E-pistle #02/01 - An interview with Mark 'Bruichladdich' Reynier
by Serge Valentin, France

Our fresh French correspondent Serge Valentin managed to get hold of Mark Reynier in London for an 'exclusive' interview. Mark is one of the founders of Murray McDavid and Managing Director at the recently re-opened Bruichladdich distillery on Islay. Mark offers us tons of refreshing insights in the whisky industry and reveals what we can expect from Bruichladdich in the future.

The interview is published on a seperate page; CLICK HERE to read it.
 

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E-pistle #02/02 - Diary of a Mini Malt Safari
by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada

Monday - I'm off!

Dear Diary,
What an exciting morning and how unexpected the outcome.  I'm off to Africa, nearly two whole days to get there, so, dear diary, you can imagine my delight when I eventually made it to the counter and was told they had oversold the flight and I was to be upgraded to business!!  But, and here's the best part:  being in business class I got to sample Air Canada's finest service including, can you believe it, Johnnie Walker BLACK label and Air Canada's ultimate Scotch - Glenfiddich 12yo.  A difficult decision, but eventually I decided to go for the single.
Here are my tasting notes:

Glenfiddich 12yo (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  I know it's not politically correct to do so, but sometimes I like the malty, sour apple juice nose.  It's certainly more present than the palate turns out to be. The palate is malty, bland and alcoholic.  Later a touch of soap sneaks in.  With the cold salmon they served it was quite sweet. Kind of like 7Up, but much easier to order in French.
This tasting won't change my MMMatrix rating of 66.

Tuesday

Dear Diary,
Landed in Paris this morning, too late to make a connection to Yaounde so I'm here overnight.  Sounds great, but it's rainy and cold.  Anyway my hotel is not too far from La Maison du Whisky, so if the desk will lend me an umbrella I just may walk over.

And they did, and what a wonderful shop La Maison turned out to be.  They have a great selection of whisky, including a Signatory Linlithgow miniature I've been looking for everywhere.  Only trouble is it was part of a set of about 36 minis and they wouldn't sell it by itself, so there it still sits.  Darn.  They also had two different Ben Wyvis bottlings.  I mean the old Ben Wyvis, not the knock-off.  That's another malt I've been trying to track down, but the prices were just outrageous, so I guess I'm still looking.  I did pick up a weird Aberlour.  It's a 12yo double casked version I've never seen before.

What really excites me, though, is a new whisky glass.
Yes, I think I have finally found something I can really drink malts from.  It's called the Pure Glass and is exclusive to La Maison du Whisky.  Unlike those mincy little tulips that come with the Glenmorangie sampler pack, these are big heavy-based tumblers, but still with the tulip shape.  And, they have a nice little dimple in the bottom that spreads the whisky out around the edges and really should help to increase and focus the nose.  While at La Maison I picked up a good selection of mini bottles for the trip.  I'd try one tonight in my new glasses, but I've had my whisky for the day.  A Balvenie Islay Cask they were sampling at La Maison.  Another whisky I've heard lots of good things about.  Here are my tasting notes:

Balvenie 17yo Islay Cask (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  It was a blustery day and my nose may have been a bit below par.  The initial nose was typical Balvenie - rich honey, but where's the smoke?  The Islay touch was not noticeable at first, but soon little hints of smoke crept in. Palate: not much smoke and no Islay character until the finish where the smoke made its strongest showing.  A medium finish at that.  A nice Balvenie with pangs for Islay in the finish.
Score:  79

Wednesday

Dear Diary,
Arrived in Cameroon today.  The air was hot, humid and thick with floral perfumes.  This scent almost defines tropical Africa and it nearly knocks you over getting off the plane.  Yaounde is covered in the typical red dust of West Africa.  People here are typical Africans; helpful, and friendly with quick, broad smiles and lots of time to talk.  It's been a long day and once checked in I'm ready for a relaxing contemplative.
Let's see, how about Balblair 16yo?

Balblair 16yo (40.0%, OB)
Nose: Richly malty, nutty, salted licorice.  With water it's weaker, but still malty. Palate:  It starts out a bit harsh then becomes slightly sweet and a bit oily.  It's hot, slightly bitter and a bit spicy with just a flash of ginger.  There's smoke hanging in the background.  With water it gets that contradictory mix of astringency and oiliness.  It's a spicy, hot malt with the feel, but not the taste of peppermint. Finish:  Medium to medium long.  Hay, malt, grain. Empty glass:  Malt, grain, slightly sour.
Score:  75

Thursday

Dear Diary,
Spent the day in Yaounde.  Wow, colourful people everywhere.  A woman in a flowing yellow and brown print caught my eye.  Her dress was designed and printed to commemorate a celebration in her village.  There are lots of modern buildings, but there's poverty as well.  It's a bustling town and I've been told not to wander too far from the hotel for fear of being mugged.  Bummer!  Looks like an interesting place and smells wonderful with charcoal cooked meats everywhere.  Back at the hotel it's time for Connoisseurs Choice Craigellachie 1974.

Craigellachie 1974 nas (40.0%, CC)
Nose:  A bit dry, malty, a slight apple ciderish sourness.  Fresh apple juice then becomes malty.  Later, a hint of bleach.  With water the nose is dominated by dry grain. Palate:  Rich, oily, malty, hot and spicy.  Warming in the back of the throat.  With water it is sweeter but slightly bitter on the end of the tongue.  There is a mild metalness. Empty glass:  Rich grain.
Score:  72

Friday

Dear Diary
Friday, and what an exciting day it's been.
Ignoring the advice not to stray too far I wandered down dusty, twisting streets and ended up buying a multi-coloured African suit for about $10.00 from a street vendor.  He also told me about a Cameroon-made whisky and I got right on its track.  When I finally found it, far from the hotel, I was disappointed to learn it was a simple blend of imported Scotch and local cane alcohol.  The price was outrageous and changed constantly, but worked out to about five times what they wanted for a bottle of JW Red.  I declined and made my way safely back to the hotel.  There my day ended with a 1yo Arran spirit, which was surprisingly better than the 2yo Arran I had tried a few years back.

Arran 1996 1yo cask strength spirit (61.5%, OB)
Colour:  Pale white wine.  Surprisingly coloured for a one year old.
Nose:  Very fruity, sweet and sour, malt, very spirity - nose tingling.  Mildly malty with a hint of silage and dry grain.  With water the nose sweetens up a bit.  A hint of licorice creeps in but it's still spirity. Palate:  Hot, spirity, burns the tongue.  Malt, overwhelming spirit.  Middle becomes quite sweet and malty, then grassy.  Bananas.  Burning spirit kicks in after less than a second.  Burning spice, slightly floral.  After adding only a few drops of water, you can taste the water itself.  Then come pine needles, malt, and alcohol - spirit.  There's a lot of alcohol and an overture of lake water.  A suggestion of sweetness to come.    It's much better than I thought it would be.
Finish:  Medium sweetish, grassy finish.  Becomes malty.
Empty glass:  Mild caramel.
Score:  40

Saturday

Dear Diary,
Lowland whiskies are not that numerous so today I thought I would have a go at a Lowland head to head with Inverleven and Glenkinchie.  It was a neat experience, and I really enjoyed it, but first let me tell you a funny story about what happened when I was at the airport in Ottawa.  Standing in the interminable check in line, suddenly there was a kerfuffle over in business class.  I looked over and there, believe it or not, was Richard Robinson, the fashion designer.  You know, he designs dresses for the wife of that guy who knows the guy who invented word perfect.  Anyway I guessed he was late for his flight, as Air Canada attendants were escorting him right to the front of the line.  And right there, ahead of all the high-tech moguls and ministers his fey little assistant rushed up with a clipboard of papers for him to sign.  Yes, Dear Diary, right there in the line next to me, Richard Robinson signing all manner of button orders and swatch approvals, I could only imagine what his life must be like.  So, Dear Diary, imagine my ecstasy when I learned I was being bumped up to business!!

I saw him later waiting in the lounge, ankle-length fur coat now draped over a chair, hair extensions pulled back in a silver-blonde ponytail and suddenly I realized we were on the same flight.  Up front with Richard Robinson, all the way to Paris!!  Now, Dear Diary, I must remind you I am a sensible, middle-aged, married man who loves his wife and country and has no unnatural proclivities, but being so close to greatness I just couldn't help imagining us sitting there in row 1, and the conversation strays to whisky and next thing I know he's promising to do a dress for my daughter's wedding, if only I'll teach him the intricacies of peating, the nuances of sherry, how to tell a Dallas Dhu from a Loch ditto.  He's class; he must love whisky.

And now, Dear Diary, the funniest part.
He never showed up in the forward cabin.  No, he was flying economy!!  Yep, they upgraded me and let him sit in the back!!  All that flap was just so he wouldn't have to stand in line!!  Anyway he got off in Toronto so we never did get to talk whisky and my daughter, if she ever decides to get married, will have to settle for something from Winners.  Anyhoo, I was amused.
But back to my Lowland HTH:

Inverleven 1985 nas (40.0%, G&M)
Colour:  Very pale.
Nose:  Grassy, spirity, nose prickly, ether.  Not much nose to start out - no complexity, primarily alcohol.  The grass comes back vividly as fresh cut hay.  The nose develops over time becoming quite pleasant and pronounced with essences of dry timothy hay and fresh alfalfa and just a hint of must.  You have to wait for the nose to develop and at first, you'd write this one off, but it's worth waiting for.  With water the nose becomes very weak, but sweet with bananas, coconut and a hint of malt.  Later on it develops some grass.
Palate:  Sweet, bitter and spirity.  Hot and warming.  Again, not terribly complex at first.  Tingly but not spicy.  Becomes slippery in the middle with some nutty malt.  With water the palate is just slightly sweet and spicy then becomes a bit bitter.  The middle becomes grassy with a bit of marshmallow.
Score:  Started lower but moves up to 75

Glenkinchie 10yo (43.0%, OB)
Colour:  golden
Nose:  A hint of smoke - rich and complex.  No real nose tickle.  A hint of iodine and a bit of apple juice.  Dried fruit, malty, estery, dry caramels.  With water the nose is sweet and rich with a hint of ash. Palate:  Again, a hint of smoke - nice and spicy.  Quite hot and warming.  With water the palate is sweet and slightly smoky with malt and spice.
Score:  79

Sunday

Dear Diary,
Well the HTH went so well yesterday I think I'll try another.  This time I'll put the Inverleven up against Glenkinchie DE.

