prE-pistles #1 - #15 by Klaus Everding
Covering: 2000 - 2001

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Subject:  Has getting drunk in style become more expensive?
Date: Wed, 17 May 2000

Hi Johannes,

Here comes mail from Hamburg, Germany, the small single malt tasting society Harlem.
In your last newsletter you reported that the price for many single malts has drasticilly increased.
We made the same observation here in Hamburg. To our luck the stuff we prefer (Islay Whiskeys, Maccallan, Highland Park) is almost stable. It is very praiseworthy that finally someone informs the world about this serious problem.

Two other points, dark clouds on the delicate peaty whisky horizon, are alarming.
We can only hope that the same things don't happen in the netherlands.

1. and by far the worst:
Our whisky shop informed us some month ago that the 1 liter bottles will soon vanish from the market. Some destilleries i.e. Glenmorangie don't  sell them anymore. Other companies will follow. The result: you get a 0.7 l bottle for the same price as a 1 l bottle. This happened to me when I wanted to try the Edradour  (nice stuff, but too expensive and not the taste I like).
I think those bloody eurocrats at Brussel are responsible for that developement. They should be drowned in Old Smugglers or something like that.

2. bloody rotten corks:
In the last year we had 10-20% of our whisky bottles with rotten corks. Of course our whisky dealer exchanges the bottles but you get no compensation for the disappointment. I think many wouldn't believe it, but a rotten cork can ruin even the heavy taste of a Lagavulin. The bad cork problem is not related to special distilleries.  We had Lagavulin, Bunnahabhain, Laphroaig, Dalwhinnie and one or two other bottles which were ruined. I think there should be a law that whisky distilleries get the best cork. Then come the other liquors and wines. And the manufacturers of girly plateau shoes, isolating stuff for walls and floors have to make the best out of the rest. Perhaps they could use recycled whisky corks (nice scent!).

Bye and may your whisky bottles ever be at least half full.

Klaus

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prE-pistle #1 - HarLeM Foundation & Manifest
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000

OK, here comes the story anbout the foundation of our club and the manifest

Hamburg 1998, foundation of HarLeM
Autumn 1998 – birthday party of Doc Michi:

In a quiet corner three people met who shared the same secret pleasure – the love for single malts. But the tasting of single malts is an expensive hobby. 10/bottle is normal. Due to that fact they had consumed only a few well known malts. But this soon became history. They planned the foundation of a private whisky tasting society. And their plan for the years to come was to boldly go where no whisky-taster has gone before.

11/14/98, apartment of Doc Michi, first tasting session

When we started we had only the book from Michael Jackson, the Edinburgh malt whisky tour in the WWW and our own small experience as guiding lines. Contact to whisky shops with a large range of different malts was not established. And there was also the problem to get good tasting and nosing glasses.
Anyway, things had to get going. We solemnly signed our foundation manifest (see later) and sharpened our pencil to fill out the tasting forms (see later).
Macallen 12y – Oban 14y – Laphroaig 10y were on the program – a short visit to Speyside, the Highlands and Islay.

We started with the Macallen 12y which is known to be the sweetest and fruitiest malt. Colour: dark amber
Fragrance: very complex composition of fruits and wood with notes of sherry, grapes and malt, a hint of vanilla and honey
Taste: a liquid poem, beautiful development
the start: Easy going. A stroll on a fruit market. I can't put my finger on a special fruit
middle: sweet with sherry and malt, toffees
finish: glowing peat fires - the taste lasts very long. Score: one of the most delicate fruity whiskies I know. Pure fun, especially on campfires in summer. The 12 y old Mac should be in the vaults of every serious malt fan.

The next whisky was a western highland malt Oban 14y
Colour: gold
Fragrance: fruity, malty, fresh wood, a note of tobacco and a hint of rum-aroma, very alcoholic. Doc Michi said that he didn't like the smell at all. "Smells a bit like a fart and like rubber", was his judgement.
Taste: After a rather expressionless malt note there is a short flicker of fruits and mint. Finish with smoke and peat and pronounced wooden bitterness. Score: This malt is no winner. Ok, – I would drink it but never would I spend my money for it.

The last whisky was a true heavy weight, – Laphroaig 10y, – no half measures!
Colour: amber
Fragrance: smoky, peaty, tar, seaweed, a very reticent fruity note
Taste: smoke, tar medicine, a bit peaty. This is like a campfire of driftwood on the sea. Very heavy and long lasting. When you intend to kiss your wife or girlfriend after consumption of Laphroaig (even on the next morning) then she should either like the taste/smell or drink her own share. Score: marvellous – I love it – those heavy smoky notes. On the other hand I fear an equal share will hate it. There are no half measures.
The ultimate whisky for rainy days in Hamburg. By the way, during the prohibition Laphroaig was not forbidden. It was tolerated as medicine. Many people with stomach problems (i.e . they had overeaten) told me that their complaint vanished immediately after a glass of Laphroaig.

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HarLeM Founding Manifest

Hamburg's ruhmreiche Liebhaber erlesener Malts
(Hamburg's famous lovers of exquisite malts)

· Hamburg's ruhmreiche Liebhaber erlesener Malts (HarLeM) is a private association of friends of scottish single malt whiskies.
· The aim of the association is the tasting of whiskies and the provision of  sufficient numbers of different malts for the tasting by the members.  HarLeM encourages the exchange of knowledge in the following areas: production of  whisky,  history of whisky, distillery knowledge and sensual judgement of whiskies. Furthermore the members encourage the training of palate and nose. So the tasting of whisky will be an even more satisfying experience.
· Every second Saturday in the month the members meet. Conference venue is the apartment of a member. The host will always be chosen in  the previous meeting.
· The meetings will take place in a friendly  and calm atmosphere. Raising hell, smuggling of blended whiskies and vomiting in cause of excessive alcohol consumption can be punished with immediate  expulsion from HarLeM..
· During the first  3 months after the foundation of "Hamburg's ruhmreiche Liebhaber erlesener Malts" (HarLeM) the  admission fee is one bottle of good single malt. After that period  two bottles must be supplied to become a HarLeM member. Associate members pay only  1/3 of the fee for  full members.  Of course the associates don't have the same kind of access to our whisky vaults.
· The HarLem members commit themselves to pay reasonable amounts  for the enlargement and maintenance of  the whisky stocks. Concerning the whisky stocks it has to be kept in mind that HarLem is not willing to tolerate decrease of quality by oxidation in half empty bottles. These bottles must be finished soon.

Planned projects:

· A short survey "scottish single malts"
· a tour around the isles (Islay, Skye, Orkney)
· Glemorangie (sherry, port, madeira) simultaneous tasting  in one session
· Speyside: a paradise for whisky friends
· specialities (independent suppliers)
· age research (the taste of the  same whisky at different age)

Hamburg 11/14/.98, the founders

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prE-pistle #2 - Ardbeg 8y
Date:  Mon, 26 Jun 2000

Hi Malt Madnes fellows,

Greetings from Hamburg. The reason why I mail you (and the others)  is a description of a special tasting session which I had together with a friend: Ardbeg signatory vintage 1991 8y in different flavours:

a) Ardbeg Signatory vintgage 1991 8y 43% cask 611-615 bottle 2261/2360
b) same cask 624&626 bottle 1086/1688
c) same - don't know the other values
d) Ardbeg Signatory vintage 1991 8y 60.2% cask 616 bottle 96/320

The 8y old Ardbeg is a real winner. "Smoke!"  it says a little cheeky. "I am a real Ardbeg." Well, - this might be true considering the smokieness and peatyness. But the young one lacks the developement of his older brothers. This stuff tastes more like the Laphroaig 10y. Crazy, you might say, 3-4 times the same whisky. But there was the influence of the casks:

a) is by far the best:
Colour: very pale and slightly green
Aroma: smoky, peaty, medicine. A mixture of ashtray and sticking plaster. But there is also an unobtrusive fresh grass note.
Taste: comes immediately to the point: extreme smoky and peaty, a night at the sea with a campfire from tary oily wood.  No other nuances. Real afterburner!

b) and c) resemble the winner a)  but  the delicate smoke and peatyness is less pronounced. An unpleasant spirity note comes to life. I guess that the bigger casks (this is at least true for b)) might be the reason.

d)  I expected that the taste of the cask strength Arbeg would be more intense than his 43%-brothers.  But to my disappointment nothing happened. The only difference to b) and c) was  the strong presence of spirit. Well there is 30% more alcohol in it. A dillution had no influence on the malt except for a decrease in taste. The cask strenth dilluted to 43% tasted not half as good as Arbeg 8y a) and was poorer than b) and c).  Altogether the cask strength was a disappointment. Perhaps an 8y old whisky should not be aged in the hogshead (250 l cask).

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prE-pistle #3 - HarLeM July Tasting
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000

Hamburg 7/8/00: Strathisla 12 y, Glengoyne  10 y,  Dalwhinnie 15y & several others

First session of my whisky tasting club after the holidays.
I was a little enthusiastic. More than 6 week without my malt friends. Time of abstinence. Only my personal stock  of malts to rely on. The project for this evening was a hop over the highlands starting with Glengoyne in the south and ending with Glen Ord  to the north (see Johannes' beautiful interactive map of Scotland), all in a very civilized atmosphere. But there were some changes.
1. One whisky replaced: Glen Ord, which ranks high in Johannes' value for money list, was no longer available at my whisky shop. They had problems with their supplier. So I decided to buy a Strathisla from Speyside instead.
2. Civilized atmosphere? : When we had finished our regular two tasting rounds with the three malts all of us were still thirsty. So we decided to finish three other half empty bottles. Soon one after the others dropped out. I managed to stay awake till the end but my memories are a little bit dim.
Ok, - enough of the preliminaries. Here comes the report.

