Entry #344 - 30/09/2008; And The Winners Are...  (The results of the very first competition ever on MM.)
Entry #345 - 11/10/2008; Malt Maniacs Awards 2008; Prelude  (Davin and Krishna visited Amsterdam.)
Entry #346 - 24/10/2008; Another Maniacal Marriage  (I've sampled a few drams for Michel's marriage.)
Entry #347 - 03/11/2008; Malt Whisky Yearbook 2009  (The lastest edition is even better than before.)
Entry #348 - 15/11/2008; World Whisky of the Year Again!  (Jim Murray pronounced Ardbeg 'WW' again.)
Entry #349 - 19/12/2008; Enjoy Your recession!  (Maybe the current credit crisis isn't such a bad thing?)
Autumn 2008 Dram Diary - By the end of Autumn there were circa 2750 single malts on my Track Record.
 

Entry #344 - And The Winners Are...

September 30, 2008 - I had actually planned to announce
the winners of the first Malt Madness Competition tomorrow,
but the Summer of Tough Love is over and I need to get
busy again. So, after mulling over the photo's and articles for
over a week I could pick nine clear winners relatively easily;
 
- Nabil Mailloux, Canada
- Tony Terrain, France
- Andrea Ballarin, Italy
- Pontus Lilliehorn, Sweden
- Arnout Rogiers, Belgium
- Steven Duchateau, Belgium
- Eric Oudijk, Holland
- Lawrence Graham, Canada
- Serge Valentin, France
 
Picking a tenth winner from all the 'runners-up' wasn't quite
so easy. Canadian maniac Lawrence Graham was clever
enough to submit both pictures AND an article, doubling his
chances. However, it didn't seem quite right to me to award
two prizes to the same person. So, I decided to add a little
'bonus' question to the competition for the last prize.
 
The picture at the right was one of the prize-winners.
I asked the members of the Mixed Messages Mailinglist at
which distillery the picture was taken - and the number of
prompt replies (over two dozen in less than five minutes)
proved that there are quite a few 'anoraks' amongst the
readership of MM. The sparse clues in the photo (the large
windows, the water, the view on the Paps of Jura) were
enough for most of them to identify it as... Caol Ila.
 
The first to hit the 'reply' button with the correct answer was Graham Watson from Aberdeen.
The lucky winners will receive a stack of Ian Rankin's 'Inspector Rebus' novels; his latest 'Exit Music', along with some of the older books; The Naming of the Dead, A Question of Blood, Resurrection Men and Fleshmarket Alley.

I had actually planned to have a book review ready by the time this little competition was over, but we've been very busy with the Malt Maniacs Awards 2008 - perhaps a little TOO busy... Every year the social life of the 12 jurors in the competition comes to a grinding halt when they have to sample a massive amount of different whiskies two or three times in five or six weeks. Well, that is if they do the sampling in the evenings and weekends. Some maniacs have even been known to take two or three weeks off from work to take on the whole package in a 'full time' effort. For the last few years we've been aiming at circa 150 bottles, but each year we receive a few dozen last minute entries that push the number closer to 200. This year was no different; when I write this we're at 198 bottles and I think Olivier can still add one or two more late arrivals to the parcels.

Well, he can't wait for much longer because next weekend Davin and Krishna will drop by in Amsterdam to pick up their packages. I'd better clear out some of the good samples on my shelves before they get a chance to put their grubby little hands on them ;-)  Expect a fresh tasting report shortly...

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

Entry #345 - Malt Maniacs Awards 2008; Prelude

October 11, 2008 - When I write this, fellow malt maniacs Davin from
Canada and Krishna from India are 'en route' to Schiphol airport to pick
up their packages with blind samples for the MM Awards 2008. Davin's
flight was delayed, which gave me the opportunity to sample a few
drams to help me get into the festive spirit before we start the maniacal
dramming at the Cadenhead's store in downtown Amsterdam.