Inverleven 1985 nas (40.0%, G&M)
Nose:  Still grassy, but today there is some clover and used tea bags.  Once again, the nose disappears then comes back.  Becomes sweet and candyish.  There's lots of nose development but the overwhelming smell is grass.  With water the nose is spirity, malty and still grassy. Palate:  Sweet, malty and grassy.  Warming, but no spice.  A bit watered down.  With water the palate is sweet with a touch of spice.
Score:  75

Glenkinchie 1986 Distillers Edition, Amontillado finish (43.0%, OB)
Colour:  Dark amber. Nose:  Malt, tobacco, dry, warm esters.  Very rich but not much nose tingle.  Cigar box, a hint of smoke, fruitcake.  Sherry, dry fruit, fruity cake deserts.  With water the nose has smoke, tobacco and a hint of fruit. Palate:  Sweet, rich, complex.  Some smoke, a bit of spice.  Smoke, tobacco, wood.  Malt appears in the middle.  With water, a sweet, mild smoke - the smoke develops in the middle. Finish:  Medium-long, becoming smoky.
Score:  82

Monday

Dear Diary,
I've started on the Classic Malts, so tonight, another head to head.  This time, the Cragganmore official bottlings.  Now if you're wondering why I didn't do an HTH with the Glenkinchies, don't be impatient.  Just jump ahead to a week from Wednesday if you can't wait.  There's no logic, it just seemed more like a Cragganmore night. Cragganmore H2H.

Cragganmore 12yo (40.0%, OB)
Colour:  Deep gold. Nose:  Dry, sweet, fruity, some esters, a hint of smoke and a mild maltiness.  Drier than the DE. Palate:  Sweet, hot, malty and then maltier in the middle.  Spicy with just a mild hint of smoke.  Sweet and spicy.  Quite warm in the back of the mouth and throat.  With water, malt, smoke, slightly sweet and fruity.  Sweet and spicy - smoke and a slight hint of licorice. Empty Glass:  Malt, smoke, antiseptic - like absorbine junior.  The antiseptic dominates.
Score:  78

Cragganmore 1984 Distillers Edition Port Wine finish (40.0%, OB)
Colour:  Amber - darker. Nose:  Dry, fruit, esters, port, dried fruit.  Richer, rounder and much fruitier that the 12yo.  Floral hints, cloves, baking spices.
Palate:  Sweet, fruity, lots of body.  Hot and spicy, especially on the tongue.  The port wood is overpowering making the malt less complex by muting some of the subtleties.  Very flavourful, but not that great.  With water it's sweet and spirity.  Overall a bit too sweet and winey. Finish:  Long fruity malt. Empty glass:  Malta, the honey-malt drink of Guyana.  Fruit and just barely a hint of smoke.
Score:  72

Tuesday

Dear Diary,
My last day in Cameroon and I'm sorry to leave.  This is the Africa you see in the old movies, dark, lush, tropical and ever so inviting.  The people are friendly and giving.  Tonight I'll say goodbye with a distillery I've never sampled before.

Glenturret 1988 The McPhail's Collection (40.0%, G&M)
Nose:  Malt, rotten fruit, tobacco, chicken shit, warm esters, pig barn, overwhelming smell of poultry.  With water, grassy. Palate:  Sweet, rich, slick, a bit spicy.  With water sweet and spicy. Finish:  Medium, sweet and malty.
Score:  75

Wednesday

Dear Diary,
Flew overnight to Paris, then on to Tunis.  Crappy flights, and abusive service, but typical of Air France.  They have good food, but abominable service and no decent whisky on board.  Tried to complain when I got to Charles de Gaulle, but the Air France rep simply handed me a form without looking up and told me to put it in writing.  I've flown a lot of airlines, but Air France and Egypt Air are the only two I actively try to avoid.

Thursday

Dear Diary,
Well it seems kind of naughty drinking whisky in a Muslim country, but they served me Tunisian beer in the hotel restaurant so I have decided it's okay to continue my mini malt safari here in Tunisia, starting tonight with a repeat of my Cragganmore Head to Head.  Mmmm.  The air is dry here.  Tunis is on the Mediterranean, but also right on the edge of the desert and maybe this has affected my senses.  These are the same Cragganmores I tasted in Cameroon and they taste generally the same, but the new environs have given rise to new descriptors.  It's kind of neat to be able to do the same HTH in a totally different climate, so soon after the first.  I hope you'll note the similarities and differences in the two tastings.  Sort of like a geographical head to head!

Cragganmore 1984 Distillers Edition Port Wine finish (40.0%, OB)
Nose:  Dry, sweet, fruity, slightly warm, fruitcake, esters.   With water, brown sugar and more fruitcake. Palate:  Sweet, hot and spicy, fruity.  The sweetness is a bit overdone and overpowering.  With water it's still sweet and fruity with a bit of spice - floral. Finish:  Medium-long, sweet and fruity.  With water still sweet and fruity but just a hint of smoke emerges well into the finish.  Long, warm, sweet, tingly - no wood. Empty glass:  Fruity and sweet.
Score:  72

Cragganmore 12yo (40.0%, OB)
Nose:  Dry, grassy, malty.  Slight nose prickle.  With water, dry, sweet, slight nose tickle.  Smokier, sharp and grassy. Palate:  Sweet and malty with a bit of smoke.  Flowers, sugar water, spice.  With water, still sweet, but much more smoky.  It's better with water - more smoke and licorice.  A bit of spice, sweet and grassy. Finish:  Long, sweet, smoky.  With water, spicy and malty with a hint of smoke.   Empty glass:  Not much.  A bit sweet.  Antiseptic.
Score:  78

Friday

Dear Diary,
Well as long as I'm started on Classic Malts head to heads, how about going on to Islay?  It's chilly in Tunis, not like the steamy tropics I left in Cameroon, and I need a strong drink today after having lunch in a little roadside stall where fresh-dead sheep hung from the ceiling dripping blood onto the cement floor not ten feet from where I lunched on the only thing on the menu - mutton.

Lagavulin H2H:

Lagavulin 16yo (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  Dry smoke, a typical medicinal Islay.  Malty by comparison to the DE.  Licorice, warming.  Both fresh and musty at the same time.  Hay, barn, smoke.  Drier and less warming than the DE.  Sweet and smoky, warm esters, black licorice, medicinal.  More malty than the DE.  With water, malt, smoke, dry and still medicinal.  A well-used saddle.  Horse barn.  Some spirit, bleach, fruit.  Smoke, - sweet smoke.  Kippers, grassy malt.  All in all, quite a combo. Palate:  Islay smoke, spice, very warm in the mouth.  Ashes.  Gets sweetish.  Lots of smoke.  With water sweet then quickly smoky.  More licorice - black licorice, spicy.  Earthy.  Hot and spicy in the middle. Finish:  Long, long and smoky sweet - really sweet and smoky.  With water long, smoky and sweet.  Ashes. Empty glass:  Sweet, mild smoke.
Score:  86

Lagavulin 1979 Distiller's Edition Pedro Ximenez finish (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  Dry again, less smoky; a hint of smoked meat, leather.  Gets smoky and tobaccoish with a suggestion of fruit.  Warming esters, quite rich and flavourful.  Dusty, touch of nose prickle.  Pipe tobacco 4-square curlies - pink, fresh-dug clay.  Strong kippers, dried fruit.  Richer and more fruity than the 16 yo.  With water, smoky and estery, sweetish, tobacco box.  Sweet and sour, tobacco, smoke. Palate:  Sweet, fruity, spicy and then smoky.  Becomes sweet and smoky like the 16 yo, but keeps the fruity background.  Slightly astringent, tobacco.  With water, warming, smoke and spice.  Less fruit and more smoke.  Sweet licorice early in the middle then more smoke and ash.  Muddy, earthy.  Lots of spice, smoke and earth in the middle. Finish:  Long, sweet and quite smoky.  A hint of ashes after a long time and slightly metallic.  With water, still long, warm and smoky sweet.  More ashes. Empty glass:  Sweet, brown sugar.
Score:  89

Saturday

Dear Diary,
Visited Carthage today.  It's just amazing how old this place is.  They're starting to renovate and it really struck me how little respect Christian sects have had for their predecessors.  I wonder if Jesus came back if he'd die of embarrassment at some of the things people do in his name.  I can just imagine Jesus and Mohammed sitting up there in heaven talking politics and both wishing they'd used aliases while on earth.  Anyway after a wonderful feed of cous cous at Sidi Abu Said it's back to the hotel for a Talisker H2H.

Talisker 1986 Distillers Edition Amoroso finish (45.8%, OB)
Nose:  Sharp and prickly.  Barely smoky, very dry, some warm esters then the smoke comes - way in the background.  Pipe tobacco,  Sweet with a suggestion of fruit, then fudge later on.  Fruit and red wine.  With water, sweet, esters and alcohol, old leather, maybe some smoke.  Chocolate and fruit. Palate:  Sweet, fruity, hot and peppery then sweet and tobaccoish.  Muddy, spicy and hot.  Becomes fruity in the middle then some liqueur-like esters, with a hint of metal.  Fruity and slippery.  Less pepper than the 10 yo.  Sweet tobaccoish middle like an unlit cigar dipped in port.  A hint of metal.  With water, sweet, fruity, spicy, and smoky then hot.  Tobacco in the back of the throat. Finish:  Long, sweet and a touch of smoke.  With water, long and smoky. Empty glass:  Smoky, sweet, fruity, musty - quite sweet - candy.
Score:  89

Talisker 10yo (45.8%, OB)
Nose:  Immediately smoky then dry and dusty, then a bit of sweetness in the background.  Rubbery, fruity esters, a hint of alcohol.  Becomes quite rich and smoky.  A hint of bleach.  With water the nose is prickly, smoky, warm and rich.  Black licorice.
Palate:  Sweet first then spicy, then muddy smoke.  Sourish licorice.  Slightly metallic.  Quite hot, smoky and peppery in the middle with a hint of malt.  A slight sweetness - like an Islay sweetness.  Stays warm.  With water, sweet and hot.  The smoke stays in the background.  Much hotter and spicier than DE. Finish:  Long, fading, smoky and slightly sweet.  With water, long, sweet, smoky. Empty Glass:  Sweet caramel.
Score:  87

Sunday

Dear Diary,
Spent the day in Tunis exploring the kasbah (a fortified part of the city), and lost in the intricate, winding streets of the souk.  Managed to resist the hawkers though I did pick up a new belt.  The vendor tried to set it on fire to prove it was leather and wouldn't burn.  I feel so safe in Tunisia.  I didn't get back until way after dark.  Back in my room a bottle of Edradour beckoned.  Edradour is the smallest distillery in Scotland, so small in fact people sometimes borrow it to make up special custom whiskies for themselves.  Perhaps that's why the house style is so uneven.  I had tried a rather dry, malty Edradour a few years ago, but tonight's was a pleasant departure - very sweet and showing lots of ripe red fruit.