Strathisla 12y 43%
I think almost every malt fan has seen pictures of the Strathisla distillery. The pagoda style malting floor is really beautiful. Another interesting point is the whisky bottle. Strathisla doesn't use the standard whisky bottle type. They have flat bottles (almost like amaretto). I like this design, its my number three after the bottles of Glen Rothes and Balvenie. A slight disadvantage is bad pouring behaviour.
Colour:  full gold. Like many other distilleries the guys at Strathisla use colouring  (something made from sugar. I don't know the English term) to get a reproducible hue.
Nose: Very intense aroma. Malt and fruits, sweet but not the typical pointed Speyside sweetness. There is also a clear note of fresh pipe tobacco (unflavoured stuff).
Taste: first sweet, some peat  and maybe  some toffees. This is what happens on the tongue. Not very impressive but that's the best part of the malt. When the liquid reaches the throat it is sharp and burns (even after the second 4cl glass). Now to the  praised finished: in almost every whisky book I read about a long soothing finish. Bullshit! There's nothing like that. The only noticeable  impression was an unpleasant bitter note which luckily soon vanished. My friends can confirm this judgement.
Score: Nice bottle, nice aroma, but the taste is hardly acceptable. Definitely not a winner. There is just one small hope for the Strathisla. This judgement is made on a  fresh opened bottle. I have made the experience that the taste and the nose gets better when you give the malt 1- 2 weeks to breath.  I received my best results on 80% full bottles, 3 weeks open.

Glengoyne 10y
The distillery of Glengoyne lies on the imaginary border between Highlands and Lowland. Glengoyne is the only distillery which uses unpeated  malt and unpeated water for the  production of their malts. Colour: Pale gold
Nose: very pleasant fragrance. Fruits (ripe and more then ripe ones), honey and toffee.
Taste: very simple sweet and fruity taste. Some hints of toffee and coffee.  Vanishes quickly.
Score: Again a whisky whose smell is better than the taste. This stuff tastes like a Lowland whisky (no wonder) and I don't like the Lowlands either. If someone gave me a bottle as present, I would use it as aperitif but not for stand alone tasting.

Dalwhinnie 15y
Dalwhinnie comes in a nice bulbous bottle. The distillery lies in the middle of the Highland. Colour: full gold
Nose: sweet and fruity, honey, citrus and bergamot notes. The citrus notes are responsible for a slightly pungent impression.
Taste:  sweet, the fruits are citrus fruits maybe some mint too. There is also a spicy note  but I can't describe the spiciness. It reminds me of the Christmas cookies named "Spekulatius" which are available in Germany. The finish is slightly smoky and peaty
Score: Best whisky of the three ones officially tested during this session. Scent and taste was ok.  I said ok, and this means I would like to have this malt in my collection but spending money for it at the whisky shop, - no chance!

After we had finished two rounds with the three whiskies on the program all were thirsty for more. And there was the half empty Ben Nevis in the shelves. It seemed to whisper: "Release me. I want to please your taste buds."  We couldn't withstand this request. So here it comes:

Ben Nevis Signatory Vintage 1990 bottle 139/775 9y old
Ben Nevis comes in the typical SigVin sheet metal tube and standard whisky bottle.  The distillery gets its water from Scotland's highest peak in the Western Highlands.
Colour: intensive old gold
Nose: hard to define – surely there is fresh wood to be smelled (sandalwood not pine, oak or cedar). Then there is a spicy impression and a reserved fruity note (raisins?) finishes the bouquet. 
Taste: The first impression is sweetness followed a spicy note. Sandalwood (a wood note which lacks bitterness), nuts and toffees are also present. The taste is a bit unbalanced and the worst of all, you swallow the malt and everything is over within seconds. No aftertaste!
Score: The Ben Nevis 1990 SigVin is an interesting malt but it should have stayed for some years in the cask. A 12 or 16 year old Ben Nevis should have the potential to become a really marvellous whisky. Some day I will try to verify this assumption.

By now everyone had finished 8 well filled glasses of malt. Time to discuss the ranking before it was too late.
Here comes the result.
- no whisky with state of art status tested this evening
- ranking: Dalwhinnie and Ben Nevis are the best ones ( 2 people voted for Dalwhinie 2 for Ben Nevis). Strathisla and Glengoyne are the loosers (also 2 times Strathisla and two times Glengoyne)

Walter, our philosopher, left the tasting team. He feared he would violate our tasting society rules (no puking allowed) and decideded to go homes. To be true, when I went to the balcony to smoke a cigarette I too had the impression of heavy seas. But me  and the two remaining members were brave.
We put an eye on the Bunnahabhain 12y. Time for the trinklied "Westering home".
Concerning the Bunnahabhain there is a short story I want to tell you.

When I was at the university my friend Carsten graduated and made his PhD. Me and some other guys from the university were invited for the celebration. There was the problem of the present for the party and I had a nasty idea. I knew that Carsten loved Bunnahabhain single malt and so I bought a bottle for him. Now comes the mean part: I also bought a bottle of Mümmelmann, a low cost version of the terrible German herb-flavoured liqueur named Jägermeister. I exchanged the content of the bottles after washing them out thoroughly. When we handed the presents to Carsten some of my bolder friends asked for a Mümmelmann. Graciously Carsten filled the glasses but rejected biddings for a Bunnahabhain. The poor fellow hadn't noticed our trick yet. For our vindication I must confess that we pointed out to Carsten that he should take a closer look at the "Mümmelmann" drinks (golden liquid instead of  brown almost violet colour) and maybe sniff at glasses. When he realized what had happened he immediately confiscated the "Mümmelmann" bottle. But he was man enough to let us finish our drinks although I fear every drink was a wound to his heart.

But now back to my HarLeM malt tasting session with three members almost drunken as a lord. My report relies on an earlier tasting session of Bunnahabhain since my tasting buds and my conciousness were far from perfect.

Bunnahabhain 12y - Nice bulky bottle (almost like a port wine) with a cord on the cardboard tube. So the container is a very easy to carry. The text of the song "westering home" is printed on the container. This whisky comes from Islay my favourite region for malts.  But I don't think that Bunnahabhain is typical for Islay.
Colour: full gold
Nose: interesting and very aromatic. Sweetness and the impression of rotten leaves, the stickiness of honey and resin.
There is also a distinct  aldehyde  note and some wood.
Taste: It starts with sweetness. The middle tones are more complex: toffees, coffee and some wood  form the main impression. The finale is written in soft smoke and peat notes. Score: This is not the kind of whisky I would expect from Islay. It lacks the pronounced peatiness and smokiness. Maybe the water which is used for the production of the malt is the reason. Bunnahabhain imports its water from the main land.

I have to confess that I gave myself the biggest share when it was my turn to divide the remaining content of the bottle. Bunnahabhain is really nice, although not in my Top Ten.

Now it was Heino's turn to leave. The reason ,- not the degree of his drunkenness but the last train to his home in the suburbs of  Hamburg. Only Doc Michi and me remained. His girl friend was still away visiting a friend. He secretly told me: "Dagmar (his girl friend) always tells me that I'm soo sweet when I have drunken a bit too much.." "You're right", I replied , "same is true for Marlou (my girl friend). Well- let's make our girl friends a bit happier. There is the bottle of Speyburn, almost finished, just enough for a final drink for us."

Speyburn 10y
No real report about this one. Every time I've tried  this malt it was late in the evening. Just a few words: seems to be a typical Speyside malt, - sweetness and fruits, - lasts not very long but the price is ok (20 ¥ for the 0.7 l bottle)

Home at last. I have finished this report. It turned out to be longer than expected. Hope you are not bored by it. As I read the lines again I fear one could get the impression that my malt tasting society HarLeM is a club of heavy drunkards. This is not true. You might say that we pursue our efforts on the field of malts with German grundlichkeit as Johannes stated, but to get drunk in style is not our main goal.

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prE-pistle #4 - A visit to Amsterdam
Date: Sat, 02 Sep 2000

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is a beautiful city and well worth a visit. But apart from the wonderful architecture, the ducts and the museums there is one thing which is especially challenging: The single malt shelves of Johannes van den Heuvel. Johannes invited all members of my malt tasting club HarLeM, but only Michael and my girl friend Marlou decided to join me.

Less than 5 hours with the car from Hamburg to Amsterdam, no traffic jams and sunny weather. Excellent conditions. We arrived at Amsterdam at about 14h. The city was very crowded because two big tourist events were going on. We parked our car near the centre. Holy cow, those parking fees are really expensive in Amsterdam. We neither had any guilder coins nor the plastic card the people of Amsterdam use. So we decided to challenge our luck, hoping that the police had better things to do. Later on Johannes informed us that the contrary is true. When big events happen the Amsterdam traffic police swarms out in force to fill the purses of the city's administration.

Four hours in the city gave us a good first impression of the atmosphere. At 18h we phoned Johannes who met us in a bar where we sat outside. He guided us to his home. On arriving I immediately inspected the malt shelves. From my reading of the website I assumed that there would be one big shelf with the top malts in the first row, the medium nice stuff in the second row and so on. Nothing like that. Malt shelves are distributed on every wall of the room. Some of the most interesting malts are hidden deep within cupboards to shelter them from thirsty but unprofessional eyes. (Can eyes be thirsty? Maybe a malt madman's eyes can!)

But now let us begin with the tasting notes. My friend Michael and I were willing to seize the opportunity and try as many malts as possible. In this case it was too bad that whisky contains alcohol, so there was a natural limit. Marlou, my girl friend, never drinks alcohol, but she likes to sniff at the malts. Apart from her many other advantages this fact is especially pleasing: she doesn't reduce my malt stocks and she can drive me home when I come from a tasting session.

