day in Alsace.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

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E-pistle #09/09 - Santa Klaus Day in Alsace
by Klaus Everding, Germany

Klaus' (rather uniquely formatted) report about his Alsacian Adventures is published on a seperate page.
Click HERE to read the full report.
 

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E-pistle #09/10 - A Very Malty 2003
by Peter Silver, USA 

Peter's comprehensive review of 2003 is published on a seperate page.
Click HERE to read Peter's full report.
 

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E-pistle #09/11 - No 2003 Review
by Mark Adams, USA

Mark's E-pistle covers some of his tastings of his second visit to Amsterdam, in January 2004.
Click HERE to read Mark's report.
 

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