Davin and Roman already wrote E-pistles dealing with their Awards
experiences for MM#8, but so far none of the maniacs reported on
the Alsacian adventures. Well, you'll be pleased to know that this
issue offers three different perspectives on D-day in December.
Davin and
Krishna have included notes on their experiences in their
reviews of 2003 while Klaus has dedicated an entire E-pistle to the
event. And what an E-pistle it is... For some mysterious reason he
decided to submit his report in the form of a short screenplay.
Or maybe it's a libretto... Or maybe it's a musical...
Anyway - it's fun (and it has plenty of pictures).
You can find the full contents of MM#9 in the column at the right. Sweet drams,
I think there isn't a single report without at least a few malts
scoring in the 90's, so if you have a limited whisky budget like
myself it might be best to leave this site while you still can.
Reading about all those wonderful malts you won't be able
to sample yourself can cause intense emotional stress,
not to mention feelings of envy and despair ;-)
Johannes van den Heuvel
Certified malt maniac
Most of the other E-pistles in MM#9 are more 'traditional' reviews
of the year that was 2003. Serge
kicks off this issue with a fairly
philosophical report from the beaches of Agadir, Morocco. After
making up the balance, he felt that 2003 was a great year indeed.
Michael wrote his review under very different weather conditions,
but finally arrived at the same conclusion as Serge - and most of
the other maniacs, for that matter. 2003 has been kind to us...
2003 was a big year for the maniacs. First of all, we had our very
first official team visit to the land of plenty in 2003. And it won't be
the last; knowledge was gained and fun was had by all. A few months
after we returned from Scotland the preparations for the first edition
of the
MM Awards started. And right after the awards results were
published, six maniacs gathered in Alsace, France for some serious
dramming and some 'live' distilling.
E-pistle #09/01 - 2003: Peaty or Pity? 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. Okay, you're still with us? Good! Time to start with an Ardbeg 1978/1999 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice) then.
And while we're talking about bitterness, let's evoke one first anecdote that happened last year.
Phew, I need another Ardbeg now. No Chieftains Ardbeg on our program - good news for them, I guess. Which brings me to another magic period of 2003: the malt maniacs' trip to Scotland. This one is an OB that's sort of underestimated: the Ardbeg 30yo 'Very Old' (40%, OB, Allied bottling). 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). 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).
Stormy? Oh, yes, another great memory from 2003… 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). So, here's my advice: whenever you're heading towards Ibiza, By the way, this last Ardbeg will be the Ardbeg 28yo 1972/2000
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). 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.
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'. 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)
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. 2003 was an important year for
Edradour 10yo 1992/2003 (46.0%, OB Signatory Un-Chillfiltered, Cask 387, Bottle 323/497, 750ML)
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
Suffice it to say, Iain's departure was bittersweet. I attended the Manager's Ball at Bunnahabhain distillery during Laphroaig 10yo 1990/2001 (60.6%, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection, Bourbon Barrel, 192 bottles, 750ML) 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
Sound improbable? Sound impossible? Sound unimaginable? Read on, if you dare…. The Macallan 1926. YEAR BOTTLED: 1986. AGE OF WHISKY: 60 Years Old
Yes, you read it right. "High orders", "…Only be sold as part of a full collection"… The Macallan 15yo 1984 (43.0%, OB, 750ML)
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. Michael J. Wade
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E-pistle #09/03 - 2003 In Retrospect "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
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)
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 78 Allt a Bhaine 1989/1999 (50%, Milroy's) 2003 was also the year of
Picking up the awards entries in Amsterdam also afforded an opportunity to 78 Aberfeldy 12yo (43%, 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? 1. Aultmore
These are the distilleries from which I have not yet tasted any malts. So, 2004 is shaping up nicely. Davin
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E-pistle #09/04 - Highlights of 2003
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
94 - Caol Ila 20yo 1983 (55.4%, SMWS 53.64, January 1983)
Other fun whiskies with a lot of admirable characters were Cutty Sark 25yo (45.7%, OB, 86 points), Glenrothes 1979 (43%, OB, 86 points), Craig - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - E-pistle #09/05 - 2003 Wrap Up
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 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
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
Glen Elgin 12yo (43%, OB '2003 release')
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:
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 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E-pistle #09/06 - Whisky Club Part 1: 8 Bimbos from Islay around the Pool
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? That was Friday 23rd May. Guess what happened the next day on It was easy to choose our first evening subject: Islay single malts.
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?
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. Number 1: Bunnahabhain 20yo 1980/2000
(54.8%, Prestonfield, sherry butt #9063) Number 2: Bunnahabhain "Hogmanay Dram" 1968/2002 (43.8%, OB Auld Acquaintance)
Number 3: Port Ellen 23yo 1979/2002 (43%, Sig Vintage, cask #5151) Number 4: Port Ellen 23yo 1978/2002 (54.3%, Sig Vintage, cask #5344) Number 5: Lagavulin 23yo 1979/2002 (46%, MMcD "Mission") |
And talking about freshness, I remember my sister-in-law Marion,
Our first reunion was held at Serge's main offices and marketing