The Ultimate Glenturret matured 19 years in oak cask, distilled 1978 – bottled 1998
We wanted to start with a lighter malt. Pleasing the palate with a heavy Islay malt at the beginning could ruin the taste experience for the more flowery malts. The Glenturret is very pale for a 19 year old malt, the colour of white wine.
Nose: slightly pungent, but the main impression is a stroll through a birch wood where someone has placed citrus fruits cut open on the ground after doing some chopping. A promising summer breeze tingling in the nostrils.
Taste: The palate can't keep the promises the nose makes. Sweet citrus fruits, spice, a hint of maltiness and fresh wood. Nice and soon over.
Score: Altogether the malt is too light for my liking. And I suspect it will be heavily overprized.

Balvenie port wood finish 21y 40% comes in the nice bulky bottle which is typical for Balvenie. I had already tried Glenmorangie port wood but the Balvenie was still missing. So I was rather curious about it.
Colour: Amber
Nose: a very balanced fruity and flowery note, hints of wood, port, vanilla and malt in the background. Very nice to sniff at.
Taste: First there is a sweet and fruity note but then toffee takes over the command. Some spicy elements and coffee in the overwhelming toffee symphony, maybe some port too, but it is far in the background. Small glowing peat fires in the finish which lasts medium to very long.
Score: One of the winners of the evening and better than the Glenmorangie port. Could it be that I prefer the Balvenie because the port taste is almost absent? Glenmorangie has a taste which reminds me on rose hip tea at the beginning, and the port finish seems to be responsible for it. I don't really like it.
I read in Johannes' report that the Balvenie he served was almost 2 years in an open bottle and that the port taste had almost vanished. This means, I will have to purchase a bottle to give it a fair judgment. Unfortunately the Balvenie (60 Euro) and the Glenmorangie (45 Euro) don't have the same price in Germany as in the Netherlands. So it may take some time until my palate will be pleased by this malt again.

I detected the Singleton (of Auchroisk) 1981 in Johannes's shelves. A Speyside malt I had put my eyes on for more than a year. Unfortunately it is not available at my whisky store at home. Now here was the opportunity examine it.
Colour: amber
Nose: Very fresh and flowery, fruits and some sherry. There was also an artificial, synthetically note which I could not classify. Maybe that are the aniseed and liquorice tones which my fellow tasters detected.
Taste: Sweet, citrus fruits and spicy notes inflict some kind of sharpness but there are also woody and toffee tones which calm down the palate. Again I couldn't detect aniseed and liquorice which must be there. At least my fellow tasters detected it.
Score: Nice malt! For me I think it ranks in the upper 30% of the Speysiders. Not a must, but very delicious.

Caol Ila 21 y 61,3% Rare Malts 1975
Time to approach a the true heavy weight of the evening, a 21 year old Islay malt in cask strength. I am very fond of the Caol Ilas and I like especially to smell the beautiful aroma. My friend Michael is crazy about the taste too.
Colour: pale gold
Nose: fresh grassy and mossy notes in a continuo of peat, medicals, smoke and seawater. When a good deal of water is added the peaty tones become dominant.
Taste: Pure: very pleasant medical aroma but the alcohol is too strong.
Diluted: some sweetness, but overwhelming is the symphony of peat, smoke and medical notes. Very long aftertaste. The sweetness still holds on and becomes equal in strength to the peat. Must be some kind of long chained ester (not sugar) which is responsible for it.
Score: An excellent malt. As I already said I prefer to smell it. The taste doesn't really hold what the nose promises. Those beautiful fresh green notes vanish in the mouth.
Back at home I examined my malt store price list. I thought that the Caol Ila 1982 16y Signatory vintage had had an equal impact on me. 5 additional years in the cask hadn't changed the character of the stuff we tried at Johannes's. Now, - oh wonder: you can have 2 bottles of Caol Ila 1982 16y for the same prize as the Caol Ila 21y Rare malts cask strength! There is no discussion which malt I would choose.

After a short pause with some snacks to get rid off, no – I should say to neutralize the Caol Ila taste, we approached another highlight: Macallan 10y 57% 100 proof.
Colour: full amber
Nose: Yes, that's truly a Macallan, typical fruitiness with sherry. Raisins, wet leaves, resin and honey form the darker tones. A wooden note from damp oak forests almost a bit harsh plays its tunes. Johannes says that the woody note is characteristic for the 18 y old Mac. I have to believe it because I must confess I haven't tried the Macallan 18y yet.
The malt reacts very well to water. With each drop another layer unfolds. When the c/s is diluted to normal drinking strength it resembles the Macallan 12y. The woody notes are reduced in favour of the fruits and the sherry.
Taste: Pure: A Macallan with strong wood notes. The wood dominates but fruits and sherry are also present.
Diluted to normal drinking strength: fruits, toffee and sherry. The wood falls behind. Some peat and smoke in the finish.
Score: A malt to fall in love with! You have at least 2 different Macs when you own the bottle. The 18y (so Johannes says) in pure stage and the 12y in the diluted form. It just depends on the amount of water you add. Unfortunately this malt is difficult to get. But I think it is available at the whisky store of Theresia Lüning http://www.thewhiskystore.com/index.htm for about 50 Euro. Must place an order there as soon as possible.

I think Johannes planned that the opening of the Bowmore Darkest bottle should be a major event of the evening. Instead it turned out to be a disaster. Never tasted such a terrible single malt before. And I won't revoke unless I am threatened by methods of the Spanish inquisition.
Colour: full amber
Nose: some sweet sherry notes accompanied by burnt wood and peat. Nothing wrong with it but far from brilliant.
Taste: to reduce the risk of getting killed at Bowmore when I visit the distillery I will start with notes of a Bowmore Darkest tasting I had only 5 days before our visit at Amsterdam. It was a bad day for my nose and palate but anyway the judgement is better than the notes from Amsterdam.
Hamburg tasting: very dry, sharp and a little bit rough. Smoke and wood, some sherry sweetness. Some peat in the background.
Amsterdam tasting: Pfui Deibel! Only my good manners prevented me from spitting the stuff right back into the glass. Someone must have filled at least 20% cheap perfume into the bottle. The taste of violet flavoured liquorice. I demand that this kind of liquorice should be forbidden but to find that taste in a malt in the 50 Euro region gives me a terrible shock.
Score: Well, the malt I tasted in Hamburg seems to be OK although it is not my cup of tea. I prefer the Mariner, the 12y and even the Surf. What happened in Amsterdam was a kind of catastrophe. Even if a malt needs time to breathe in an open bottle the first impression should not be so terrible. Who wants to buy a malt, open the bottle, gulp a few unfriendly drams and then let it breathe for 1 or 2 months? I can only hope that Johannes's Bowmore Darkest develops to a more friendly impression.

Arran (no age statement) 5y?
Johannes had a bottle of Arran. Arran is a new distillery which started in 1995. I was curious about this malt because a friend owns whisky bonds of Arran. He will surely need some help when his bottles arrive.
Colour: white wine
Nose: sweet and smooth, lots of fruits, especially dried banana chips
Taste: Very fruity! With some artificial notes. Tastes like a pear spirit. Some maltiness in the background
Score: This malt definitely needs some additional time to develop. But with an age of 10-16 years it could become a big one.

By now I had reached a level where I stopped making notes. But tasting went on. For our justification I have to say that we only took one dram of the malts we tasted. At home in Hamburg we have two or three rounds of the malts in tasting progress. But then there are only 3-4 malts on the program.
The rest of the evening as far as I can remember it.
Glenfarclas 105: a nice Speyside malt in cask strength but no match for the Macallan 10y c/s.
Suntory Kakubin and Aberlour 10y: None of these malts found grace on Michaels tastebuds. I tried the Dallas Dhu instead.
Dallas Dhu: nice Speyside malt with delicious fruitiness. But this malt will never make its way into my top 10.

Three self made blends from Johannes: one with stress on citrus fruits, one nutty and spicy one and one almost good one. Johannes tried if we could guess the components of his blends. Each vatted malt was composed of 5 single malt whiskies. Given the degree of our drunkenness and the fact that some malts he had used were unknown to us it is pardonable that our hits were only slightly above the statistics.
1 real time blended malt: Johannes blended five malts in a measuring cup. No great success this blend, although the components were quite good if I remember right.

Ardbeg 17y: A great malt and one of my favourites. I remember that I enjoyed it very much. But that late in the evening it was pearls cast before swine.
Glen Scotia: I have only vague memories of it. Must have been a nice malt but no revelation.
Loch Lomond: Johannes has done me wrong when he reported that it took a while for me to detect that the L L is bullshit. I was busy with the nose and I think the nose really is OK. The taste is terrible indeed. I detected a barely readable note of my own hand on one of my tasting forms. It says: Beware of Loch Lomond. Even if the malt is cheap you should not drink it. Better use it as gasoline substitute.
There might have been a Connemara from Ireland in our tasting session. Maybe after the blends, but neither do I have a memory about it nor Marlou, the only person who was totally sober. One thing I am sure of is that we didn't taste Laphroaig 15y. I love Laphroaig and I would have remembered it under all circumstances.

The next morning we left Johannes at 11 a.m. He was invited to a wedding and so there was no extra time available. Since the weather had changed (rain) we started back home to Hamburg – the taste of a fresh spicy and fruity malt still on the palate. I hope that some day Johannes will visit us in Hamburg so that we can requite his hospitality.