Edradour 10yo (40.0%, OB, old style bottle)
Nose:  Spoiled silage, sour mash, dry, a bit of warm spirit.  Is there a minor hint of smoke?  A bit of fresh fruit.  Becomes a bit sweet and brown sugary.  After a wait, very rich, sweet and fruity - candy, toffee.  With water, sweet, very fruity, sweet and candyish toffee.  Just a hint of tobacco. Palate:  Sweet, sweet, sweet, a bit spicy, malt, sour dough.  Spicy in the middle.  Sherry or red wine.  Warm.  With water, sweet, fruity, a hint of red wine.  Spicy on the tongue and warm in the mouth. Finish:  Medium, sweet, fading.  With water, medium, sweet. Overall impression:  Too sweet, overpowered by the fruitiness. Empty glass:  Sweet, musty fruit.
Score:  74

Monday

Dear Diary,
Africa is a land of many mysteries, and tonight I experienced a strange one.
Far from my hotel, I was wandering down twisted alleys, where I was approached by a man who appeared to know me.  "I work at your hotel" he said, "The Belvedere".  There are many hotels in Tunis and The Belevedere is not the best, but we had encountered each other so far from there I had to believe him.  There was an exhibition of Berber carpets he told me.  I must see it and today was the last day.

Okay, I agreed and began to follow him.  Several miles later he finally delivered me to an ancient upstairs carpet exhibition, a shop really, where sales people were just closing up for the night.  On my arrival they immediately began to unfold a wide selection of filthy carpets.  I was polite for a minute or less, then left, half wondering how far I'd get.  It was dark outside and the vendors had all packed up.  I'm pretty good about remembering my route, but when everything changes you have to be a pigeon to find your way home.  Eventually I found a street large enough for cars and grabbed a taxi.  Feeling lucky to still have my skin, I locked my hotel room door with a sigh of relief and settled down with a Knockando. 

Knockando 1988/2000 (40.0%, OB)
Nose:  Dry.  Malt and wood, a touch spirity.  Dry bran.  A bit of nose prickle.  Develops sherry and dried fruit - maybe a hint of brown sugar.  Straw.  Fresh and grassy.  Fragrant, lilacs, milk chocolate.  With water, sweet, cough drops.  Malt, nutty - develops sequentially.  Dry grass.  Extra points for nose. Palate:  Malty, a bit spicy, a bit slippery.  Sweet, hot, then bitter.  Wood follows.  Hot and spicy.  Grass and malt in the middle.  With water, sweet, hot, and spicy.  No bitterness.  Dry fruit, dry grain, grass, malt. Finish:  medium long.  Malty, grassy, woody. Empty glass:  sweet - caramel.
Score:  77

Tuesday

Dear Diary,
An exhausting day during which I stripped cork from scrawny oak trees.
Tunisian cork oak finishes can only be a matter of time.
The oak wood was porous, and smelled musty, mouldy and earthy.
Perfect to finish off a light Islay.
None at hand tonight though so I'll have to settle for malt from a destroyed distillery.

Dallas Dhu 1979 nas (40.0%, G&M)
Nose:  A hint of smoke, dry and dusty, malty, a hint of sweet kippers. Dry hay.  Sweet but mild esters.  Flowers, grassy.  With water, spicy and malty, some smoke and dry hay.  White glue stick. Palate:  Sweet, grassy, a flash of chocolate.  Quite mild and delicate.  A bit of spice, flowers, a bit of warm alcohol.  Warm and malty in the middle.  With water, sweet, spice in the throat, almost metallic.  Warm, spicy and nutty.  Grassy in the middle. Finish:  Medium, malty, mild, loses points for finish.  With water, medium and malty. Empty glass:  Sweet candy.
Score:  79

Wednesday

Dear Diary,
Wednesday night and I'm en route to Madagascar via Johannesburg.  I dumped Air France and have switched to Lufthansa which provides two malt opportunities.  First, I'm leaving Tunis later than scheduled, so have time for a parting Glenkinchie HTH, and second, I will spend a good part of Thursday in Frankfurt waiting for a connection.

Malt Whisky Spirits is a terrific whisky shop located at Wallstrasse 23 in Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt (south of the river Main).  I visited once a couple of years ago and almost missed it.  They open at noon, but have no storefront when closed as everything is locked up behind a sliding metal door.  I walked right past when it was closed, but stumbled on it later and found several malts worth bringing home.  Anyway, back to my second geographical HTH.  Tunisia has really changed the Glenkinchies from how they tasted in Cameroon.  I was almost tempted to lower the scores a tad, but I did enjoy them both and spent less time with them here than in Cameroon so I'll leave the scores unadjusted.

Glenkinchie H2H:

Glenkinchie 10yo (43.0%, OB)
Colour:  still golden. Nose:  Warm, alcohol but no nose tingle.  Dusty, sweet malt, grass.  Fruity, flowery esters, but subtly so.  With water the nose is sweet and fresh. Palate:  Very hot and spicy.  The spice lasts well into the middle.  Sweet, malty, very fiery.  Spicy then bitter, like bitter coffee.  A touch of wood.  With water the palate is sweet, peppery hot and malty. Finish:  Medium.  It just fades away to malt, then nothing. Empty glass:  Sweet caramel, some fruit.
Score:  79

Glenkinchie 1986 Distillers Edition, Amontillado finish (43.0%, OB)
Colour:  Dark amber. Nose:  Fruity, estery, warming.  A hint of smoke and lots of mild tobaccos.  Cigar box.  More nose than the 10yo.  Nosing immediately after the 10yo amplifies the tobaccoiness.  Punky dried pears or apples.  Red wine.  With water the nose has tobacco, sherry and a hint of fruit. Palate:  Sweet then bitter.  Hot, but not as hot as the 10yo.  Wood with just a hint of tobacco.  Spice and dried fruit again.  Warm and spicy middle. Finish:  Medium-long, longer than the 10yo.  Some spice and sweet fruity tobacco. Empty glass:  Strong smells of wood, fruit, sweetness and perhaps some tobacco.
Score:  82

Thursday

Dear Diary.
Johannesburg beckons.
And when one visits a burg named after Johannes, one does not go without malt whisky.
Arrived in Frankfurt tired and ended up sleeping in the terminal and missed visiting Malt Whisky Spirits.  Well, that's okay, though I would have liked to do a bit of "foafing" as the Plowed boys say.  For that matter just a trip to the Hertie (easy to find, it's on "The Zeil") is a bonanza compared to shopping at home.  It's hard to believe a grocery store in Frankfurt has a better malt selection than the good old LCBO back home.  Ah, the legacy of those *%##$ Puritans!  Anyway I did manage to pick up another Aberlour at the duty free shop.  This time it's Aberlour Vintage 1990, a duty free exclusive.
I'm flying overnight, so no malts until Johannesburg.

Friday

Dear Diary,
In Johannesburg I have just learned that my trip on to Madagascar, Saturday, is getting kind of sketchy due to "civil unrest" (with the emphasis, I understand, on "civil" - ahh, Africa.)  Nothing to do but sit and wait, so I head off to a small hotel far enough out of town to avoid the security concerns of Johannesburg.  There are lions, giraffes and all manner of distractions.  Looks like an interesting weekend.  It's late by the time I'm settled and the barman is generous with his concoctions.  He has a favourite - peppermint schnapps and Amarula.  Lots of Castle beer, but no distilled malts tonight.

Saturday

Dear Diary,
No news on Madagascar, and none likely to come for several days.
I joined a game tour today and saw and incredible number of birds, animals and other creatures.
The list is extensive so skip to the next paragraph if you're not totally mesmerized:  baboons, elephants, cape buffalo, kudu (I ate kudu biltong), bush buck, water buck, steen buck, gnus (black wildebeests), zebras, giraffes, lions, black-backed jackals, spotted hyenas, slender mongoose, hippopotamus, warthogs, crocodiles, terrapins, hinge-backed tortoise, bloom slang snake, bats, geckos, dung beetles, golden orb spiders, colony spiders, 1 rat, marabou stork, woolly-necked storks, saddle-billed stork, water dikkop, spotted dikkop, hamerkop, woodland kingfishers, grey heron. blacksmith plover, crowned plovers, African mourning dove, cape glossy starling, African pied wagtail, yellow-headed starling, Egyptian goose, knob billed duck, hooded vultures, Burchell's cuckoos, Jacobin cuckoo, lesser spotted eagle, fish eagle, yellow billed kite, goshawk, nightjar hawk, bateleur, kori bustard, long tailed shrike, hadeda ibis, masked weaver, buffalo weaver, house martin, cape robin, red-billed oxpecker (on a giraffe's back), crested francolins, Swainson's francolins, ground hornbills, yellow hornbills, grey hornbills, red billed hornbills, European bee eater, European rollers, lilac breasted rollers, fork-tailed drongo, red-billed queleas, jacana, guinea fowl and innumerable unidentifiables.  One of the others claimed to see an African swallow carrying a coconut, but since I missed it I won't include it in my list.

Back at the lodge late, I had a Castle, then back to my room for a Dalwhinnie H2H.

Dalwhinnie 15yo (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  Rubbery, mild licorice, fresh, citrus peel, tropical fruit, slightly musty fruit.  Adding water brings out just a hint of smoke. Palate:  Sweet then astringent.  Spicy and hot, tropical fruit.  Gets warm and sweet - estery in the middle.  The middle is quite nutty.  Adding water introduces a dilute honeyish background. Finish:  Malty, long, fades slowly.  With water the finish is slightly smoky with floral honey. Empty glass:  not much.
Score:  77

Dalwhinnie 1980 Distiller's Edition Oloroso Sherry finish (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  Wood, malt, cigar box, leather.  Much fruitier than the 15yo.  Sherry, brown sugar, fudge.  With water, honey, licorice, peat, sherry. Palate:  Bitter, warm, grainy, hot and spicy.  Warm in middle.  Slightly fruity. Sweet but peppery.  The middle is hot and spicy.  With water, the honey from the nose develops into licorice and then peat smoke. Finish:  Long, sweet, sherry, fruit.  A short undertone of peat smoke, especially with water.  The diluted version has a shorter finish. Empty glass:  Distinct, warm wood smoke.
Score:  73

Sunday

Dear Diary,
Air traffic into Madagascar is still on hold, so I'm off on another game trek.
Stopped at a rather civilized picnic area and cooked scrambled eggs for the rest of the group while they shopped in the souvenir store.  While I was standing at an open-air gas grill stirring the eggs, not 200 feet away an elephant stood shaking a marula tree, stopping now and then to pick up the fruit from the ground.  Pieter, our guide, had shown us the marula fruit earlier.  A solid ball slightly larger than a golf ball and just as hard, the pit makes up 90% of the volume and a thin layer of musty, slightly tart flesh lies below a tough skin.  A pleasant flavour that gives Amarula cream liqueur its unique flavour is reminiscent of musty tropical fruit flavours I had found in Sullivan's Cove and Old Hobart single malts from Australia.  Judging by the elephant droppings we had passed on the road, marula fruits were a favourite food for elephants, although very little was actually digested.

Back at the hotel, I rounded out the Classic Malt selection with a final H2H - Oban.