This will also be the last opportunity for some 'free range' dramming
before I'll have to focus on the 198 blind samples for our annual whisky
competition. I've just collected the last 'pricing' data on the bottles in
the Malt Maniacs Awards on the web - most participants provided the
data and I've found the prices on most of the rest on the web. Based
on the provided prices, desk research and a few (hopefully) good
guesses it seems the division of the awards malts is as follows:

- 63 Daily Drams (price up to 50 Euro's)
- 101 Premium whiskies (price between 50 and 150 Euro's)
- 34 Ultra Premium whiskies (price 150 Euro's or more)

So, that promises to be a real competition in all the price ranges, with
the heaviest struggle for the awards in the 'premium' price category.
Tasting and scoring almost 200 blind samples will take up most of my
attention over the next few weeks, so it's time to cleanse my shelves.

The first bottle on my list was a special one - I received it from Robert Gardner, an enthusiastic reader of the website who figured that the free information on Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs had helped him find so many good bottles and avoid 'not so good' bottles that he wanted to express his gratitude in a liquid form. When I dropped him a note to commend him on his excellent pro-active inityiative he replied;

"You're welcome for the bottle of Glenglassaugh 30yo.  I hope you enjoy! 
Parker Whisky, located in Banff (north-east Scotland), issued this single cask bottling last year through Douglas Laing.  Banff is very near the old Glenglassaugh distillery.  The first part of this year I was browsing the Whisky Mag forum and spotted a request for info about Houston.  I replied and it turned out to be Richard Parker, the owner of Parker Whisky, who was visiting Houston in March.  We met and exchanged several bottles of whisky.  Anyway, while looking on his web site I spotted this bottle and it looked to be unique.  Since the Malt Maniacs have tried somewhere close to 99% of every whisky bottled since King George IV visited Scotland in 1822, I thought this one might be one you haven't tried and it turned out to be so. By the way, I really like the updates to the web sites.  I've recently had two whisky tastings at my house ("Honey, you have somewhere to go Friday night, right?"), and I point everyone to your sites.  Everyone likes the MaltMenu (most are relevantly new to Scotch Single Malts)."

Well, thanks again, Robert... Isn't this a great example how the wen has made the whisky world smaller?
Meeting up with Davin, Krishna and Michel in a few hours will be the perfect opportunity to finally get this bottle on the matrix and the monitor, so let's produce some tasting notes before I take the bottle to town...

Glenglassaugh 30yo 1975/2006 (45.6%, DL OMC for Parkers Whisky, REF 2585, D. 09/'75 Btl. 04/'06)
Nose: Light, spicy and very expressive. Passion fruit and a hint of acetone. Growing fruity subtlety.
More citrussy aroma's join the party after a few minutes. Brilliant development of the sweet & sour.
After around half an hour more spicy elements emerge - and even some cheesy and organic elements.
Taste: Loads of passion fruit on the palate as well. Very smooth; almost flowing into perfumy territory.
Gentle, everlasting finish, growing drier in the end. Much more subtle & complex than most 'summer' drams.
Score: 89 points - and that's despite the fact that this comes dangerously close to 'perfumy'.
That's a trait I'm fairly allergic too, but this one pulls it off with flying colours as far as I'm concerned...

Hmmm... It's 11:00 AM and there's no news from the airport yet... Time for another dram...
Let's go for the Arran 1996/2008 (56.84%, OB for 'The Nectar', Sherry Cask #1860)
Nose: Subtle old fruits. Dried apples. Complex sweetness. Some polished wood too. An old tobacco store.
Classic sherried profile with a hint of bubblegum. Lovely development over time; doesn't need water.
Taste: Strong and sweet with loads of 'mature' sherry notes. Very solid finish with a touch of liquorice.
Score: 86 points - perhaps a tad harsh on the palate, but a better malt than I'd expected from Arran.

Well, it's 11:30 AM and Krishna just called from the airport.
No sight of Davin yet, so I have time for one more quick dram...
I went with an An Cnoc 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2007). I recently tried a recent version of this 'standard' expression from Knockdhu distillery at a tasting for Whisky Etcetera Magazine, and I couldn't go any higher than 70 points for that glass at that moment. However, the score of 70 points was such a radical change from the upwards trend that I wanted to check out another recent batch. The regular expressions of Knockdhu and An Cnoc that I tried in the mid-1990's all scored in the lower 70's (i.e. below average), but around the year 2003, the 12yo OB scored 78 points and a batch from 2005 even scored 80 points.
This was such a radical change of pace that I felt I needed to check my findings.
Surely enough, I was quickly convinced that 70 points wasn't the right score - I upgraded it to 76 points.
That's still down from the '2005' batches - but I reserve my final conclusion until I've tried another batch.