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prE-pistle #5 - Islay Classifications: Laphroaig 10 vs Ardbeg 10
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000

Johannes put in his last maltmadness newsletter a recommendation for some malts which could be purchased for christmas. No discussion about his recommendation, but one sentence let a shiver run down my spine: " Ardbeg 10 yrs - A relatively new bottling. The first alternative for Laphroaig 10." This can't be true! I love Laphroaig. The ten years old malt is my number one. And I love Arbeg, especially the 17 year old and the 8y SigVin are wonderful. When I visited the Ardbeg webpage and read about the Ardbeg 10 I thought this malt would be something like a miracle. Other people were also enthusiastic about it. So I had to try Ardbeg 10 asap. I had my first dram an was disappointed.  Second dram: also disappointed. Some weeks later we bought a bottle of Ardbeg 10 for my  single malt tasting club and again Arbeg 10 could not convince me.

Now whats the matter? Laphroaig 10 is extremely smoky and peaty. Tar and medicine, salty. The impression of a campfire from driftwood at the sea. Ardbeg 10 on the other hand  is also very smoky and peaty. It also has tar and iodine components. But it is sweet and that makes the difference. I get the impression of used rope and rigging dissolved in sugar water. Result: I always need a bottle of Laphroaig in my shelves but Ardbeg 10 will not make it. Anyway if someone gave me a dram of Ardbeg 10  I would drink it and also finish another one if offered.
If I had to classify the Islay malts the following systen would come out.

1. strong. very smoky, peat, tar, medicine no sweetness:
I love them. Laphroaig 10y, Ardbeg 8y Sig Vin. Some Caol Ilas (Caol Ila 15y UD, Caol Ila 1982 16y SigVin and Caol Ila 1975 21y 61.3% (UDRM) may also be counted to that groups. The Caol Ilas have a wonderful fresh mossy note in the nose additional to the peat, smoke and tar which I love. The taste falls a little back behind the nose. Bowmore 56% is a nice cask strength with the attributes mentioned above. Another c/s malt  (Lagavullin) Vintage Islay malt  58% is very young an extremly strong malt. It is unchillfiltrated and will knock you out of your socks.  Even though it fullfills the taste description above, this malt is too heavy for me and I don't really like it.

2. strong, very peaty, smoky:
I mean the various incarnations of Lagavulin.
All of them symphonies in peat. I prefer the predominance of smoke.
So if I have to choose between Laphroaig 10 and Lagavullin 16 I select Laphroaig.

3. balanced, smoke, peat, tar, some sweetness, some fruits, sherry:
I love them. Ardbeg 17 which tells you a long story when tasting it and Laphroaig 15 are in that group.
These malts have lost a great deal of their bite. But they have gained complexity. Something to enjoy when you want to tickle your taste buds and don't want to punch them with sheer power. Bowmore 12y and Bowmore 15y (Mariner) are less complex but they can also be put into that group.

4. strong. very smoky, peat, tar, medicine, sweet:
I have found the Arbeg 10y and the Caol  Ila 3385 days old 55.7% SigVin belonging to that group. This arrangement is not really my cup of tea. The sweetness and the peaty and smoky notes are in disharmony for my taste.  I believe a perfect balance can only be reached with more resting time in the cask.

5. the rest:
Bruichladdich,  Bunnahabhain and Port Ellen don't appear in my system. The reason: These malts are not so powerful as the other Islays and I have only tried the standard Bunnahabhain 12y and one dram of Bruichladdich 10y. The younger Bowmores don't appear in my system because I haven't tried them yet, but I think that they would belong to group one.. The newer editions of Bowmore (Darkest, Voyager, Dusk) don't appear because a tasting of Bowmore Darkest gave me a terrible shock. Pfft, - such a terrible malt. I don't think I don't want to get involved in Bowmores latest single malt experiments.

Hoops, I just wanted to write some lines about why I think that Laphroaig 10 and Ardbeg 10 don't play in the same class and now a small characterization of Islay malts has come out.  Well, I think that doesn't matter. Although the subject Islay would deserve more space.

Comment by Johannes: Klaus is right in commenting, because my remark should have been 'The lighter alternative to Laphroaig 10'. If I had to choose the Islay that comes closest to the Laphroaig 10 in character (amongst the ones I've tasted) it would be the Ardbeg 10, although it is indeed much sweeter than the 'Phroaig 10.

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prE-pistle #6 - Malt Minion, Connoisseur, Expert?
Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000

If you look at the malt madness matrix you will see there are several degrees of malt lore.
I haven't reached the heights of  Michael Jackson, Craig Daniels or Johannes.
Just been promoted to 'malt aficionado', I still think that my life as 'malt minion' was the most interesting part of my malt career.

When I started there was a whole new world to explore. Hundreds of malts, - the promised land and a lot of them at reasonable prices. I was a lucky guy and found my true loves very soon. Now when I explore the malt land  I rarely find shining gems. Most of the time it's "hmm, - nice stuff", rarely "aahh, - can I have another one" and my last moment where something very special and marvellous was revealed is more than 9 months away.

Why is this so?
Islay seems to be my preferred malt regions and there are only 7 distilleries on the island. Speyside offers a wider range. But the Speysiders – sweet and fruity, sometimes interesting (e.g. the Macallan) – that's not the region where I hope to find the holy malt grail. Ok, there is the opportunity to stay on Islay: 13 different Ardbegs available at my shop and 29 different Caol Ilas. This should be enough to keep me busy for some time. But then I would have to switch to independent bottlers. Every bottle unique and all too soon no longer available. To lose a malt with which you have fallen in love is like the death of a pet. There is also another disadvantage with the independent bottlers. They are almost twice as expensive as the standard distillery bottling. To pay more than 70 Euro for a malt hurts my purse. And there are also bottles of known and favoured malts which have  to be replaced when they are empty. This too sucks my account.

Well, I think I will upgrade to malt connoisseur someday. But I can foresee the time when the attraction of known and valued malts overwhelms my passion to find something new.  My personal malt universe will slowly collapse. And maybe it will explode in another big bang and I will be reborn as a malt minion.

Reply by Johannes:  I completely know how you feel. My latest genuine 'Amazing Discovery' was the UD Rare Malts Caol Ila 1975 C/S, a bottle I opened over 6 months ago. Since then, most of the new bottles I opened failed to tickle my fancy. Nevertheless, I keep reminding myself that even 'mediocre' single malts like Glenfiddich Special Reserve or Isle of Jura 10 yrs. are better than your average blended whisky or bourbon.

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prE-pistle #7 - HarLeM pre-christmas tasting sessions
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000

We have been very busy in the last month here in Hamburg. 3 Tasting session and 12 new malts sampled. Here come the tasting notes in alphabetical order:

Aberlour a'bunnadh 59.6% - We tasted this malt when we had a tasting session at our new HarLeM member Christophs home.  He has many interesting malts in his shelves, - so there was a lot to "plunder". Aberlour a'bunnadh is a very dark almost copper-red malt in cask strength. It comes in a nice bulky bottle.
Nose: A lot of sherry, sandalwood, raisins, vanilla. Water added to dilute the malt to drinking strength intensifies the aroma.
Taste: In undiluted form this malt was too sharp for my tongue. Strange, normally I don't have problems with c/s malts. With water: very balanced and smooth. Not a single edge, round as pebbles. There is a lot of sherry and a somewhere in the first third and island of citrus and spice rises and softly sinks into the sherry and malt sea. Finish – not very long.
Score: I can't get a grip on that malt. It is by no means artificial but I always get the impression of a beautiful face but with heavy makeup. Such balance it not natural.
79 points in the malt madness matrix rating system.

Ardbeg 10y 46% - Much fuzz on the Ardbeg webpage about the Ardbeg 10. If you read the description there you could come to believe that you are going to taste something directly from heaven. The malt is rather pale.
Nose: The malt from the fresh opened bottle is very fresh and grassy. There are also the typical Islay notes: peat, smoke and medicine.  Strange things happened when I tasted the malt 3 weeks later. The nose had changed. In addition to the aromas mentioned before I detected a strong alcoholic note and far worse the smell of gastric acid.
Taste:  sweet and fresh notes with citrus when you start. Then comes the punch of medicine combined with tar and peat which never seems to stop. The fresh sweetness changes to a lasting molasses sweetness and I also detected hints of bitterness. When I tasted the malt the first time I didn't really like this combination. I found that it was very unbalanced. 3 weeks later when the nose had grown worse the balance had drastically improved. Suddenly there was a kind of balance.
Score: I guess that I will need a few more drams and I will think about my rating in the matrix. Probably the malt will get a few more points. But one thing is sure: I prefer the peatiness of the Laphroaig 10 which is not disturbed by sweetness.

Balvenie Doublewood 12y 43% - I tried the Balvenie Founder's reserve a year ago and was slightly disappointed. It was pleasant but it lacked the edges. Nothing to hang on to. The Doublewood is far better. It comes in the nice bulky Balvenie bottle which lies in the arm like a baby. The malt has the colour of full amber.
Nose:  aromatic, fruity, flowers, honey, fresh honey. Really delicious but you have to wait approx 5 minutes until an unpleasant esther-note (adhesive) is gone. This observation is at least true for a fresh opened bottle.
Taste: sweet, toffee, fruits, malt, honey and maybe tangerine. A very pleasant combination. You can have a lot of sips and every time you detect something new
Score: A really good malt with a preliminary score of 83. This 8 points more the Founder's reserve.  I can only recommend that you spend the additional 3 Euro and buy the Doublewood.

Brora Signatory Vintage Millenium edition 43% (distilled 1981, bottle 213/628, butt 1081, sherry cask 18y). A very interesting golden malt from Christoph's shelves. Surely one of the peatiest ones beyond Islay.
Nose: fresh, moss, smoke and medicine, some spice.
It reminds me at Clynelish (who wonders, - it's the same distillery) and Caol Ila.
Taste: strong citrus notes  and spice in combination with a lot of peat and smoke with a long finish. The synthesis of the fresh and peaty notes is just a pixel away from perfect.
Score: I think this malt is more interesting than delicious. The combination of very pronounced very different aromas gives food for thought. The taste is quite good but there are malts which caress my palate more. 80 points preliminary score.