Oban 14yo (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  Sweet, quite malty, a hint of nose tickle, dry hay, just a hint of acrid smoke.  With water there is malt, grass and a hint of smoke. Palate:  Sweet, mildly malty, Starts out a bit astringent then develops a nice, slightly oily mouth feel.  The sweetness doesn't last as it develops a warm spicy middle.  Very pleasant cooking spice - almost like cloves.  Adding water, the palate again begins sweet but is also hot.  It's a bit minty on breathing out.  It gets warm in the middle and later develops some grassy malt.
Finish:  Long and malty.  Mmm.  With water the finish is spicy, malty and quite long.
Empty glass:  Medicinal.
Score:  81

Oban 1980 Distiller's Edition Montilla Fino finish (43.0%, OB)
Nose:  Malty.  Drier than the 14yo.  Nose tickly, fruity esters, sherry.  Pickley sourness, paper, tobaccoish peat.  Very sweet, syrupy fruit - like stewed prunes.  With water the nose is candyish with a hint of smoke.  More pipe tobacco/tobacco box/humidor smells.  More fruity esters.  A freshness slightly like cleaning compound.  Some sweet esters. Palate:  Less sweet than expected.  Immediately oily, like flax seed.  Round and mouth filling.  Sweet dried fruit with a wonderful backdrop of tobacco and peat smoke.  Develops spice and a slight metallicness.  Pepper in the back of the throat.  Long spicy middle becoming fruity and sherryish.  With water the palate begins quite hot and spicy and the spice lasts a long time.  There is less fruit and it's a bit astringent.  Middle is warm but not too spicy.  A metallic feel on the teeth. Finish:  Long sweet and fading.  With water, medium long.  Fading sweet fruit and malt.
Score:  82

Monday

Dear Diary,
Well it looks like my mini malt safari has drawn to an premature end.

I still have more minis, but the airport in Antananarivo remains closed and I have decided to head home.  It's disappointing, but I've toured the Classic Malts and their Distiller's Editions and I've added a number of new ones to my tasted list.  All in all, everything you could expect from a safari.  Oh yeah, and I got to see some animals into the bargain.
More later,

Davin
 

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E-pistle #02/03 - Trio de Vioncelles en Islay Majeur
by Serge Valentin, France

Hi, fellow malt aficionado,

The way people talk about Scotch whisky improves time after time. A while ago, most people here knew that there was "blended whisky" on one side, and "pure or single malt" on the other side. This is history. Now, they know that among the single malts, there are the "regular ones" on one side, and the "peated ones" on the other side. We should thank the UDV Classic Malts for that. I think that the time is not so far, when the marketers will write "peated" or "not peated" on their labels. Besides, some clever distilleries already started to do that; Glengoyne (unpeated), Tobermory-Ledaig (peated)…

Anyway, peat is very trendy. We already had Bowmore and Lagavulin on our "hypermarket's" shelves. Then came Laphroaig. Then came several "low-budget" bottles of Islay malts, most being labeled as "Glen Anything". And very recently, came Ardbeg 10 (as you can guess, most liquor stores people aren't very happy about that). Consequently, more and more malt newbies ask for advice about "what's the best" peated malt they can buy in Hypermarkets. When they are good friends, I always answer: "Why not come to my place, and find out?" That's what Isabelle and Laurent did last evening. We had some Ardbeg 10, Laphroaig 10 and Lagavulin 16. I know, I'm not the first, nor the last person who writes about this Southshoreislayish kind of confrontation. But well, nobody's going to stop listening to Mozart's Don Giovanni just because it's very classic and famous.

• Arbeg 10yo (46%, OB)
• Laphroaig 10yo (40%, OB)
• Lagavulin 16yo (43%, OB)

The last one brings a bottle of Johnnie Red. The other two say:
"Well, that's not such a bad whisky. Is it expensive?
- Hum, I had to work one long week to pay for it!"
The others exclaim: "Hey, why did you buy such an expensive bottle?"

Bon courage,

Serge
 

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E-pistle #02/04 - A New Phase of Malt Madness
by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland

In my first E-pistle I told you about my mission to find the perfect single malt.
For those of you that have just tuned in: After several fun 'projects' last year, I've come up with a new challenge for 2002. On the 'Scotland By Dram' tour I will try to make a virtual visit to every one of the 89 active distilleries in Scotland. The virtual visit will be made in my mind, while enjoying a dram produced at that particular distillery. To complicate things further, I've committed myself to a parallel project as well; the 'Second Chance Challenge'. Last year I've opened bottles from the last few undiscovered distilleries in Scotland. In 2002 I'll try to sample drams from all the distilleries I've only tasted one version of so far. This is the case with 50 of them; more than half of the circa 90 active distilleries in Scotland deserve a second chance.

Anyway, it's now three months after I started pahse 2 of my virtual journey through the land of 'Uisge Beatha'. What have I learned so far? I'm, not quite sure, to tell you the truth. Instead of trying to formulate premature conclusion's I'll restrict myself to a condensed overview of my tastings over the first three months of 2002. I've added links to the corresponding log entries for those who are interested in more details.
 

January 1, 2002 & March 31, 2002:  Scotland By Dram - Part A
(See Log Entry #101 & Log Entry 106 for details)

On the early morning of January 1, my brother Franc and I enjoyed the remains of two bottles of Ardbeg (10 & 17 OB's) during our traditional new year's midnight hike through the woods. A thick blanket of snow and a full moon; perfect conditions to kick off my 'Scotland by Dram' project. After a good night's sleep I felt more than ready to continue my virtual journey that very same evening. I prefer to go about things as systematically as possible, so I selected four 'A' malts from my shelves.
Here are the malts and the scores; Check out Log Entry #101 for tasting notes and conclusions.

83 - Aberfeldy 1978/1996 (59.3%, Scott's Selection, 70cl)
78 - Allt-A-Bhainne 1989/1999 (50%, John Milroy, 70cl)
61 - Arran NAS (43%, OB, 70cl, (L9:243:S10 99:13185 11:00))
71 - Aultmore 11yo 1985/1997 (43%, Signatory Vintage, 70cl)

I resumed my work one the 'Scotland by Dram' project on on March 31 when I dropped by 'De Still' with the plan to sample drams of Ardmore, Arran and Aultmore. All these distilleries needed a second chance and I had no bottles in my current collection.
Here are the malts and the scores; Check out Log Entry #106 for tasting notes and conclusions.

80 - Aberlour 10yo (40.0%, OB, 100 cl, bottled +/- 2001)
90 - Aberlour A'bunadh / No Batch # (59.6, OB, 70cl, L320 150 116 15:40)
88 - Aberlour A'bunadh / Batch #6 (59.9, OB, 70cl, L320 448 354 12:01)
77 - Allt-A-Bhainne 1989/1999 (50%, John Milroy Millennium Selection, 70cl, oak casks)
71 - Ardmore 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, 70cl, 'unchillfiltered', distilled 31/05/1990, bottled 31/05/2001)
63 - Arran NAS (43%, OB, Sherry casks, 70cl, L9:298:S10 99/15031 14:08)
82 - Auchentoshan Three Wood (40%, OB, 70cl)
70 - (Singleton of) Auchroisk 10yo (43%, OB, 100cl)
72 - Aultmore 1989/1999 (50%, John Milroy Golden Strength, 70cl)

This took care of all the 'A' distilleries; here are some preliminary conclusions;

Aberfeldy (Midlands)
I've sampled a younger bottling in 2001 (the Ultimate 9yo 1991) and tonight's tasting takes care of the 'second opinion'. And let me tell you that opinion has improved considerably. The 1978 Cask Strength version is much better than the Ultimate. So much better in fact, that I was tempted to raise the still score from a measly 2 stars to 4 'Highly Recommendable' stars. After careful consideration I concluded that a malt of this age and strength (and price, I might add) should perform well. Four stars should be reserved for serious over-achievers. That being said, an encounter with another good Aberfeldy bottling could earn it 4 stars.
Still Score: ***

Aberlour (Speyside)
The dram of Aberlour A'bunadh I'm enjoying while I write this takes care of my obligations as far as the 'Scotland by Dram' project is concerned. And since I've sampled several consecutive bottlings of the 10yo in the past as well I can forget about Aberlour when it comes to second chances. Bottlings of the 10 varied between 77 and 80 points and the A'bunadh (no batch number) scores 89 points - reason enough to generously award 4 stars to Aberlour. With 5 other versions in my reserve stock I'll have plenty of time to find out if all bottlings live up to the same standards. Lucky me!
Still Score: ****

Allt-A-Bhainne (Speyside) - After a few unremarkable tastings with a James McArthur Allt-A-Bhainne 12yo back in 1997 (70 points; see log entry #2) I've tried my 'second opinion' version tonight. My opinion has improved a little, but not enough to lift the distillery to 4-star status. Good, but nothing to go too crazy about.
Still Score: ***

Ardbeg (Islay) - Well; apart from the two versions I sampled this morning I've 'officially' sampled two other bottlings so far. These Ardbegs scored remarkably well, and so did the many other versions I've tasted 'unofficially'. Islay is my favorite island in the whole wide world and Ardbeg is one of my three favorite Islay distilleries. (My other favorite 'powerhouses' are Lagavulin and Laphroaig.)
Still Score: *****

Ardmore (Speyside) - The Ardmore Distillery (established by William Teacher in 1898) lies in Aberdeenshire, in the far south-east of the Speyside region. In fact, it's so far off the beaten Speyside track that it could be considered a Eastern highland malt.
Ardmore malts are an important part of the 'Teacher's' blend I like so much. Official bottlings of Ardmore are rare, but I've managed to taste two independents; the 1981/1995 (40.0%, G&M) and the 1991/2001 (46.0%, SigV).
Still Score: ***

Arran (Arran) - This is one of the youngest distilleries in Scotland; production started in 1995. It's the only distillery on the isle of Arran, to the east of Islay and Campbeltown. The only widely available bottling is a version without an age statement, first released in 1998. I've sampled two incarnations of this bottling; one distilled +/- 1999, one distilled +/- 2001. The bottled spirit should be 5 or 6 years old by now; too young to mess with the big boys.
Still Score: *

Auchentoshan (Lowlands) - The 10yo OB was the first Lowlander I ever tasted and I wasn't particulary impressed. I've waited many years to try another bottling and after sampling the 'Three Wood' I wish I had sooner. Further investigation may be required.
Still Score: ***

Auchroisk / Singleton (Speyside) - Until recently, Singleton (of Auchroisk) bottlings were quite rare in Holland. More and more different versions are becoming available now. The distillery lies just north-east of the Speyside heartland, not far from Strathisla and Aultmore. It was founded in 1974; the first single malt bottling was released in 1986.
Still Score: ***

Aultmore (Speyside) - The Aultmore (Gaelic for 'big burn') distillery was built in 1896 by Alexander Edward, owner of Benrinnes. It is located a little north of the town Keith, near Strathmill and Strathisla. It's used maily for the 'Dewar's' blends, but every now and then a single malt bottling appears. With scores of 71 and 72 points for the two versions I've tried, I can't justify awarding this distillery more than 2 points.
Still Score: **.

These are the results so far; check out the 'Distillery Data' section for more details.
 