Ah! Davin and Krishna just called from the hotel - I'm off to town for some serious dramming...
I'll share some more news in my next entry - along with a little review of the latest Malt Whisky Yearbook.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

Entry #346 - Another Maniacal Marriage

October 24, 2008 - fellow malt maniac Michel 'Wild Child' van
Meersbergen will tie the knot with his girlfriend Christel later
today and I don't have to be in the office, so this is the perfect
opportunity to do some celebratory dramming in the morning
before I get back to the serious sampling for the MM Awards.
Sampling flight after flight of blind samples can become a little
frustrating at times, so I decided to take a little break...
 
With the marriage of Michel (at the right in this archive picture
of him faithfully performing his duties as collector of the Malt
Maniacs Membership Fees) the number of bachelors on the
team has sunk to a dramatic low. In the early years I think we
had roughly a 50/50 division between bachelors / bachelorettes
and married men, but after I few years of marriages and some
additions to the team we are now a shrinking minority...
 
I have to admit that I initially feared that marriage could be
a debilitating condition for a certified malt maniac, but this isn't
necessarily the case. Many spouses tolerate the anorakal habits
of their better halves - and I imagine not all wives of jurors on
the MM Awards are happy when they see the boxes with some
200 samples arrive at the end of the year. A precious few like
Michel's new wife Christel even actively appreciate a fine dram!
So, as marriages go, this promises to be a great one ;-)
Congrats, Michel & Christel!
 
Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, Autumn has arrived in full force...
With my hyperactive sinuses and the windy Dutch weather, that
means that I can look forward to my share of 'bad nose days'.
I'd better take the opportunity to do tastings while I still can,
so here are my notes on a few recent dramming experiences.

Aultmore 16yo 1990/2007 (58.8%, The Single Malts of Scotland, C#2536, 158 Bts.)
Nose: Polished & sherried. More cask influence than distillery influence. Spicy but a tad too harsh.
Then some clear 'rum' notes emerge. Growing complexity over time. An upper 80's nose.
Taste: Fruity, sweet & chewy. Good body; excellent tannins in the finish with a hint of smoke.
Score: 88 points - it jumped by one point from 87 points at the end of a looooong finish.

Macduff 16yo 1991/2007 (59.6%, The Single Malts of Scotland, C#6731, 180 Bts.)
Nose: Clean and light with some very faint spices. Citrus and chloride. More pleasant with some water.
Some evolution over time, with sugar syrup and other simple sweet smells. More like a bourbon whiskey?
Taste: Beer-like, but it improves with water. Very strong tannins in the finish. Not quite recommendable.
Score: 79 points - which makes it one of the few ugly ducklings in Sukhinder's portfolio.

Glenallachie 31yo 1971/2002 (53.8% DL Platinum, 219 Bts.) 
Nose: Polished and woody, sweetening out. Some acetone aroma's too. Almost like a grain whisky.
It opens up though, growing more complex with whipped cream and other bakery aroma's besides wood.
Taste: Woody with less sweetness than I found in the nose. Cool. Great mouth feel, though...
This really needs at least 30 minutes. Perhaps some organics and even a trace of peat eventually.
Score: 86 points - although it was just a smidgen too woody for the upper 80's for most of the time.

Glen Ord 32yo 1972/2004 (50%, DL OMC, C#512, 242 Bts., D. 01/'72 Btl. 10/'04)
Nose: Grainy & sweetish. Light bakery aroma's. More spices after a minute; growing complexity.
This really is a malt that needs time to open up. More and more spices emerge after enough breathing.
Taste: Mostly grainy. Over time a perfumy trait becomes more prominent, pulling the the score down.
Score: 82 points - but without the perfume it could have gone to the mid-80's. It's nice to have a chance to taste another expression from the Glen Ord distillery (for a long time the standard 12 years old was pretty much all one could get...), but if this is the best they can achieve after more than three decades I'm not too impressed.