Caol Ila Mackillop's choice Single Cask 1989 43% (bottle 131, cask 1894, bottled may 1999). Another pale gold jewel from Christoph's treasures.
Nose: surprisingly reserved, fresh moss and grass and only a hint of smoke and peat
Taste: the start: sweet and fresh, even a touch of mint but then peat and smoke take over the command in perfect very long lasting harmony. The only flaw for me: there is a hint of sweetness in the peat symphony
Score: Whow! What a great malt. Feels like Laphroaig 10 and Lagavullin 16 have married and this is the child. If only the nose would have been more pronounced. So I only score preliminary 90 points on the grounds that it is difficult to get and the feeble nose.

Caol Ila 3385 days old 55.7% Signatory Vintage - A very pale cask strength.
Nose: peat and tar in the foreground, some moss. When diluted to drinking strength the fresh mossy notes increase.
Taste: undiluted: sweet but also peat, smoke and tar (Islay of course). Drinking strength: extraction of old rigging in sugar water almost like the Ardbeg 10. Seems to be more harmonic. Maybe because the citrus notes are missing.
Score: peat and smoke together  with some molasses sweetness is not really my cup of tea. This means 79 preliminary points.

Glen Garioch 15y 43% - The Glen Garioch a golden malt from the eastern highlands is not filtrated. Small particles like bits of plastic foil were swimming in the malt.
Nose: The fresh opened bottle smells like smoke dried ham. This aroma suppresses all other notes. 2 week later I could also detect some fresh notes.
Taste: smoke, some wood, some peat, and bitter citrus notes, very dry. There is also some kind of sweetness which increases with every sip.
Score: nice but I don't really need that malt. 69 points on the malt madness scale.

Highland Park 18y 43% - The 18 years old Highland Park is a little bit darker than the 12 years old one (full amber).
Nose: very intensive fruity sweetness, honey, heather and honey, malt. The nose is not so sweet as the 12y
Taste: delicious, malt, toffee, spice, a hint of citrus and mint, wood and peat/smoke in the finish. Long taste development. Compared with the 12y HP the taste is definitely more satisfying.
Score: I rate the malt with 92 points. Only 2 points more than the Highland Park 12y but very often I think it is worth to pay a 50% higher price.

Laphroaig 10y c/s 57.3% - The full amber coloured Laphroaig c/s comes in a bottle which looks almost similar to Laphroaig  10y.
Nose: alcohol, peat, smoke, tar, medicine, rotting leaves in water, wood. Diluted: as in c/s but some fresh and fruity notes arise.
Taste: c/s: a sweet start (?!!!) but then the phroaig tar, peat and smoke arise. Really strange the sweetness fights a long struggle but it is finally overwhelmed by the peat.
diluted with a lot of water: tastes like extracts of tar ointment and burnt wood with some sugar.
Score: The Laphroaig 10y c/s is not a standard version the 10 year in higher concentration. It has its own face. I had the impression that this malt is a Laphroaig 10y on the way to the 15 years old Laphroaig, Maybe 2/3 10y and 1/3 15y. It scores 90 points on the MMM scale because of the "bad" influence of the 15y.

Longmorn 15y 45% - A golden amber malt in a bulky bottle with long neck.
Nose: My first impression was apple spirit. There are strong fruity notes (apples, maybe pears), nuts, vanilla and honey are also present
Taste: sweet, citrus, spice, some spice and pepper. The finish is peaty and smoky and relatively long.
Score: I think this malt shows very marked characteristics for a Speyside malt. It is not the one dimensional  fruit – sweetness you often find in that region. Score 82 points.

Springbank 12y 46% - This dark amber coloured malt came from a 1/3 l bottle from Christoph. He said that this bottling was far better then the 1 l bottle he also owned. Too bad that this malt tastes so different in different bottles.
Nose: Overwhelming sherry. It took some time until could assign the impression to sherry. My first notes were, malt and wood cream (this means whipped cream with wood sandal wood aroma)
Taste: very nice sherry, toffee, citrus, hints of coffee, all in perfect balance.
Score: very good malt. I like it although it is very much sherried, too bad that it has such a large variation. 83 points on the MMM scale.

Talisker 10y 45.8% - My second approach with Talisker 10y. My first encounter with that malt was  a total catastrophe. I had a bad bottle and the guys at United Distillers wouldn't believe it although I sent them a sample to verify my judgement. It seems that I have bad luck with Talisker. Although this time the malt was excellent this time I don't trust my senses. My impressions are not in accordance with the tasting notes I have read about it. Could it be because we just opened a new bottle and then enjoyed the malt? Anyway, - here you can read what I detected.
Nose: very reserved. First I could only detect alcohol. After a few sips the aroma unfolded: fresh, fruity and malty very interesting.
Taste: Sweet with spice and citrus, pepper. No smoke or peat. I had the impression of a Glenkinchie which had grown to manhood (more lively and bolder) but all said I was crazy.
Score: I don't dare to rate the malt yet. If my tasting experience is reproducible it will surely be in the upper 80s.

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prE-pistle #8 - Amsterdam, the second time
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001

We, that means Marlou, Michael and me, were invited by Johannes a second time for a malt-tasting. This time on a Thursday. We didn't want to challenge our luck or pay the horrible parking fees in the city. And we also needed a really safe parking for our car because malts for Johannes worth more then 300 Euro were packed neatly in the boot. So we parked near Johannes flat in the outskirts of Amsterdam. From Johannes' place, the city of Amsterdam is easily accessed by public transport. You can see the arena of Ajax Amsterdam and the meeting place of the Hells Angels (Dutch section) during the ride with the metro. (By his own testimony, Johannes doesn't frequent either place.)

We strolled through the city for 2 hours. Again the streets were crowded like on the Saturday in august with the big tourist attraction going on. But this time the people of Amsterdam were busy shopping and doing their regular work. Having bought a map we could identify some tourist attractions, for example the Nieuwe Kerk and  the queen's palace. Being used to Hamburg dimensions, we realized how small the old core of Amsterdam is when we reached places three times faster than we had suspected from the map.

The main tourist attraction of course is the city itself with its old houses, some beautiful, some funny, and always interspersed with water. Some streets reminded us of a set of bad teeth, crooked, old and irregular, some slanting to the left, some leaning to the right, so opening gaps in the row, and some even hanging over to the front, seeming to tumble into the ever present water. Really a funny sight!
When the hour of dusk was near we went to the bar "De Kroon" at the Rembrandt Square. This bar has a large glass front and you can watch the life on the square from above (second storey) while sipping on a drink. The cooking, too, was excellent. I can highly recommend this place when you want to give your feet a rest while you are exploring Amsterdam.

Johannes picked us up there at 18 h and then we went back to his flat where all his delicious malts awaited us. Unfortunately I had caught a real nasty cold. Nosing was impossible  and I felt a little bit weak. Very bad, - now I had only half of the fun. But this was only true from the malty point of view. I enjoyed the discussion, the jokes and Johannes' hospitality very much. Because of the bad state of my nose and taste I won't give any scores and perhaps you shouldn't take my descriptions too serious.

We started with a head to head tasting of an 8y Signatory Campbeltown 40% and the Glen Scotia 14y 40%.
Signatory Campbeltown 8y 40%
This is a relatively new bottling and both Johannes' and my liquorist say that it contains Glen Scotia. The price (~ 20 Euro) is very attractive. The malt is very pale (white wine). Tasting notes: sweet, fruits, cinnamon. Nice malt.
Glen Scotia 14y 40%
Very strange: there is no age statement on the bottle. But it must be 14y old because it is everywhere sold with that designation. The malt has the colour of full gold. Even with my bad nose I could smell something. So it must be very aromatic. I detected fruits and lilac. The taste is very balanced and pleasing: malt, toffee, fruits (pears) and sherry.
The Glen Scotia 14y is the winner of this head to head tasting. But you have to pay 10 additional Euros for it. A considerable amount of the GS 14 seems to come from sherry casks whereas the SC seems to have aged in bourbon casks.

The next distillery which we wanted to explore was Glenmorangie.
I am a great fan of the Glenmorangie 10y, a really nice malt for only 26 Euro.
Glenmorangie Cellar 13 10y 43%
This malt comes from the cellar of the warehouse which lies closest to the sea. So I expected that the fresh sea breeze which is an undertone in 10y would be more pronounced. Maybe my taste betrayed me (No, it didn't ! says Marlou) but I found that it went to the opposite direction. It tasted more speysidish: clover honey and  fruits, mint (?) and spice (pepper) still there but to a lesser degree than the 10y. Bear this in mind if you are willing to pay 6 additional Euros for that bottling.
Glenmorangie Madeira Wood Finish 43%
I was very curious about this malt because I had already tasted the port wood finish (hmm, -  very nice) and the sherry wood finish (brrr, - I want to drink a single malt, not a dry sherry). Unfortunately my nose and my taste failed completely. I could smell nothing. In the taste I could only detect sweetness and some ripe and overripe late summer fruits (no fresh apples or pears). Very sad, - I think I missed a malt which under normal conditions I would have greatly enjoyed.

I think the next malt was the wonderful Macallan 100 proof 10y 57%.
Johannes was kind and had organized a bottle for me and Michael at his liquorist because it is not available at  my whisky shop. This malt was a good benchmark for my taste buds because I had immediately fallen in love with on our first visit. Well here we had it. Shit!- the Mac only seemed to be a nice malt this time. In my mind I crossed this tasting session from my serious malt experiences.