January 19, 2002 - The Return of the Germaniacs
(See Log Entry #102 for details)

German correspondent Klaus Everding and his malt buddy Michael visited my humble abode twice before and returned for another session in January. Maybe you've already read Klaus' report on the event: 'Another Day in Paradise' (E-pistle #01/08).
Check out Log Entry #102 for further details and my perspective on things.
Here's our menu for the evening:

89 - Aberlour A'bunadh (59.6%, OB, no batch number)
85 - Caol Ila 1989/1999 (43%, Mackillops Choice)
82 - Caol Ila 11yo 1989/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Sherry Butt)
84 - Caol Ila 12yo 1989/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Bourbon Barrels)
82 - Dailuaine 16yo (43%, Flora & Fauna)
79 - Dallas Dhu 10yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail)
80 - Glendronach 12yo 'Traditional' (43%, OB)
86 - Glendronach 15yo '100% Sherry' (40%, OB)
84 - Glenmorangie Madeira (43%, OB)
80 - Glenrothes 8yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail)
81 - Highland Park 12yo 1988/2001 (43%, Ultimate)
92 - Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength (57.3%, OB)
90 - Laphroaig 15yo 1985/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask)
89 - Macallan 18yo 1982 (43%, OB)
69 - Pittyvaich 18yo 1976/1995 (43%, Signatory Vintage)
84 - Port Ellen 18yo 1981 (43%, McGibbons Provenance)
79 - Royal Brackla 20yo 1978 (59.8%, UDRM)
95 - Saint Magdalene 19yo 1979/1998 (63.8%, UDRM)
90 - Springbank 21yo (46%, OB)
89 - Talisker 10yo (45.8%, OB)

As you can see, we had a blast. Let's see - what else? Oh yeah...
 

February 16, 2002 - Speyside Siblings
(See Log Entry #103 for details.)

My brother Franc came over to finish some writing and some bottles.
We did 2 interesting H2H's with 2 Speyside siblings:

80 - Glendronach 12yo 'Traditional' (43%, OB, 70 cl)
86 - Glendronach 15yo '100% Sherry' (40%, OB, 100 cl)
78 - Longmorn Glenlivet 12yo (40%, G&M, 70 cl)
82 - Longmorn 15yo (45%, OB, 100 cl)

This was also my last significant report on the period January - March 2002.
Check out my Liquid Log for more malt madness or scroll down for more maniacal reports.

Johannes - Certified malt maniac
 

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E-pistle #02/05 - The Whisky Hunt of a Tourist
by Roman Parparov, Israel

       Ok, yet again I will remind - for those, that read an e-report of mine for the first time - you can't normally buy a single malt scotch whisky in Israel, because the drink is taxed on import for 242% and above it a VAT of 17%, so that regular 10-15yr whiskies are in 100-200$ area. But, when an Israeli travels abroad he is officially allowed to personally import up to 1L of quality spirits tax free per person travelling, bought either in local duty free shop or abroad. And the custom control is lousy, only about 1% of people are selectively checked so one can usually bring as much as long it doesn't stick out.

        The Israeli's aren't too keen on spirits, or even other alcoholic drinks, opposite to the Jewish food cult. I overheard two of them criticizing the Johnnie Walker Black label 1l bottle for being more expensive than 1.5l bottle of Jack Daniels. But the true malt appreciatorslike me use and abuse such trips for refilling their supply of malts. So, I anticipate any trip abroad, which happen about twice a year not only from the sightseeing point of view, and not only for spending a week in my girlfriend in such romantic places, but also because of opportunity to buy some water of life and revive my stock! A couple of such trips are described below to give you an impression of what a smuggler I have become.

Such trips usually consist of four major parts:
1. Local DF in Israel. Here one has to buy stuff immediately to pick it on the way back. And you have to buy something you won't regret over when you see the same whisky in Europe. Therefore I usually shop for bargain prices there or for some Duty Free only versions, or for bottles I think are not widespread. It would be very helpful if the stock of the DF shops in the destination and transit airports would be available on the internet, but, unfortunately, it isn't.

2. Destination and Transit airports DF. If you have 10-15 minutes, always spend them visiting them when you just arrive to these shops. You will be very well aware then of their choice of malts and their prices, so when you are looking for the malts in the city of destination, you know when a better deal expects you on your way back - with the only problem, you will have to carry it in your hand luggage.

3. City liquor stores. The choice is usually the widest there, although the prices would supposedly be higher than in the DF shops. Usually, it is better to buy rarer, more distinguished malts in liquor stores, because most of the widespread ones are better to pick up in the DF.

4. Destination and Transit airports DF on the way back. Here you pick up the malt to complete your smuggler's load. Sometimes you would realize, that your hand luggage (and possibly credit card!) are overtaxed without that last bottle. Well, that is something to keep in mind, and, remember, you're not to attract the custom's attention at your home airport! :)

Part I - Budapest, Prague, January 2001.

This trip I took together with my gf of then, and it increased my allowance in the Israeli Airport DF, and also gave me more suitcases to put the bottles in, when I buy them in Europe.

        So, first battlefield for me was the Israeli Ben-Gurion Airport Duty Free Shop. It's a bit expensive, usually, but the tax of 242% is not applied and so the prices are ok. The selection is not bad, and so the deal which had Laphroaig 10 for $30 only immediately had my eye. I could purchase one more bottle ("and for my gf"), so the remaining bottles presented the following most interesting choices:

    * Glenlivet 15y Export Strengh (43%) - something quite rare [$40]
    * Laphroaig CS 0.7L [$40]
    * Lagavulin 16y [$44]
    * Talisker 10y [$40]
    * The Balvenie 12y [$35]
    * Benriach 10y [$25]

The curiosity took over everything else and the Glenlivet 15 was bought.

        First stop was in Prague airport for transit to Budapest. Being aware of the fact that I am going to be there again, I could have a thorough inspection of the Duty Free shops there before the assault on the Hungarian shops. The marks of Lagavulin 16 for $30, Dalwhinnie 15 for $25, Talisker 10 for $25 and others caught my eye and were carefully written for further reference.

        Budapest. A wonderful city with lots of liquor stores. Many of them (I daresay more than a couple of dozens) were inspected. But, the result was quite pathetic. They don't have single malts there neither in liquor stores nor in supermarkets, save Glenfiddich Special Reserve which doesn't count. A glorious choice of wines, especially the white wines, led by Tokaji, and various strong liquors, the original Uniqum and the Czech Becherovka. Lots of Shiva's Regal. Disappointment. I only saw a Lagavulin and an Oban 14 in some semi-tourist shop in old Buda and the price was about $50. BTW, the city is just as disappointing on the issue of pipes and pipe tobacco. But the sour mood disappeared immediately as I entered the Duty Free Shop in Budapest Airport. I almost cried I couldn't buy a dozen bottles. I limited myself with Lagavulin 16 (27$), Glenfarclas 12 (20$) and Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish (33$) but left behind several fine malts at super-friendly prices. The choice is less than in Israeli DF, though.

        Prague is magnificent. It has at least half a dozen entirely different regions with unique architecture and landscape. One can spend days just walking its streets. And I did walk and scouted the shops, and my gf also - for me. Among numerous wonderful pubs full of the best beers in the Eastern Europe and strong contenders for the best beer in the whole World several stores with a selection of malts are available. Some of them are pure liquor, but quite a few are combining alcoholic drinks with cheese/sausage departments.

        So, what's on the shelf? Again, Glenfiddich everywhere (of three different reserves, from $25 to $90). Very often the whole Classic Malts of Scotland selection is available, at sizes 0.7-0.75cl, with equal prices for each bottle, and from to shop to shop the price varies between $30 and $40 a bottle. Talisker 10, Laphroaig 10, Glenlivet 12, Balvenie 10 represent the cheaper zone of the malts ($25-$30), and even expensive "luxury" malts like Balvenie Port Wood 21, or Glenmorangie 18 Rare Malt are there, in the $60 area. The shops worth attention are "Apetit" on Dlouha street - right next to the famous tobacco shop and whisky bar "King Charles" and a couple of shops on the central boulevard Venceslav (metro Museum, Mustik).

        Then there was the Prague airport Duty free. Already overloaded with bottles, I still couldn't stand the temptation and bought the Dalwhinnie for $25. In general, the DF had a decent selection of malts and the prices were about 15-25% lower than in the shops in Prague itself.

Summary: 5.75l of malt for only $175 (about $30 a bottle) and quite a quality of choice.

Part II - Vienna, Bratislava, January 2002.

Precisely one year later I went to Vienna, Austria, this time alone and I tried to refill my single malt stock yet again, which was in rather pathetic state by then. There was a predefined target, the MaltManiacs Aberlour JOLT in March 2002, so Aberlours were a top priority. Also I very much wanted to get a Springbank, after the magnificent tasting I had with Louis in July 2001 in NYC. My credit card hinted that no more than 3 bottles are affordable.

The plan was scrapped already at the local Duty Free Shop at Ben-Gurion Airport. Ardbeg 17 was being sold for only $41, and it even wasn't a special deal or something!! How could I miss that one? And,unfortunately, no more bottles there for buying. The shop featured a lot of interesting malts, some of which are highlighted below:

        Glenmorangie Traditional 57.2% - $68
        Glenmorangie 1975 Limited Bottling - $100
        Glen Moray 16yo - $39
        Glenlivet 12yo French Oak Finish - $39
        Ardbeg 1977 - $68
        Bowmore 25yo - $175
        Highland Park 25yo - $175

In a few hours I was at Vienna Airport and performed a scan on its DF liquor departments. Well, great interior and fancy collections - but very small choice of Aberlours (only the 10s and the Special DF Aberlour 1991/2000) at unfriendly prices and no Springbanks at all. I made a mental note about the Aberlour 1991/2000 and left the airport.

I spent about a week in this beautiful city. I walked around a lot, spying around on various liquor stores. I must admit, that there aren't many special liquor stores in Vienna, at least in the city centre, although the wines and beers are abundant. Regular supermarkets (beside Julius Meinl - see below) seem to have one or two single malts in stock - Glenfiddich and something in addition. After the thorough survey was completed I decided to double the targeted amount of bottles, which would be 4 Aberlours, a Springbank and the already bought Ardbeg. To hell with Credit Card hints, despite the fact the prices are much steeper than in Holland or Germany, but that's the rich Austria to you!

Shop "Matthaus" in Laurenzberg, 3 (near Schwedenplatz) is a modest shop, with well-sorted collection of mostly regular malts. About 100 malts are in stock, and no vintage malts seem to be available. Best prices, of what I have seen. Aberlour 10 for $39 and Springbank 10 for $48 were purchased. I know the prices wouldn't look good to a Dutch or German connoiseur, but that's Vienna to you.

I spent one day in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, hoping to relieve my conscience with friendlier malt prices of this obviously cheaper than Vienna place. While the place is a great shopping for clothes or jewelry, I only found one shop featuring malts besides Glenfiddich - the TESMA supermarket in the centre, and the prices were not friendly at all, unlike Prague or Budapest - see Part I on them. So I had to buy the desired stuff in Vienna and sigh when hanging the cash over.