That's it for now - I'll give my nose a rest now so I can resume the awards dramming over the weekend.
Next time I'll get back to the book review I promised - and some more 'mainstream' drams.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

Entry #347 - Malt Whisky Yearbook 2009

November 3, 2008 - It actually arrived on my shelves
over a week ago, but the hectic times of the MM Awards
didn't give me the opportunity to review it until now, but
the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2009 is out!
 
Excellent news as far as I'm concerned. I have to admit
that I had my doubts when the first edition of the Malt
Whisky yearbook was published in 2005. I wasn't sure
if whisky lovers would be interested in buying 'the same'
book year after year. Well, my reservations proved to
be unfounded. Each year there are lots of changes and
additional articles, apart from the updated 'distillery data'
that's still at the heart of the book. Most of that information
doesn't change a lot from year to year, but the additional
material is changed, updated and refreshed each year.
 
As such, I feel this edition of the Malt Whisky Yearbook
is more than worth the cover price of a measly 12,95 GBP,
especially because editor Ingvar Ronde keeps 'tweaking'
the concept. Most of these changes are improvements as
far as I'm concerned - improving the value of the book
even further. Remember: you can't even get a decent
bottle of whisky anymore these days for that price.
 
One novelty this year I'm not entirely sure about is the
inclusion of tasting notes. This has been on my wish list
since the first edition of the Malt Whisky Yearbook was
published, but unfortunately they chose the 'Wishart'
approach; selecting just one bottling out of the range.
As far as I'm concerned there are two problems with
this approach. In cases like Oban or Jura it's possible
to pick one obvious 'standard' expression from the
range, but that's not necessarily the case with, for
example, Dailuaine or Glendronach.
 
More important: the concept of certain 'house styles'
that apply to all whiskies produced at a distillery may
have made sense in the past, but is less relevant in
this modern day and age. An Ardbeg that was put in
a sherry cask in the early 70's is a very different beast
from a lightly peated Ardbeg 'Blasda' that was distilled
no more than a decade ago...

But then again, adding notes for ALL malt whiskies would be a problem.
Even with just the releases from one particular year, the Yearbook would become twice as thick...
So, I guess this is the best Ingvar could do for now within the concept. The tasting notes by Dominic Roskrow and David Stirk are concise and to the point - overall an improvement on an already excellent book. So, if I would have a 'Bang For Your Buck List' for books on this website the Malt Whisky Yearbook would probably be on top.

That takes care of the fresh 'paper' that has arrived on my desk lately - how about whisky?
Well, remember that new 'boutique bottler' Single & Single I wrote about earlier this year? They have just released two new expressions (one from Bowmore and one from Bunnahabhain - both Islay distilleries) and I had the privilege of being one of the first to sample them;

Bowmore 8yo 2000/2008 (46%, Single & Single, 890 Bts.)
Nose: Clean grains before a more serious undercurrent emerges. Develops but remains very subtle.
Some spices & organics pop up as well, but nothing hangs around for long. By no means a peat monster.
Hey, wait - after circa ten minutes there was some further evolution, with notes of jute, melon and sweets.
Taste: Relatively smooth before the peats floats to the surface. Liquorice. Not your typical Bowmore.
The peat (well, smoke) is much more obvious on the palate - but it lacks fruity notes to balance it out.
Score: 80 points - some intriguing traits, but the youth shines through in a few places, like the thin palate.
It needed at least ten minutes to reach recommendable levels, though...

Bunnahabhain 31yo 1976/2008 (46%, Single & Single, 560 Bts.)
Nose: Light, round & a little fruity. Solidifies after a few seconds with some more woody notes.
Faintest hint of smoke? Well-balanced, although it closes up after a few minutes instead of opening up.
Floral. Some very subtle peanuts and organics far in the distance. A 'blink and you'll miss it' malt.
Taste: Round and sweet and very smooth. Excellent fruity centre with loads of passion fruits.
The finish is hot, long and very dry. The wood is just a tad too dominant here; making it fairly bitter.
Pretty good tannins, though - and a menthol freshness emerges after some breathing in the glass.
After some more breathing I got some faint floral notes as well amongst the fruit in the finish. Liquorice?
Score: 87 points - without the perfume & with more 'staying power' it would have approached the 90's.