Because our visit to Amsterdam was a special occasion Johannes allowed us to choose an unopened bottle from his reserve stock. I left the job to Michael and he had golden fingers. He selected the St. Magdalene Rare Malts 63.8% distilled 1979 bottle 1031.
St. Magdalene is or I should better say was a distillery located in the Lowlands. Nowadays some of the buildings are converted into apartments. I can only hope that an unfriendly distillery ghost haunts these lodgings to take revenge on the reprehensible fact of closing the distillery. Everybody said that this full golden malt was definitely the winner of the evening. Such a rich and wonderful aroma: flowers, fruits (plums, apricots). Always something  new to discover yet very balanced. You should read Johannes contribution to get an impression from someone who had a nose this evening. In my tasting notes a multitude of items are marked: fruity, flowery, toffee, nuts, wood, coffee. The undiluted malt can be drunken in small sips but it is more fun to enjoy it with some water. Then you can contemplate on the complex aroma without being disturbed by the high alcohol content.

Because Michael had such a lucky hand in choosing from Johannes' stocks he was allowed to pick another unopened bottle to celebrate the evening. This time it was the Dailuaine 16y 43%, a bronze coloured Speyside malt. As the colour indicated there was a lot of sherry in the malt. Sherry, wood and earthy notes in the nose. Sherry, fruits, wood and toffee the taste, not dry at all. This malt was also a good pick but not so excellent as the St. Magdalene. (Marlou's comment: Such another would have been hardly possible! Poor Klaus, you really missed something there.)

Another malt which wanted to be tasted was the Blair Athol 12y Flora & Fauna edition 43%. The nose of the amber coloured malt from the Midlands reminded me of the Macallan, damp dark notes of ripe and more than ripe notes. The taste lacked a distinct expression. There was some citrus and some toffee. Nothing very pronounced.

The other malts of the evening:
I tried a Talisker 10y and let Johannes confirm that this was a real Talisker. I think I like it and I will buy a bottle here at home because it is reasonable priced (less than 30 Euro for the 0.7 l bottle). For medical reasons (so much peat!) I had a Lagavulin 16y. A Tomintoul 12y from Speyside out of a bottle which looked like an expensive bathing essence container was served. Then I tried Johannes "torture" malts. The Tobermory 10y from Mull was not so bad and the Glenesk from the eastern Highlands which gets considerable low scores from Michael Jackson didn't scare me. I guess I was in a state where even Loch Dhu, Johannes most "cruel" malt, would have gone down my throat.

We all enjoyed our second visit at Amsterdam very much, even though Johannes and I had to pay the bill for our exuberant malt consumption. Back at home I went immediately to bed and had learnt that oral administration of alcohol does not help against viruses. Johannes, who had to get through the day at his job, also had a big hangover. But as we say in Germany and in the Netherlands: "Shared misery is half the misery, shared joy is double the fun". We now hope that Johannes will some day come to visit us at Hamburg so that we can have a lot of fun again and I think then we can do without the misery.

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prE-pistle #9 - Harlem Tasting 2/16/01
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001

Hello everybody, here comes a short report from my single malt tasting club Harlem latest session. We tried Glen Garioch 15 y 43%, Ardbeg 17y 40%, Caol Ila 15y UD Flora& Fauna 43% and Bowmore c/s 56% to verify our earlier impressions.

- The nose of the Glen Garioch 15 which had rested several month peaceful in an half empty bottle had improved. I was surprised by a very  flowery note  which had not been there before. The aroma of smoke dried ham  was still there. But the whole scenery was more balanced. No changes in the taste. My rating goes up to 76 points because of the improved nose.

- Ardbeg 17. The new bottle of Ardbeg 17 is still a problem for me.  The malt in this bottle lacks the time delayed taste development. Fruity and sheried notes which I rembered being present at the start and in the middle play had also vanished. I detected new smoky phenolic notes combined with a hint of molasse sweetness in the finish which reminds me of the Ardbeg 10y. Very strange - can a malt change so much with the years? Or have they increased the number of bourbon casks and decreased the number of sherry casks for the composition of this malt?  I will have to try another bottle to verify my impression. If this new style is reproducible I will have to subtract some points from the score of  my beloved Ardbeg 17. Very sad.

- Caol Ila 15y (UD Flora&Fauna): no changes.
One of the weaker Caol Ilas I have tried but still a good malt.

- Bowmore c/s no changes in 10 months.
Still the wild peaty and smoky animal.

And now come the ratings for three new malts which I can highly recommend:

Glen Farclas Edition No. 6 James Watt (distilled 1978 bottled 2000 59.8%).
The malt rests in a nice wooden box, but the look of the bottle is really a shame. Just a standard whisky bottle with an more or less ugly label. The colour of the malt is old gold. No caramel present to influencethe hue.
Nose: Whow! What a great nose! An interesting and manifold bouquet. Fresh and fruity, caramel, sherry, nuts, dried fruits, raisins. Very balanced. I could place my nose above the glas and sniff for at least 10 minutes. Dilution of the malt with water to 40% weakens the bouquet
Taste: Even though the malt has 59.8% alcohol strength it is good to drink. It doesn't burn too much. After the wonderful nose the taste is somehow disappointing: no sharp edges, citrus, toffee, fruity not too sweet, no wood (even after 22 years in the cask) and hints of smoke. Somewhere in the middle I detected a sour note. The aftertaste doesn't last too long. I wouldn't recommend to add water to the malt because even in c/s the taste is not very powerful.
Score: This is a malt is excellent when you have a good nosing day. If you mainly rely on the taste, well it's above average but nothing great. 86 temporary points. The malt cost only 59 Euro. Considering the cask strength, the fact that it is a single bottle numbered edition and the wooden box in which it is delivered and the excellent nose this malt is really highly recommendable.

Caol Ila Mackillops Choice (distilled 89 bottled 99 43%). The pale malt comes in a standard whisky bottle which is placed in a wood imitation cardboard box.
Nose: fresh moss and grass accompanied by smoke, tar and peat. The fresh note is less intense than the other Caol Ilas I know.
Taste: peat and tary penolic smoke, charcoal combined with a hint of molasse sweetness. This malt seems to be the child of Lagavulin 16y and Laphroaig 10y. Very good for such a young malt. Long finish.
Score: 91 points. This means I rate it one point above the Laphroaig 10y. Maybe because I won't get this malt in the next year. It is from a single cask. Reasonably priced with 38 Euro. It is my second bottle in the half year since I know this malt. I had to argue a lot with Johannes until he put the MacKillops Choice Caol Ila on his shopping list for my visit at Amsterdam. I hope he will enjoy this malt too.

Directors Laudable Selection Old Malt Cask 1985 15y 50% (Laphroaig).
The pale malt comes in a standard  Whisky bottle with nice label.  It is placed in a nice eight cornerd cardboard box. Allied Distillers doesn't allow to trade this malt under the term Laphroaig.
Nose: fresh mossy and grassy green notes. Phenol and tar notes barely detectable. The nose reminds me of Caol Ila.
Taste: Whow! What a punch in the belly. Have I gulped radioactive waste products? The 50% alcohol male my stomach burn. And then comes the taste: Tar, phenol, smoke to the extreme and a hint of molasse sweetness.  No half measures. Even after half an hour I get reprises of this uncompromising taste.
Score: This is a heavy duty malt for real men. Love it or leave it! You can't compare it with the tame 15y distillery edition. There are no fruity notes, no mint, no toffee. This malt has learnt nothing in the 15 years in the cask.  Instead the brute force which is present in the 10y distillery edition has increased to hurrican strength. I give it 96 temporary points which is the best rating I have ever given to a malt. (Could it be because the weather was really rainy and cold?) Too bad that you have to pay more than 60 Euros for this extraordinary malt. I can have the threefold amount of Laphroaig 10y for that money.

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prE-pistle #10 - Close Encounters of the malty kind
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001

The last half year I have been rather busy.
Too sad for you and me it was the exploration of new single malts that needed my attention. Anyway here come my tasting notes from 2001. Since I don't remember if I enjoyed the whisky during our regular HarLeM session or at home I can't provide amusing stories to liven up the wet material.

Douglas Laing Laphroiag 1985 15y
I enjoyed this malt early in the year when it was still winter. And, my god, I love it! Despite earlier statements I still was not able to get a full bottle into my hands. The 'phroaig, like all Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask bottlings, comes in a nice hexagon cardboard tube in a standard whisky bottle at 50% alc. strength.
If you know the distilleries 15y old Laphroaig you might expect a nice Islay malt which has sowed its wild oats. Power still in the background but now also fruity and sweet notes detectable. Fools!!! This one resembles the 10y dist. bottling. And it has used the additional five years to grow even meaner. This one is a peat monster which will surely knock you out of your shoes.
Nose: grassy mossy, fresh, phenol and tar.
It reminds me on several Caol Ilas.
Taste: whush – whuushshh! I get up from my knees.
Have they put the tary rope from all wrecks along the Islay'ish coast and an equal amount of barley into the wash to get such a malt? The phenolic punch is overwhelming. Tary sea, old wood, peat – peat – peat! Just want to mention that there is also a hint of sweetness and of cause the liquor burns (50%). But that can be cured by diluting it without loosing the extraordinary experience.
Score:  What shall I say now?  You can accuse me of masochism but that is the best malt I have ever tasted. Please don't buy it because the amount of bottles is limited.  Leave me several bottles if I can get my hands on it.  You can buy 3-4 standard Laphroaig 10y bottles for the same price instead which is also very nice.