Supermarket Julius Meinl Am Graben, at the very center of Vienna, at the end of Graben promenade offers a superb collection of about 150 malts both of regular and vintage types. Aberlour A'bunadh batch 7 for $80 and Aberlour Sherry Wood Finish for $70 were bought.

Then I visited the "Vinothek St Stephan" on StephanPlatz, 6. As obvious from the name, the shop concentrates on wines, but they have an entire corridor dedicated to malts. About 150 malts were present, many unusual bottlings, older aged malts and other vintages, nevertheless many regular malts (like Aberlour 10 or Highland Park 12) were missing! The only Aberlour
they had was Aberlour 1963 for Euro 190, which I decided to pass on.

The last shop I visited was also the most spectacular one: Theehandlung Schonbichler, also close to StephanPlatz - Wollzeile 4. A great selection of malts, at least 250, carefully geographically and alphabetically sorted. All the regular malts and a lot of vintage stuff. I bought there the Aberlour Antique ($62). Aberlour 10, A'bunadh batch 6 and Aberlour 1970 were present as well. The whisky bars situation in Vienna is less attractive. There are very few pubs at all (more popular are cafes and restaurants) and only a couple of them offers single malts at all, usually - the collection of Classic Malts, like, for example, Bar Room, not far away from the State Opera.

On the way back, in the DF shop of Vienna Airport, I went straight for the Aberlour 1991-2000 - Duty-Free Only Bottling (1l, $35) but didn't buy it, because my hand luggage was overtaxed already. So, again it was six bottles, this time of total 4.75l of volume and of total $340 of price - almost $60 a bottle.. Ouch-ouch. But what a great experience were all of them, except for the miserable Aberlour Antique... (Miserable for a $60+ malt, of course!)

This ends my whisky hunting report, but I want to add some words about the topic of ratings that some of the other malt maniacs discussed in their last prE-pistles of 2001. I have always been fascinated by ratings/rankings of various products. Probably, it is because since very young age I was around a thoroughly rated community (chessplayers).

Malt Ratings

More often I just lined different products in order of preference without assigning actual numbers to them.
This is very good when you are not sure whether you already found the best or the worst of the group. It's much more difficult when you have a lot of different products of more or less similar quality, which goes for the single malt scotch whiskies I have tasted so far. So, I decided to join the crowd and give single malt scotches numerical ratings and I am proud of having them listed along much greater whisky experts in the same table.

What defines the whisky rating for me?
Mostly the taste. Probably the Russian background of drinking insists that smell doesn't affect your body as much as taste does, so it is less important. Anyways, for me, taste is about three times more important than the smell of a whisky. There are almost no other factors for whisky's ratings in my system. The price doesn't matter, it differs from place to place and "bang for the buck" lists should serve the "price dependant" rating charts. Availability is also not an issue. I award one additional point for the convenience of the bottle itself, or subtract a point if a bottle is too awkward.

So, to the smell:
Most of the whiskies smell very very nice and I like most of the components encountered - from peat to candies. Too sweet (to a sickness) a smell can cause a drop of 2-5 points, and too much iodine (when the malt smells like a medicine) also hurts as much.

The taste has much broader effects for me. It is very important for me that a malt would have a rich, but consistent palate, so a malt that runs sweet and then too salty is not too good to me. Again, extra sweetness (Dalwhinnie, Glenfarclas 12) bring the malt down heavily. A little bit of sourness along the sweet is very much welcome, but when the sourness dominates, again, the malt's rating decreases. Medicine-like flavor also goes as a minus, and in fact, Bowmore 12 which is so rich in iodine, is my most unfavorable malt. Also, the bitterness is not welcome and that was for example the reason why Longmorn scored quite below the mark of 80. The afterburn is not so much an issue.

So, the qualities described above so far allowed me to establish ratings that I am quite content with. The 90+ malts are fabulous, the 80-89 are very good, 70-79 are considered "OK" and stuff below 70 I would try to avoid. As for the aforementioned "bang for the buck" list - unfortunately, I am not really able to compile it for my geographic region, and in Duty Free shops prices wary, moreover, the Eastern European DF don't leave a chance to the rest of the world.

Roman Parparov
 

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E-pistle #02/06 - My March Tastings
by Serge Valentin, France

Alright, now for some plain and simple sampling notes - Chines portrait style.
These were the malts:

• Glenmorangie 10yo (40%, OB)
• Bunahabhain 12yo (43%, OB)
• Black Bottle 10yo (40%, blend)
• The Macallan 1970/1988 (43%, OB)
• Highland Park 8yo (40%, MacPhail's Collection)
• Highland Park 9yo 1989/1999 (50%, Cooper's Choice)
• Glendullan 8yo (40%, OB)
• Arbeg 10yo (46%, OB)
• Laphroaig 10yo (40%, OB)
• Lagavulin 16yo (43%, OB)

Round 3: the mouth.
The MacPhail's starts this round by being quite dry. A gentle left hook. Some light peat and some smoke, with a little honey and moderate toffee. Well, that's a gentle whisky! I wonder if it's going to last very long against the corked boxer…
The Cooper's Choice doesn't seem to be very apprehensive. The very first sip is like a straight right on your chin. Uh-oh! Malty, creamy, spicy (clove), Grand-Marnier, Chartreuse jaune, liquorice stick, treackle, coffee (a real espresso, not what my fellow anglo-saxon friends call coffee). The MacPhail's is knocked down. 1 - 2 - 3 … 8… It will never rise to its feets again.
No doubt that the Cooper's Choice is much more powerfull, yet subtle, and that he allready won the match. The MacPhail's is a nice whisky, for sure, but considering the wide range of Highland Parks one can easily find, it's definitely not a must.

The results:

Highland Park  8yo (40%, MacPhail's Collection)
A person: Timothy Dalton
A wine: a Cotes du Rhone Villages
A car: a BMW 316
72 points.

Highland Park  9yo 1989/1999 (50%, Cooper's Choice)
A person: Sean Connery
A wine: a Gigondas Laurus from Gabriel Meffre
A car: a BMW 325
82 points.

I must confess that I allways liked the Glendullan 8yo very much.
Hum, I can see you frowning… so, let me explain a few things.
First of all, Glendullan 8yo (40%, OB) sometimes appears on the French hypermarkets' shelves. Only a few bottles, on the second shelf. A single malt among the second-range blends, very shy, very humble… A few days later, it disappears like a little ghost, with no noise, and one could hardly remember it was even there…
So discreet! So unobtrusive!

I always feel that nobody's buying it, except me, and that an ill-bred clerk just takes it off the shelves after a while, to give place to any heavy-selling rot-gut. But when it's there, I'm charmed… I sometimes feel as if I should say "good morning, it's me again" to it. I look at its label admiringly. A simple, two-colour label. And a big 8, just on the middle of it, as proud as it was a 16, a 25, or even a 40. Just below it, a modest slogan: "Distilled Slowly and Matured for 8 long years in Oak Casks for the Unique Flavour that is Glendullan".
Not "This is the best whisky in the world" (OK, A.?)
Not "The most richly flavoured of all Scotch Whiskies" (OK, L.?)
Not "The Ultimate Malt", not "I'm the Best", not "Nothing compares to Me"…
Thank God!

Of course, the label does affirm odd things as well.
For instance, one can read on the back: "… it's aged longer than other malts - maturing in ok casks for a full 8 years…" So charming, so unskilful… Last time I was browsing the shelves, I felt I could hear Lagavulin 16, Oban 14 and Dalwhinnie 15 laugh together. I'm sure they were making fun of poor Glendulan 8. Shame on them! Well, I'm really digressing now. Sorry for that.
Let's get to the point:

Color: very, very light straw, almost virginal white.
Nose: youthfull. Lily of the valley, lilac, clementine, hints of varnish, turpentine and roasted peanuts.
Mouth: quite light-bodied, but not weak! Grain, crystallized tangerine, hazel-nut, hints of vanilla, malt. Kind of romantic.
Aftertaste: I must admit that not much is happening anymore…
Five minutes later: what did you expect?
80 points.

A person: Mrs X., a very discreet and delicious young lady
A car: a MGB cabriolet
A wine: a nice Sylvaner

Serge Valentin
 

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E-pistle #02/07 - Tasting A Legend
by Patrick Whaley, USA

I think I've spotted a trend. A trend of producing 'high end' whisky, as can be seen in the Springbank Millenium Set, the Macallan 1951 and 1961, the Laphroaig 1960, and on and on.  But perhaps I am wrong, perusing the Whisky Exchanges list is amazing, I've never seen so many limited edition bottlings.

Every so often an exceptional whisky is produced.
More often than not, it is a limited edition bottling.  Along with that, the whisky also exhibits some other characteristic that contributes to it being exceptional.  It could be old age, some different type of finish, or something else that makes it unique.  These exceptional whiskies are still sought after even when they disappear from the shelves, if your liquorist even carries it.  Connisseurs and enthusiasts will track down these whiskies at whatever cost.  Some of these whiskies are so exceptional that they are sometimes bestowed with the privilege of being considered a legendary whisky.  Most of us may be fortunate enough to obtain such a whisky once, as it can be very expensive.

Anyway, there is a point to all this. My malt madness has been taken to an unknown level.  I don't even know how to describe it.  I have obtained one of these legendary whiskies.  I have been intrigued by this bottling ever since I first discovered it, perhaps two years ago or so.  I have never seen anything like it.  I tracked this bottle down at the Whisky Exchange.

I wish I didn't have to do this right now.
I was hoping to save this bottle for a later date but I cannot.  I was so excited when it got here but then imagine my shock when I discovered that the bottle had a bad seal.  I discovered this when I was examining the bottle.  I took it out of the box and for some reason I sniffed the inside of the box.  I could smell alcohol.  I then examined the bottle and I noticed some streaks on the neck where the foil ends.  I also saw what I thought was condensation on the inside of the bottle.  I took my thumb and swiped the area.  The streaks disappeared and my thumb got wet, it wasn't condensation on the inside of the bottle, it was on the outside.  I pushed my thumb on the foil and slid it down, managing to squeeze out a few more drops.  I pushed down on the top of the cork and I heard what I assumed to be air escaping.  I then monitored the level in the bottle for about two weeks.  It didn't reced much, but it did.  I was disappointed.  I wanted to open it someday, but just not now.  I suppose that either way it would be opened.

I am excited and sad at the same time.
I am excited because I anticipate that this will be the highlight of my journey through malt madness.  I am sad because I know that I will never taste anything like this again.  As I gaze at this bottle, I think to myself, "Inside this bottle, this is the stuff that legends are made out of.  And I'm going to taste it." I don't know what to expect.  Now, it is time....

The Black Bowmore 31yo 1964 Final Edition (49%, OB) is really dark, the darkest I've ever seen.  This malt is amazing for its age.  I thought that wood would dominate the flavor profile since it has been in the cask for so long, but this is not the case.  This sure is fiesty for a 31yo!  I was hoping that the peat would stand out a bit more.  It could use a bit more of Islay character.  The sherry starts to dominate the finish, but as it tapers off you can detect the peat again.  Nevertheless, this is a good marriage of Islay and sherry.  This is much better than the Darkest, this is a well put together whisky.  This is a good, big, and strong Islay malt that receives extra points for being unique.
Score: 93 points.