These 'Single & Single' releases will become available in the UK, Japan, Canada and South Africa over the next few weeks, which means that the majority of MM's readership won't be able to put their grubby little hands on them. I've been tasting fairly obscure stuff for my last few log entries as well, so it's about time I reviewed a few more 'mainstream' malts that most people should be able to find at a nearby liquorist or even supermarket.

I'll get back to those in my next log entry.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

Entry #348 - World Whisky of the Year... Again!

November 15, 2008 - Whisky writer Jim Murray has been publishing
his annually reviewed 'Whisky Bible' for a few years now. I personally
never saw the need to replace my own '2004' edition with a fresh copy,
but that's just because Jim's taste seems to have grown very different
from my own in recent years. In the late 1990's and eartly noughties
I shared Jim's love for Ardbeg and many of his favourite expressions
were among mine as well. However, a few years ago my love for the
new releases from Ardbeg gradually faded away, as prices went up
and the profile changed - and in the opposite direction, if you ask me.
At the same time, Jim's love for Ardbeg only seems to have grown
stronger over the years; it's hard to find a version he doesn't love.

So, it's safe to say that Jim Murray has a 'special relationship' with Ardbeg.
Last year he 'officially' named the Ardbeg 10yo as 'World Whisky of the Year 2008' and this year he selected another expression from Ardbeg: a special version of Ardbeg's Uigedail. In previous editions of the Whisky Bible, Jim actually wasn't as enthusiastic about the regular Uigedail, but this was a special version, bottled at 52.3% and only available in Canada. When Jim was asked about it he replied: "This particular brand of Ardbeg had not historically been among my favourites. So I was rendered almost speechless when I happened across it in Vancouver earlier in the year. Sadly, it is a bottling available only in Canada. And the reason it got World Whisky of the Year was not because it was Ardbeg (Willie!!). But because of the 1,227 new whiskies I tasted this year I simply could not find one that was better."

Yeah, that's all well and good - except for the fact that this 'world whisky' doesn't seem to exist...
German malt maniac Thomas Lipka alerted the other maniacs to a discussion on the Spirit of Islay forum.
As it turns out, Ardbeg's official spokespeople claim that the winner of the coveted 'World Whisky of The Year 2009' title wasn't actually ever bottled or released. Nevertheless, on the official Ardbeg website they're already proudly crowing about the fact that they are 'officially' world whisky of the year for 2008 and 2009.
Well, that's odd - if the selection was actually based on an 'administrative error' like they claim.

Well, perhaps Jim Murray's own words say it best: "There are unique dynamics involved in the production of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible each year, which is an expensive and complicated process."

Right... Fortunately, LVMH (Louis Vuitton, the company that owns Ardbeg) was able to help Jim out this year.
Customers who purchase a bottle of Ardbeg Uigedail (mind you - that's NOT the special Canadian bottle that won the title) via their website in November will receive a free complementary copy of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.
Of course, I can't be sure who's washing who's back here - and how enthusiastically the favor is returned...

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

Entry #349 - Enjoy Your Recession!

December 28, 2008 - A belated merry Christmas to all!
Well... All except the greedy speculators and corporate bankers that
caused the recent credit crisis. Oh, and perhaps their minions working
at various banks and insurance companies. Hmmmm... and maybe I
should include the politicians and officials that stood by and watched
it all happen in this little blame game too... And I guess that by the
transferential properties of guilt I should exclude everybody that
voted for them from my Christmas wishes too...
That shortens the list considerably ;-)

The truth of the matter is that - in my perspective - most of us are
to blame to some extent for this and many previous financial crises.
Perhaps my Calvinistic upbringing has given me a slightly twisted
perspective, but IMHO the desire that is part of our human soul
(and which is stimulated in our consumer culture) is at the root
of the problem. I've heard that sales for SUV's are up again in
Europe and the US are up again now that gas prices are down.
Hmmmm....

Being a bachelor with a part time job and a small business gives me lots of flexibility, so I'm not too worried about the current 'crisis' myself - I've already survived a few in my lifetime. However, the shock waves have now reached the local whisky scene here in Amsterdam as well. Despite a move to a less charming location two years ago the Cadenhead's store from Andries Visser remained my favourite whisky store in Amsterdam. However, I've just received word that the store is closed now - and probably won't re-open.