Lagavulin, Vintage Islay Malt 5 y
One of the bastard Lagavulins (as Johannes calls them).
Lagavulin is nowhere mentioned on the low cost whisky bottle with screw stop.
The malt is rather pale (no caramel).
Nose: peat, smoke and tar. But there is also a fresh grass note.
Unmistakable an  Islay. Direction Caol Ila – Ardbeg 10y.
Taste :  peat, smoke and tar. Some sweetness and despite the peat still fresh. It goes into the direction Ardbeg 10y.
Score: This is an excellent every day malt and with less than 20 Euro a real bargain.

Bowmore 8y
This one is from a bottle which Michael brought from Italy. The more I explore the wide field of single malts the more I come to the conclusion that the young Islays are the stuff I prefer. In particular given the amount of money which is available for my maltoholism.
Nose: peat, smoke, tar and wood. Just the rude Islay standard.
Taste: peat, smoke, tar, old rigging extracts. On the tip of the tongue you can detect a real sweetness (not the long lasting sweetness as present e.g. in Ardbeg 10). The malt is powerful yet light (Laphroaig 10y or Lagavulin 16y are powerful but not light).
Score: The lucky Italians have a wonderful malt available.
Less than 20 Euro, a real bargain.

Glen Rothes 1989 43% 11y
The typical Glen Rothes bottle  which is really marvellous.
But that's the best I can say about this full gold coloured bottling.
Nose: pungent, hints of adhesive, certainly the  typical Glen Rothes flavour is also present: flowers, resinous, spices
Taste:  a little bit sharp, spice, sweetness, nuts. Not too komplex, but nice to enjoy something different.
Score: Compared to the Glen Rothes 1985 13y this one was somehow disappointing. Maybe some more years of aging in the cask would have improved this malt.

Glen Ord 12y
Johannes held this malt high in his value for money ranking  This argument is not true here in Hamburg where the malt is difficult to obtain at low cost. During my last visit at Amsterdam I went home with a 0.25 l PET bottle of the malt.
Nose: somehow unpleasant, dark, earthy notes and a difficult to define chemical note. A hasty sweet and flowery note is also present.
Taste: mellow, spice (ginger? cinamon?) no pepper, flowers and malt.
Score: ok, since it is no value for money joker at my hometown nothing more to say.

Dalmore 12y
A nice bulky bottle for the full gold coloured malt from the Northern Highlands.
Nose: fragrant, fruity and flowery, it reeks after late harvest, hints of sherry.
Taste: sweet, malty, fruits (plums, apricots), wood, sherry, not too complex but difficult to characterize.
Score: Not a top malt but excellent value for money at 30 Euro for the 1 litre bottle.

Clynelish 1989 10y Douglas Laing 50%
A Douglas Laing Malt at an affordable price (45 Euro).
But this one is not to be recommend.
Nose: Chemical !!! Very strange, Fruits, earth? unplaeasant.
If you dilute the malt the unpleasant note tends towards fruitiness
Taste: Very strange, surely citrus and spice, fruits but not ripe ones, cream, and a big ???? Diluted: bergamotte and spice become more expressed.
Score: Strange, strange this one. It is totaly different than any other malt I have tasted. But I don't like it! It is artificial. Clynelish/Brora malts were always difficult to judge for me. They are a class of its own and seem to vary a lot in taste. Maybe the stuff will get better in half a year or so through oxidation in the bottle.

Balvenie Doublewood
The Balvenie single malt baby. A bottle which everyone likes to shake in his arms. If you stand at the shelves of your whisky shop and see the Founders Reserve and the Double Wood don't hesitate a single moment to spend the few additional bucks - It is worth the difference in price.
Nose: fragrant, fruity, honey, flowers, vanilla, toffee, nuts
Taste: very delicious, fruits, toffee, malt, honey, tangerines (?) hints of spice
Score:  less than 40 Euro for the 1 litre bottle. That's great.
A malt you can enjoy every day.

Longmorn 15 y 45%
The bukly bottle with long neck and golden /amber liquid is amzing.
Nose: apples, pears (brandy), sweet, interesting.
The content of my new two month old bottle smells not so pleasant.
Taste: sweet, citrus, spice (pepper). Surprisingly strong impression for a Speyside malt. Some peat and smoke. Relativly long finish. Again may new bottle betrays this judgement. It tastes a bit chemical. Maybe some oxidation will help ...
Score: When I first tasted this malt I thought it was excellent. Now the content of my own bottle betrays this promises. Will have to wait at least half a year to give a FINAL SCORE.

Glen Farclas 105 60%
The screw stop on the bottle can be pardoned.
This malt delivered in a black cardboard tube is really nice.
Nose: very fragrant, fruity, maybe also vegetables and a spice garden, honey. Although 60% alc. bareley a smell of spirit.
Taste: fruity, minty, citrus, caramel, some sherry. You notice that the stuff has 60%. Diluted: the fruity, sherry and caramel notes increase. The taste of the malts lies between the 10y and the 12y distillery edition.
Score: Less than 40 Euro for an excellent cask strength. I think it is one of the bests fruity malts at good value for money. Macallan c/s beats it - ok, but you only notice it in a head to head tasting.

Auchentoshan 10 y
Another malt bottled for Italy. It is worth mentioning because it differs a lot from the German bottling (tasted a few years ago)
The Lowland malts are not my cup of tea. To limp! I was astonished that the Auchentoshan 10y bottle for the Italian market showed some face. Although still flowery, fruity and sweet there was even some rough wood maybe even a hint of peat, never detected in the three times distilled German version.

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prE-pistle #11 - My Personal Single Malt Calendar
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001

The lust for certain single malts varies as the year passes. My beloved peat-monsters are no good on a hot summer day and I can't imagine to enjoy a Lowland-malt on a stormy autumn day or when the ice cracks outside. To give you an impression of the changes of my single malt desires I have written this small calendar. Maybe you want to compare my choice with Johannes' selection in the four malt seasons. I live in Hamburg, Johannes in Amsterdam, so the climate is more or less the same. People who live in other parts of the world (e.g. Australia, India, Israel) might have a different point of view.

All malts in this calendar should be easy to obtain at a reasonable price.
At least here in Germany, at www.weinquelle.com none is above 50 Euro (0,7 l bottle).

January - Laphroaig 10y  (My score 95, price 25 Euro)
This is one of my favourite malts and I have sung words of praise about it in several preceding prE-pistles. You will love or hate it.
The brute force of this peat-monster tolerates no neutrality.
colour: full gold
nose: peat, smoke, tar, medicine, very faint fruityness
taste: smoke!, a campfire of driftwood, tarred rope, sea and salt. Lasts extremely long

February - Laguvulin 16y  (My score 86, price 33 Euro)
It is still winter and so a heavy peated malt from Islay is chosen again. Whereas in January the Laphroaig enjoyed the heart with thick and cutting guitar riffs now the Lagavulin takes over the command with a symphony in peat. There is a basso continuo in peat, peat cellos and even peat violins. Everything very balanced but nevertheless very powerful.
colour: full amber
nose: peat, peat, peat, smoke and a faint sweetness in the background
taste: all sorts of peat, some smoke, hints of medicine and sweetness. Lasts extremely long

March - Talisker 10y  (My score 80, price 31 Euro)
Spring is approaching. The sun comes out but there can also be really cold days. Be prepared with the peppery Talisker. The description relies only partly on my own experience. The first bottle I sampled was a total catastrophe (dishwater) and the second one tasted like a bold malt from Speyside. Maybe my third bottle will be a real Talisker.
colour: full amber
nose: alcohol, pungent, after several sips: fresh, malty, fruity, Michael Jackson also talks of "smoke accented".
taste: sweet, malty, spices (pepper), citrus fruits. Michael Jackson speaks of a "very big pepperiness developing". I could detect pepper, but it was not so overwhelming as many other authors describe it.

April - Macallan 12y   (My score 92, price 32 Euro)
Sunny days, rain, sometimes snow. The weather is very variable. You need a stabilizing element. And here comes the Macallan. The Mac 12 is a wonderful single malt. I can enjoy it the whole year.
colour: full amber
nose: you visit a fruit market and smell the intense aroma of ripe fruits, wood, honey, wet leaves, resin, sherry and a hint of vanilla.
taste: sweetness tingling the tip of the tongue while the palate is delighted by a full fruit/sherry and caramel aroma, some nice oak-wood in the background and accents of honey and vanilla. A very satisfying and long lasting experience.

May - Balvenie Doublewood 12y   (My score 83, price 32 Euro)
The nice bulky Balvenie DW bottle lies in your arms like a baby. A symbol of new life and a malt which fires the rising moods of a promised summer. Beautifully composed mellow flavours give enjoyment even on a hot day.
colour: amber
nose: fragant flowery and fruity sweetness, some toffee, nuts, wood, vanilla, a fresh opened bottle might also show an unpleasant pungent ester note but this vanishes very soon.
taste: very delicious, fruits and caramel form an intricate duet accompanied by hints of spices, honey and maybe tangerines.

June - Glenmorangie 10y  (My score 85, price 29 Euro)
You come home after a long day of hard work. What's more satisfying than to celebrate it with a whiff of seabreeze from the eastern shores of Scotland? Glemorangie is a catchy fresh malt but you still get something to contemplate about.
colour: gold
nose: very aromatic, fruits, hay, spices, tobacco, seabreeze
taste: starts with a nice fruity taste, then spicy and nutty notes develop and dominate, in the finish wood and unobtrusive smoke and peat form the afterglow.

July - Glenkinchie 10y  (My score 77, price 29 Euro)
July, summer is there and it becomes more and more difficult to drink single malts. It is simply too hot. That's the time when I think of Lowland malts. Under normal circumstances these malts are too lame for me.
colour: gold
nose: sweet and fruity, reminds me of apple juice, hints of a flower bouquet.
taste: soft and light, spice, ginger, malt and toffee in combination with citrus fruits and mint. Impression of a water diluted malt (20 or 30 % ) but it is 40%.