I was really surprised at how strong the sherry was.  Even though I said I would have liked more peat and smoke, I have to give this malt credit.  This is the first whisky I have tasted that is older than 18 years.  Obviously, this is the first whisky that I have tasted that is at least 30yo.  I was so surprised that this malt did not get weak or sleepy from being in the cask so long, which is very impressive.  This malt has a very good nose and good flavor.  It is definitely going to take more tastings to get a true feeling for this gem.  It sure is unique, I've never tasted an Islay like this.  It does taste like an Islay and has a big sherry impact, at times which is too much.  I can't help but wonder why we don't see more of the big Islay malts finished/matured in sherry casks.  Perhaps it is because they are big enough to stand on their own.  This does make me want to open a ! bottle of Darkest and see how different they are.  I sure do remember that the Darkest did not taste like this.  I haven't totally formed an opinion on Black Bowmore yet.  It's still somewhat of a mysterious figure.  It made a good first impression.  It sort of threw me off balance, I was expecting a softer whisky.  I want to dig deeper with this malt.  I want to see what else it has to offer.  Indeed it is something special.  This was definitely a special moment on my journey through malt madness, easily one of the best.  I can't wait until the next session.

Independents, Glen Ord & An Irish

On one of my trips to the Liquor Depot (my favorite store) they had Signatory's new range of single malts from each region.  They caught my eye and I was intrigued, simply because they were cheap.  I opted for the Islay 5yo and the Campbeltown 8yo.  In a previous report I stated that I wouldn't buy independents.  Now I have to go back on my word.  I picked these up just because of the prices.  My views on independents have changed a bit.  I now treat independents as a one time thing, meaning I expect to get one bottle and that's it, because when they disappear from the shelves they are gone for good.  I will go into more detail about independents when necessary (very likely in the next issue of Malt Maniacs, you'll see why, stay tuned!).

The Vintage Campbeltown 8yo (40%, SigV bastard bottling) has improved since prior tastings.  There was some sort of a green vegetable matter note in the palate which now seems to be subdued, and I like that because it left a rather strange taste.  The sea air in the nose is rather nice.  It also seems as if there is a candied scent in the nose.  Nevertheless, this malt really didn't leave much of an impression on me.  There is still a little bit of a strange taste.  The sawdust in the finish is strange, not quite sure how I feel about it.
Score: 70 points.

Next: The Vintage Islay 5yo (40%, SigV bastard bottling).
Oh, what a nose; a great nose!  This has a very soft finish for an Islay, but very interesting.  The finish isn't overpowering, you know the peat is there, steady, steady, steady; it seems to recede a bit but then it comes back.  This malt has a great texture and a great mouthfeel, nice and smooth.  This malt is well rounded with some nice depth.
This stuff is really good, I am impressed.
Score: 83 points.

The nose of the Glen Ord 12yo ODB 40% has a slight sharpness, which I attrubute to the sherry.  It also shows some very nice complexity, quite a bit going on.  I can't exactly describe the chemical like smell so I just call it chemical.  The finish leaves a good feeling in the mouth, sticks to the cheeks.  The maltiness becomes more prevalent after 20 minutes or so.  The sherry doesn't totally dominate this malt which is nice.  I swear that there is an extremely delicate note of coconut on the palate.  I thoroughly enjoyed sampling this malt, perhaps because it was a very good nosing/tasting night.  I seemed to be firing on all cylinders.
Score: 75 points.

The tropical fruits of the Knappogue Castle 1992 40% hit right away in the nose, which is great.  The nose sure is delicate and seems to fade.  It seems to have lost most of the chemical note from previous sessions, but it is still detectable.  Perhaps breathing reduced the chemical note.  But at the same time, I think breathing has really softened this whisky.  Prior to this tasting it was more lively and up front, plus it was more flavorful.  Now the whisky is soft and delicate.  In closing, this is a light, very drinkable, and a very enjoyable whisky.
Score: 72 points.

Added Note:

I have also been thinking about making an adjustment to my ratings system. I was looking through my notebook with all my tasting notes and ratings and saw that for quite a few malts I have multiple tasting notes all with ratings. I am going to go with an averaging system and see how it goes.

So now when I submit a score to the matrix it will more than likely be an average. The downside is that some malts have only been tasted once. Hopefully, in due time, I should get around to taking care of that issue. I thought this system would be a good idea after noticing that some of the scores fluctuated. otherwise, some of the ratings would have to be changed often.

Additionally, I am also going to keep track of the high and low for a malt.  I want to refrain from getting into an analysis of high and low scores for a malt because I am sure we all know that ther! e are various reasons for this happening.  Hopefully, this system will clean things up and make my scores a bit more accurate.

Patrick Whaley
 

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E-pistle #02/08 - Pro's & Con's of Old Age
by Louis Perlman, USA

Old Age, this seems kind of cruel, something I am reminded of when I see how many gray hairs the barber has to sweep up when I get a haircut nowadays. STOP, wait a minute, it's the whisky, not the author. OK, that's better.

Actually, there does seem to be a parallel between whisky and life when it comes to age. It's been a theory of mine that many people act like a preferred certain age, no matter how old they are at the time. I have one friend who is two months younger than me, but he was in his fifties before he hit 30. He even started wearing one of those fuzzy (stuffed animal) fur-like hats in the winter. One the other hand, one of my co-workers is 47, but acts like he's still in college. Divorced 3 times with a daughter from the third, he has to be juggling at least two girlfriends at a time.

So it seems with whisky.
Various things I have read seem to converge on this thought. The lighter whiskies definitely don't do well into old age, since the barrel starts to dominate. The Glenmorangie 18 is 50% sherry matured, since the standard whisky doesn't make it that far on it's own. Also, there are very, very few older GM's offerred by the distillery, which may also be why GM doesn't get quite the reputation of some other distilleries. On the other hand, Dalmore comes into it's own at 21 years and beyond. I enjoy the 12 year old, but only as an entry level dram. My 23 year Glenhaven and a miniature of the 30 year Stillmans Dram that someone sent me are much superior.

Other distilleries are more conventional, with things geting better as the whisky gets older. Macallan 12 is a quality dram, but the 18 rates a good bit higher. Interestingly enough, I once read an interview with someone from Macallan who stated that the 25 year old isn't much of an improvment over the 18 year, but the market demands it (the Mac 25 is the darling of the Wall St. crowd). Then again, they released the 30 year old at $350 last year too, but Macallan always seems to come up with all sorts of 'special edition' older bottlings. There must be all sorts of interesting things in the corner of their warehouse.

As for my favorite three distilleries, there are a number of variations. Highland Park starts good, and just keeps on improving. But after 18 years, good as it is, the extra years kick in dramatically. The 1977 is a big step up from the 18, and the 25 year has a legendary reputation.

Ardbeg seems to have two tracks when it comes to aging. The most recently distilled younger expressions are let-it-all-hang-out drams, as is the 1975. But the older Gordon and McPhail's, particularly the legendary 1974, are different. Sort of like a velvet covered boxing glove, they present the smoke, peat, and tar one element at a time. There isn't the initial overwhelming punch, but just a few sips last for what seems to be an eternity. And this at only 40%. To the more recent SMS converts among the  readers of this page, if you are ever offered a sample of the G&M 1974, savor the moment, as you'll being tasting history.

And finally, I'll conclude with Springbank. This is one whisky that reaches it's lofty hights with age. Until a few years ago, anything less than the 21 year old didn't have that great a reputation. But that changed sometimes in 1997 with the 12/100 (proof)
bottling, which Springbank said something like 'has older whiskies vatted in to give a hint of what they are like'. This turned into a delightful bonus for the consumer as one batch had WAY too much 25 and 30 year old whisky mixed in (which apparently caused shortages of them). The result was something that was absolutely incredible. The 25 & 30 take a turn to the left (assuming that peat, smoke and tar are to the right), and that is very evident in the 12/100 Double Dark, as it became known as. Of course, the Single Dark was pretty darn good too, but the DD is another legend.
HINT: whenever you are in a liquor store, look up at the expensive stuff for the Springbanks. If you ever see something that says 100 Proof, buy it!!! If the bottle is medium dark, it's the standard bottling, but if it is very dark, it's the good stuff. If you aren't sure, then it's the SD. By the way, forget about popular liquor stores, their stock would have been long gone. Look for the small mom and pop stores.

All I can say is that we all should do so well in our advancing age!!

Louis Perlman, New York, USA
 

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E-pistle #02/09 - The Influence of Age
by Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada

    The influences of age are many.
In an article in Whisky Magazine, Matthew Gloag the Fifth, of Famous Grouse, is quoted as saying "You'll never drink whisky until you're comfortable drinking alone."  For me, that took fifty years, but in my circle of whisky contacts I know at least two budding connoisseurs in their early twenties.  Age does not always equal maturity.

    A general drop in consumption of spirits in recent years has had some whisky makers cultivating the youth market and so have emerged sweet 'whisky coolers' often packaged like soft drinks, in an attempt to attract the youth and thus lead them, as mature consumers, to make whisky their drink.  Also in this vein, we have the not so wonderful Loch Dhu which, though called a single malt, bears little resemblance to any chosen to cross the knowing adult palate.

    But what about the age of the whisky itself?  A Canadian whisky is ready at 3 years; an old one may be matured for 8.  Similarly with American bourbons.  Until tasted, a whiskey called old may strike us malt Scotch drinkers as still pretty green.  Ten years seems to be about the youngest age at which our Scottish potations become enjoyable and among the uninitiated the older the better has become a rule of thumb. But what is ageing, and what does age really contribute to the flavours of whisky?

    To the Canadian distillers, ageing often seems to be a process of waiting 3 years until the law says you can call it whisky, then shipping it off to the bottling plant. The Canadians are master blenders though, and our 'youthful' whiskies can be smooth as silk and no where near as brutal as a young Scotch.  Some Canadian whiskies are aged longer, and more and more of these (truly excellent) premium whiskies are beginning to be released.

    American bourbon makers see ageing primarily as a period for leaching flavouring agents and congeners out of oak barrels into the whisky.  Their theory is that alcohol expands into the wood when it is warmed, and is expelled as whiskey when it is cooled, flavoured with a number of wood chemicals that have dissolved in the alcohol.  Since ageing is to them a matter of drawing flavouring out of oak barrels, many American distilleries artificially speed up the process by raising and lowering the temperature of their warehouses creating up to 5 cycles per year.  In Scotland, on the other hand, where temperature is a function of the seasons, only freak conditions would create more than one cycle per year.  So, a three year old American whiskey, in terms of number of passes into the wood, could be equivalent to a malt Scotch up to 15 years old.  Though they disagree with my cycle numbers there is a good description of this on the Early Times website at: http://www.earlytimes.com/heritage/5step.html

    The American maturation process is further sped up by their use of only new, first-fill barrels in which the concentration of congeners would be high.  The Scottish use barrels that have already had at least one and often several previous uses ageing other spirits.  Thus Scotch malt whisky displays the influence of two prior changes in the oak.  Any highly soluble flavourants, such as oak lactones, will have been greatly depleted by previous spirits, and the barrels may have absorbed new flavours from the spirits previously aged in them.  Therefore longer ageing of Scotch may be required to pull the somewhat depleted flavours from the already used barrels.