Bugger.... it seems I'll need to find a new hangout in Amsterdam...
To drown my sorrows I decided to have myself a little post-Christmas sampling session. With freezing temperatures the weather called for the heat of a peated dram - but which one to choose? Well, let's go for the stack of samples from Ireland this time - a bunch of expressions from Cooley's 'Connemara' peated whisky.
In my experience batch variation over the years is considerable, but overall quality is going up...

Connemara NAS (40%, OB, Peated, Ireland, +/-2004, 5cl) - a relatively old miniature.
Nose: Gentle, sweet and quite spicy. Not terribly peaty, actually... Not quite enough for me...
In fact, I think this batch is notably less peaty than earlier (+/- 2000) and recent batches.
Taste: Beer. Sweet. Quite slick. Hmmm.... Very smooth on the surface, but a tad gritty underneath.
Score: 75 points - enjoyable, but nothing to get too excited about; recent batches are much better. 

Connemara NAS (40%, OB, Peated, Ireland, +/-2008) - a bigger and more recent bottling.
Nose: Rich and round with very complex 'old' fruits. A beautiful profile. Organics & a hint of creosote. Tar?
Taste: Big with much more wood & less sweet fruits than I imagined. Feels a tad thin, but very interesting.
Score: 83 points - There's obviously peat, but not a great deal. A tad too thin to rise higher into the 80's.

Connemara 12yo (40%, OB, Peated, Ireland, +/-2008)
Nose: Light fruits, some dust and a pinch of peat. Explosion of complexity after a few seconds.
Then some 'grain whisky' traits emerge. A roller coaster of aroma's. Then tar & creosote. Quite amazing.
Taste: Oy… No sweetness during the first few seconds, but then the sweet fruits explode on the palate.
What a fun whisky!  With a little more staying power it would have reached the upper 80's.
Score: 85 points - but I should point out that not all maniacs were as enthusiastic as I was...

Connemara NAS 'Cask Strength' (57.9%, OB, Peated, Ireland, +/-2008)
Nose: Solid peat. Something fishy? Then lighter fruity notes emerge. Hint of chloride?
Then sweaty notes and other organics. Wow! The fruits keep evolving too. Loads of development.
Taste: Solid, peaty and dry. Salmiak and smoke. I don't find salmiak very often in Irish whiskey.
Score: 88 points - the nose shows lots of development in very little time. An old favourite improved!
This has always been my favourite expression in the range, but now it seems to have grown extra balls.
In fact, it was submitted to the MM Awards 2008 and six out of eleven jurors voted for silver too.

So, if we wanted to jump to conclusions it seems that the Connemara OB's today are even 'better' than those that were released a few years ago. When the brand was launched the nice price already made it an interesting alternative for some of the younger, lower shelf single malts from Islay, but these days they seem to be competing in a heavier weight class. This preliminary conclusion seems to be supported by the fact that more and more independent bottlers manage to find some beautiful casks at Cooley's in Ireland.
I'll wrap up this session with my notes on two recent releases...

Connemara 1992/2007 (50.5%, OB for Whisky Fair Germany, peated malt, C# K92/34 4184)
Nose: Ah! Freshly sweet and a tad farmy. Spicy too. Later on some very green veggy smells. Complex.
Taste: Salmiak and sweetness, Smoke too. Salami. The elements you usually get with peat monsters.
Score: 87 points - it's great that the best casks at Colley are now released as single casks.

Connemara 1992/2008 (58.5%, Tasttoe & Guy Boyen, C# K92/34 4188, Dst. 31/08/92, Btl. 12/04/08)
Nose: Similar to the TWF bottling, perhaps a bit punchier. A smidgen fruitier too. Sweet. Later veggy.
Taste: Hah! A strong salmiak impression again just like the TWF bottling. Excellent mouth feel.
Score: 87 points - perhaps a tad less complex than the TWF release, but a brilliant mouth feel.

Interesting - I found salmiak in the taste of all cask strength expressions, but none of the 40% ABV versions. Could it be that the casks that are destined for single cask bottling have a slightly different 'production history' than the 'mass production' casks? Maybe a different choice of wood - or a different distillate to begin with?
Ah... So many questions, so little time...

