Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Clynelish 14 year old

No less an authority than Jim McEwan of Bruichladdich has stated his opinion that Clynelish is a fantastic malt that too many people overlook. Clynelish is part of Diageo's line of Classic Malts (so is Talisker and the surprisingly good Glenkinchie). The standard bottling at the moment is the 14 year old, which is 46% alcohol by volume. The color is deep gold, almost orange it seems to me. The nose is rich, with tangerine rind, some smoke as water is added, and light sherry notes. The texture is oily, thick and coating on the tongue. With water I get some pears too and a little bit of woodiness. A very good malt.

The distillery has an interesting history (check out the Malt Maniacs link on the right side of my blog or the link above), but perhaps the most intriguing is that for a period of time it went by the name Brora (from 1969-1983 according to Diageo). The two distilleries were side-by-side for a period of time, actually, and my one experience of Brora (a 31 year old, I think) was of a much smokier, peatier malt than Clynelish. Untypical of a highland malt, I guess, but as I have learned, regions of Scotland do not doom a malt to taste a particular way or meet a specific profile. Peaty, smoky malts can come from anywhere.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Alt-a-Bhainne vs Glenfarclas

This is not an exact head-to-head of Alt-a-Bhainne versus Glenfarclas, but it is close. I tasted the Alt-a-Bhainne (which is predominantly used in Chivas blends, not bottled as a single malt) on two consecutive nights and then transitioned to the Glenfarclas on the second night for a comparison.

The Alt-a-Bhainne is a Duncan Taylor bottling from their NC2 (non-chill filltered, non-colored) line of single malts. It was distilled in 1992 and bottled as a 14 year old in 2007 at 46% ABV. (The distillery was closed from 2002 to 2005, but after an ownership change production restarted and was ramped up). The color is quite light, almost straw colored. It has a slight medicinal smell before any water is added, but otherwise it was difficult to detect anything. The taste is full, coating the tongue, and not overly strong. Once I added water I smelled a little bit of apple, but not much else. Despite my long time spent over this one, it left me disappointed. The nose doesn't develop very well and the taste, though full, doesn't evoke much.

The Glenfarclas is the distillery official bottling at 12 years old and 43% ABV. The first thing I noticed was the rich, gold color. The nose (un-diluted) has honey, toffee, maybe burnt sugar, and some peat. It tastes full bodied and coats the tongue well, though feels stronger than 43%. After water is added the nose develops more. Still honey and sherry (it is sherry-cask aged, after all), but now some flowers come out and what seemed like fondant/wedding cake. The nose is rich and full; the sherry rounds it out without overwhelming.

From my description I'm sure you've guessed that the Glenfarclas is the winner. Well worth the time to enjoy this malt. I've heard good things about Glenfarclas 105 (the cask-strength release), but haven't found a bottle yet.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Aberlour A'bunadh

The A'bunadh from Aberlour, whose 10 year old is a fantastic malt, is a cask strength whisky in a 19th century style bottle (basically shorter, squatter, with a wider mouth). My bottle came from batch 18 bottled in 2006 at a strength of 59.7% ABV. The color is quite dark, almost a deep rich crimson. It seemed to smell like a bourbon at first (which is funny, because I believe it is only aged in sherry casks). The nose is quite sweet --- like a port, but not quite. It's got a cough-drop smell, maybe some eucalyptus.

After adding water it gets softer, but the sherry still comes through strong. There's a slight bit of smoke. It's very rough going down, even with water. I added more, but you need to go a long way with the water to keep it from dragging the grappling hooks the entire way down your throat. This is powerful stuff that makes you gasp if you're not careful. I added more water and got a slight bit of mint.


This is not a subtle drink. Supposedly distilled to be closer to the 19th century standard, it makes me worry a bit about the Macallan 1851 Inspiration I bought in Seoul airport -- that's also supposed to be a 19th century-like whisky. Since the Inspiration is only available in duty frees, though, I plan to hold onto it.

Bowmore Legend

Bowmore Legend is sold in most markets without an age statement, but is supposedly an eight year old. Its youth shows. This is a light, straw-colored whisky that needs a lot of time to develop in the glass. My first impressions were of new sneaker and rubber bands or latex. The legend was very closed the first night I tried it. Adding water didn't add much to the nose. A first taste revealed light smoke and a sharp finish. I could tell it would eventually become a Bowmore like the 12 year old, but more time in a barrel is definitely needed.

The second night I poured a dram and let it be for more than an hour before I even attempted to try it. In fact, I was closer to 90 minutes before I took my first whiff, which yielded much more of the traditional Bowmore nose. Some fruit came through, green vegetation and maybe sherry. Still some plastic. Finally some faint peat and smoke, but not a lot.

An interesting dram, particularly to see what a Scotch is like early in its career, but I would not choose this as a regular drink.