    For example, the Glenmorangie 10 year old is a pleasant, run-of-the-mill whisky - sweet, and malty.  For me the Glenmorangie 10 is unique in having a distinct flavouring of buckwheat honey.  It has some spiciness, and develops a metallic feel in the front of the mouth and a lingering bitterness on the tongue.  It's enjoyable, but not wonderful.  Given 8 more years in oak though, and Glenmorangie becomes woodier and mustier and altogether much more enjoyable.  The spiciness is now out front and there is more character in a strong black pepper feel.  The sweetness remains, but the buckwheat flavour is gone to be replaced with clover.  Glenmorangie is a whisky that greatly improves from the 10 to the 18 year old version.  This appears to me to be a clear case of the whisky needing more time to pull the spiciness out of the previously used wood, and one that given time, becomes quite a treat.

    In Scotland though, ageing whisky involves at least two other deliberate processes besides leaching flavour from oak.  One is the slow but steady evaporation of the so called 'angels share' which decreases the proportion of alcohol in the remaining whisky, but also decreases and often eliminates some (usually undesirable) flavours that are a component of the new-make spirit that comes off the still.  I have never tasted new-make, but I did try a two year old Isle of Arran once and the flavour was dominated by unpleasant chemicals.

    A good example of driving out undesirable flavours can be found in comparing Laphroaig 10 year old with Laphroaig 15.  While most connoisseurs will opt for the 15 year old any time, there is a rough primitive quality in the 10 year old that is lost in the more complex and refined 15 year old version.  After 15 years, Laphroaig smells like the 10 year old, but with the addition of a mild, sweet tobacco.  It is milder than the 10 year old, and many of the rough edges have been worn off.  It's wonderful stuff, but it's lost the aggressive, in your face attitude of its younger sibling.  While the gain outweighs the loss, Laphroaig 15 is an example of a whisky that has lost some of the extreme components that draw so many to the 10 year old.  There are many rich peaty, smoky  complex whiskies.  There is only one Laphroaig 10 year old.  Fortunately both are on the market, though only the 10 year old makes it to Ottawa.

    Another effect of slow maturation, is more time for the many chemicals that make up whisky to interact and to react with each other. This is best exemplified in the 'marrying' process that takes place just before bottling, when a homogeneous batch of whisky, drawn from many barrels is allowed more time in wood  to interact and become one whisky.  Glenfiddich  makes much of this process with their solera system.  But it is a truism in the Scotch whisky industry that barrels of mature whisky cannot simply be mixed, brought to standard flavour then bottled.  Once the correct flavour has been obtained, some time is then given for the mixture to sit in wood, as the components marry into a single fabric.  This is true as much of single malts as it is of blended Scotches, though for this one, I have no explanation.

    One thing certain is that different malt whiskies do reach peak maturity at different ages, and different palates will identify different peaks.  In a previous Malt Madness article, I mentioned a 30 year old Ardbeg Rob Stevens had given me to try.  It was woody to say the least.  He likened it to chewing on a log, and actually recommended that I not buy it as it had aged past its prime.  I loved it, and still remember it as probably the best whisky I have ever tasted.  But age alone is not the only determinant.  The Ardbeg 17 by comparison is quite mild and mellow, though it is said to contain some very very old Ardbeg.  It is a product however of a much less peated distillate and no length of ageing would give it the bite of it's 30 year old sibling, or, I'm told, the new and much more aggressive Ardbeg 10.

    So call it ageing, or call it maturation, there is no question that our malts do change as they sit in the wood.  At first all changes are for the better, but at some stage, for most, while ageing continues, maturation changes to senescence.  The goal for us, the malt mad, is to determine that point for each of our favourites.  Unfortunately there are few generalizations that hold true for all.

Davin
 

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E-pistle #02/10 - Ages of Macallan
by Klaus Everding, Germany

First attempt at age research of The Macallan...

This time our tasting session was more civilized than usual. Three different Macallans on the program (7y - 10y- 12y). Apart from some minor differences the three bottles looked the same, standard whisky bottle with the white and gold Macallan label. Nice. Furthermore the colour of the malts was always amber. A small developement with age to deeper tones could be observed (12 almost full amber). Well, - that's all I want to say about these two points. Doc Michi had spent his holidays in Italy. That's why our first candidate, a 7 year old Macallan, was available. As far as I know the 7 year old stuff is only sold in Italy.

Macallan 7 years
Scent: The scent is very intensive, overwhelming sherry, sweetness - but not  pointed, raisins, fruits, wet leaves. So far to the pleasant notes. But there is also a distinct smell of alcohol and some nasty chemical aldehyde note. When you let the whisky breath for some minutes in the glass the unpleasant note is reduced but nevertheless detectable.
Taste: surprisingly smooth, there is no burning even if it is the first glass. The tasting starts with a sharp bitter/sweet note on the tip of tongue. Hard to define. Just a flash. When the malt runs down your throat a satisfying fruity sherry note develops. Maybe there are also some vague impressions of toffee and coffee. All too soon the whole thing is finished.
Score: Nice malt for 7 years. It easily beats some malts which are 16 year or older. But the scent and the short finish hint that this whisky can do better, provided that you give him enough time to develop in the cask.

Macallan 10 years
Scent: intensive fruity note, sherry, woods and wet leaves. The smell is resinous,  honey and malty notes are also present.  The scent comes very quickly and it is the winner of the tasted Macs when you judge by fruitiness.
Taste: Ahh, - this is like the Macallan should taste. Smooth and round in the mouth. There is the bitter/ sweet head note on the tongue. This time more developed. Mint? Bergamotte? Wood?  Then it comes. The parts which I love on the Macallan. Fruits and sherry notes pass over to sustained impressions of toffee, honey and wood. Excellent!!! And the story goes on and on and on...
Score:  The 10 year old Mac is really delicious.
It is marvellous what three additional years in the cask can do.
All evident errors are corrected.

Macallan 12 years
Scent: Compared with the 10 year old Macallan this malt is a bit reserved. The aroma needs more time to develop. Fruity notes are reduced in favour of malt and wood impressions.
Taste: Hard to tell the difference between 12y and 10y old Mac. It seems that all the good impressions are just one pixel better. Could be the difference between a normal and a wide-screen film. The development of the taste is just spread a little.
Score: The winner of the evening is Macallan 12 years. The difference between 7y and 10y Mac is huge compared with difference between 10y and 12y Mac. I can't put my finger on the point but I prefer the 12 y Mac. Especially the strange calculation of my malt shop 0.7 l bottle 10y (price 27¥ = 38 ¥/l)  compared with the 12 y Mac ( 1 l =  35.5¥)  confirms my judgement.

Conclusion: This tasting session has somehow confirmed my theory:
The lower price limit for resonable  malts lies somewhere between 15 and 20 ¥ (at least hear in Germany). In the region between 20 and 35 ¥ the value for money relation rises very steep. Above 35 ¥ the saturation limits is reached. For every centigrade of more satisfaction you have to pay a lot of money.

The End.
I am just a beginner with malts. Having tasted 50-60 different malts leaves me at least the same amount of reasonably prized malts too explore.  Until that day I hope that my taste buds will not get too ambitious or I will have to pay 3-4 times more for my hobby.

Klaus Everding, Hamburg, Germany
 

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E-pistle #02/11 - The Age Issue
by Patrick Whaley, USA

    This is a great topic.
As a beginner I have limited experience in this area, given that I haven't tasted anything older than 18 yrs.  But nevertheless, there is much to extrapolate.  Of course the first thing that comes to mind with older malts is the hefty price tag that some of the older malts command.  Even with my experience, this is quite evident with the Mac 18. I think the Mac is overrated.  Time to expand on that.

    A few months ago I sat down with the Macallan 12, 15, and 18 yo (1979), tasting them in that progression.  The 12 was just not likable, too rough, sharp, too much bite.  The 15 was better, the extra 3 years showed that it started to round off the edges, becoming more defined, and a bit softer.  The 18 was excellent.  The 18 makes me respect Macallan, unlike the 12.  Sometimes I feel I have an on and off relationship with the 18.  I attribute this though to bad nosing/tasting days.  But when the senses are on, the 18 may have the best nose I have experienced, incredible.  Those extra years make it a beauty, soft, smooth, delicate, silky, sweet, yummy.  This makes me wonder how I would feel about the 25, since I like the 18 so much.  The prices these malts are offered for in my area are $33.99, $49.99, and $75.99.  I think that $49.99 is fair for the 15.  As for the 18, yeah $75.99 is steep, considering that before the price went up it was $56.99.  So, to ensure that I wouldn't have to pay that much, I bought 3 bottles before the price went up.

    Another experience I can comment on is Laphroaig 10 and 15.  In my view, the biggest difference between these two is that the 15 is very quiet compared to its brother.  I really like this pairing for the mood factor.  At times I feel the need for a loud, aggressive, brash malt which the 10 is perfect for.  Other times I want something softer and more delicate, like the 15.  I think the prices I pay for them are fair, $33.99 and $45.99 respectively.  Now I can only speculate about the 30.  In my opinion the best pro of age is that the older malts seem to be more soft, delicate, and refined.  But I have read that the 15 and 30 are worlds apart.  Fifteen years between malts is quite a leap isn't it?  People say that the 30 lost some of its Islay characteristics and is too woody.  The price tag on this one is $229.99.  If I had that kind of cash I think I would spring for some other malts.  I think it would be nice to see Laphroaig release a 21 yo and see how it stands up between the two.  On a side note, the liquor store that I frequent has an amazing sale the last 2 weeks of the year.  All single malts are 20% off.  That is when I go for the spendier malts.  I figure it makes more sense to wait and save on a more expensive bottle instead of getting a few bucks off on a cheaper bottle.  The last time I was there, they had a closeout price of $149.99 for the Bowmore 30 yo, if I only had the money.

    To sum things up in my view, the age element depends on a few factors.  Sometimes you want something big and bold, sometimes you want soft and delicate.  Price tags can prevent some of us from sampling older expressions but we can get a glimpse of the taste through malts that are old but not the oldest.  I wish I could be one of those lucky few that wouldn't consider a price tag a con.

Patrick
 

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E-pistle #02/12 - Aberlour JOLT Transcript
by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland

On March 23, at 22:00 GMT, malt maniacs from all over the world joined eachother in cyberspace to investigate the product from the Aberlour distillery in painstaking detail. Four hours and more than a dozen different bottlings later we were happy to report that Aberlour is a distillery that's gravely underestimated. Is Aberlour a 'Macallan Killer"? Find out!

CLICK HERE to read the transcript of the proceedings - trust me, it's worth it.

Johannes

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