And that's it for now - expect some announcements in my next log entry.

Sweet drams,

Johannes
 

76 - Aberfeldy 12yo (40%, OB, Dewar's, Bottled +/- 2008)
76 - An Cnoc 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2007) - updated score; my initial score of 70 points was too low.
86 - Arran 1996/2008 (56.84%, OB for 'The Nectar', Sherry Cask #1860)
88 - Aultmore 16yo 1990/2007 (58.8%, The Single Malts of Scotland, C#2536, 158 Bts.)
77 - Balmenach 17yo 1989/2006 (55.8%, SMWS, 48.8, USA)
80 - Benriach 12yo 1994/2007 (46%, Signatory, C#1692+93, 747 Bts.)
70 - Bladnoch 15yo (40%, OB, distillery label, +/-2006)
80 - Bowmore 8yo 2000/2008 (46%, Single & Single, 890 Bts.)
76 - Bunnahabhain 10yo 1997/2007 (46%, Signatory, C#5355, 852 Bts.)
87 - Bunnahabhain 31yo 1976/2008 (46%, Single & Single, 560 Bts.)
86 - Clynelish 12yo (70 Proof, G&M, Brown & orange label, +/-1980)
60 - Cradle Mountain 10yo (57.9%, Cadenhead's World Whiskies, Bottled September 2006)
86 - Glenallachie 31yo 1971/2002 (53.8% DL Platinum, 219 Bts.)
85 - Glenglassaugh 28yo 1976/2005 (53.3%, Dewar Rattray, C#2371, 288 Bts.)
89 - Glenglassaugh 30yo 1975/2006 (45.6%, DL OMC for Parkers Whisky, REF 2585, D. 09/'75 Btl. 04/'06)
86 - Glengoyne 21yo (43%, OB, +/-2005)
62 - Glen Grant NAS (40%, OB, Botled +/- 2008)
81 - Glenlivet 16yo 1987/2004 (56.6%, OB, Chivas, Batch GL 16 001)
83 - Glenlossie 1977/2003 (45%, Samaroli '35th anniversary', C#633, 360 Bts.)
82 - Glen Ord 32yo 1972/2004 (50%, DL OMC, C#512, 242 Bts., D. 01/'72 Btl. 10/'04)
86 - Isle of Jura 7yo 1999 (58.4%, OB for Feis Ile 2006, C#5000, 500 Bts.)
79 - Macduff 16yo 1991/2007 (59.6%, The Single Malts of Scotland, C#6731, 180 Bts.)
88 - Millburn 34yo 1967/2002 (50%, DL Old Malt Cask, 552 Bts.)
80 - Oban 1980 DE Double Matured (43%, OB, Montilla Fino finished, +/-1995)
90 - Port Charlotte 5yo (60%, 0B for Martin Brunet, Bloodtub, C#24, 12.06.01/22.03.07, 33bts)
80 - Speyside 11yo (46%, The Càrn Mòr Cask, Bastard Malt; supposedly from the Speyside distillery)
78 - Strathisla 8yo (40%, G&M OB, IB/ADA, +/-1992) - updated score
90 - Suntory Hibiki 30yo (40%, OB, blend, +/-2000)
85 - Teaninich 21yo 1983/2005 (56.6%, SMWS, 59.31)
81 - Tomintoul 12yo 'Oloroso' (40%, OB, +/-2007)
 

After the big overhaul of this website in 2006 and 2007 I've switched to a 'seasonal' rhythm for the HTML pages in my Liquid Log. At the end of each season I send my scores to our French malt maniac Serge who adds them to the Malt Maniacs Monitor and Malt Maniacs Matrix - along with the most recent scores of the other maniacs. So, you don't have to take my word for it; the matrix and monitor offer tens of thousands of scores for thousands of different whiskies. The new 'Specials' section on Malt Maniacs (scroll to the bottom of the home page to find it) offers tasting notes for a few dozen recently released single malts. As far as my personal 'Track Record' is concerned; I've stopped updating it after I passed the 2000 malts mark, but the last time I checked malt mileage was +/- 2600 single malt Scotch whiskies seriously sampled & scored...