August - Scapa 12y  (My score 76, price 26 Euro)
Again a hot summer month. No need to waste money on a complex and expensive malt. We need something light and fresh. Ideal conditions for the Scapa. On its wings it brings dreams of the excellent Highland Park. I choose the soft dream because it is too early in the year for the real thing.
colour: gold
nose: intensive fruit bouquet with a touch of honey. Sometimes also a chemical aldehyd-note.
taste: very smooth and fresh, caramel and honey, very pleasant to drink.

September - Glenfarclas 105  (My score 86, price 39 Euro)
The only cask strength malt in this calendar. It expresses the fun that it is finally time to enjoy single malts again. Autumn is near, the evenings are getting longer. This Speyside malt although only 8 years old offers enough aspects to contemplate about. And the dilution with water reveals new aspects.
colour: pale amber
nose: very fruity bouquet with raisins and sherry dominating, vegetables and spices are also detectable
taste: undiluted - fruity, mint, lemons, toffee, some sherry. With water - fruits, sherry and toffee become more pronounced whereas mint and lemons almost vanish. This cask strength tastes as if the 10y and the 12y old Glenfarclas were married.

October - Highland Park 12y  (My score 92, price 31 Euro)
There has been the Scapa in august but now comes the real thing. This malt from the island Orkney is one of my true loves. It is the perfect connection from the sweet and fruity summer malts to the powerful peated winter malts from Islay, because it contains both elements.
colour: full gold
nose: you open the bottle and the room is filled with a wonderful flower and fruit bouquet. Malt, honey and nuts are also there. No peat or smoke, this can only be detected after a few sips.
taste: this malt tells a histoy. First it is fruity and sweet, then heather honey and malt dominate and the finish is a beautiful lingering glow of peat and smoke.

November - Bowmore Mariner 15y   (My score 86, price 44 Euro)
The weather gets cold and unpleasant. Time to concentrate on the peated malts. Bowmore offers a wide range of interesting malts. I have chosen the Mariner which gets two points more than the Bowmore 12 on my scale and is still affordable.
colour: full gold
nose: sweet fruity notes covered with dark wood and fresh leather
taste: short sweet impressions are covered by smooth woody and nutty notes combined with sea saltiness. I could also detect a short flicker of citrus fruits. The finish is Islay: peat and some smoke.

December - Ardbeg 17y  (My score 92, price 48 Euro)
December, christmas time, we need something really good. It is the most expensive malt in this collection, Ardbeg 17y. One of my all time favourites.
colour: gold
nose: the four elements earth, sea, a salty breeze and burned peat or tar
taste: fresh sweetness of lemons combined with pepper and many other aromas appear in a maelstrom of peat, smoke and wood. When you come down to the ground only molasse sweetness and smoke remains and lasts very long.

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prE-pistle #12 - HarLeM Tasting November 9, 2001
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001

November 9th is a very important day in German history. We had shameful events (the Reichskristallnacht - where the nazis started a big pogrom on the jews) and joyful events (falling of the Berlin wall). Time will tell in which category this tasting will fall.

First remark: Only 50% of HarLeM was present. Walter lay in bed with a heavy cold and Heino was visiting his father in hospital. So it was Michael's and my job to deal with the malts. The first three malts:
- Aberlour 10y 43%
- Glenlivet 12y 40%
- Caol Ila MacKillops choice single cask 1989/99 43%

Aberlour 10y 43%
The Aberlour 10y was new for me. It is one of the encouraging discoveries on my wet way through the distilleries of Scotland.
Colour: pale amber
Nose: Very straight, pleasant and fresh nose. It reminds me of pear brandy.
After several sips hints of wood, raisins and honey are detectable.
Taste: sweet with citrus and spice notes, malt, toffee and chocolate.
After 2 or 3 minutes I noticed a bitter aftertaste like plain chocolate.
Score: A very nice malt, especially in summer, pleasant to drink, excellent value for money (29 Euro/litre) . I know that almost the whole malt world will say "this guy is nuts" but I  like the 10 y better than the Aberlour a'bunadh.
My score: 82 points.

Glen Livet 12 y 40%
An old friend and a good benchmark. The Glen Livet marks the limit where a single malt is nice in my eyes.
Colour: gold
Nose: a little bit reserved, malty and fruity, dark.
Taste: sweet fruity notes with some spice, mint and citrus develope to malty and toffeeish impressions.
Score: 78 points in my list. Maybe a little bit too generous.
It's a nice malt but nothing more.

Caol Ila MacKillops choice single cask dist. 1989 bottled 1999 43%
This was the winner of the evening. Islay peat hammer and yet a lot of freshness. Too bad that this malt is difficult to obtain. But on the other hand this means I have a good chance to buy some additional bottles since I have no problems to buy it at my shop.
Colour: very pale, almost white wine.
Nose: the freshness of wet grass and moss combined with peat, smoke and tar. Yeah, the Caol Ilas are among the malts which I like to nose the most.
Taste: peat, smoke, charcole, tar and a hint of molasse sweetness.
Score:  Excellent young Islay malt! What else could you expect. Exactly the right stuff for cold days in november. And a good value for money with 38 Euro (0,7 l bottle) too. This means 93 points on my scale.

Could it be that our lust for malts was satisfied with these drinks?  If you think so then you don't know the hard core of Harlem. There was a bottle of Ardbeg 17 y with only 200 ml remaining. Time to follow our rules and save the liquor from oxidation. Perhaps we had hesitated too long but I don't think so. The bottle was less then 9 months old. But on the other hand I can't believe what my tongue and nose experienced. Ardbeg 17y was one of my most beloved single malts. Read my tasting notes and weep with me.

Ardbeg 17y 40%
Colour: Gold
Nose: uninspiring, citrus, spice, malt and a faint touch of peat.
Taste: rather flat, fresh cereal notes with some spice and citrus, no delayed Ardbeg explosion, almost no peat. In a blind test I never would have identified it as an Islay. The aftertaste vanishes within a few seconds.
Score: What is this? Such an ordinary malt! Shit! What has happened.
This is my first 40% bottle. The previous ones where 43%. But can this make such a big difference? Has the quality of the malt decreased drastically? I am at loss. Under these circumstances the Ardbeg 17 y rates only in the upper 70s (previous rating 90 points).

The catastrophe with the Ardbeg 17 y made a verification of the Ardbeg 10 y necessary (almost a more than half empty bottle). Much to my relief this malt was almost stable.

Ardbeg 10y 40%
Colour: pale gold
Nose: big Islay nose, fresh and grassy with a big punch of peat, smoke and sticking plaster.
Taste: sweet and fresh at the beginning but then comes overwhelming peat, smoke and tar. The molasse sweetness in the finish which has disturbed me when I had first tried the malt from a fresh bottle has almost vanished. This is an improvement.
Score: I have raised my rating from 83 to 85 points. It seems that this malt needs some time to break in. Especially in the coming winter months the Ardbeg 10y is to be highly recommended.

Another Islay malt needed verification. Michael had brought several bottles of Bowmore 8y from Italy. One of these bottles had landed in my shelves. When I had tried it last time I had the impression that it had lost some of its impact since the first tasting from a fresh opened bottle.

Bowmore 8y 40%
Colour: full gold
Nose: smoke, peat wood and leather
Taste: peaty, smoky and phenolic, an extract of old rigging. Intense but still light.
Score: The bottle which I tried at the Harlem-tasting had also lost some impact but not very much. Perhaps these impressions are just a matter of the condition of the moment.

Have I told you already that we listened to music during the tasting? It is amazing that many musicians share my admiration for heavy peated malts. How else could you explain group names like The Peatles, Canned Peat, Bronski Peat etc.  There are also a lot of titles which praise the peat. Michael Jackson - Peat it, Glen Frey - The peat is on, Asia - Peat of the moment, ACDC - Peatseeker, Gloria Estefan - Dr. Peat, to name only a few.

Meanwhile Michael and I both had six empty nosing glasses in front of us. That was the moment when Dagmar, Michael's girl friend, appeared. She is in my bad books because suddenly she decided to celebrate her birthday on December 1st, the day our visit to Johannes in Amsterdam was settled on.
This date had been fixed weeks before and Dagmar hadn't contradicted. Michael handed her a glass of Ardbeg 17y (grin) and asked her insidiously what she thought about it. "Excellent malt", was the answer. (Big grin again!). Then fired by the malt in my blood I tried to convince Dagmar that she should celebrate her birthday one week later. I described Amsterdam in the most beautiful colours and argued how wonderful it would be if she accompanied us. No result. Then I changed my argumentation. I said that I had found out that December 7th is the Dagmar day. She should convert temporally to catholicism and celebrate her name day. The fact that this day lies nearer to Santa Claus day would be an additional bonus.
Again she hid behind a distant smile.
Finally I made an appeal to her honour.
Useless.
What else can I say about these fickle creatures?
Women ...  .

The evening went on.
The Ardbeg 17y was empty and now Ardbeg 10 had to rescue the distillery's honour.  The experiences made during this tasting led to a discussion about independent bottlers, stabilty of distilleries' bottling during the years and the change of the taste of a malt in an open bottle.

Michael was of opinion that the independent bottlers only got "bad" casks from the distillery. Nay, I argued. The casks  may be different, they possibly might not match to the standard distillery line. But they are not necessarily bad. Remember the Ardbeg  8y SigVin or the Caol Ila 89/99 Mackillops choice. They are among the great moments in malt history and if there were no independent bottlers we would have missed them.
Another point is the stability of the distillery bottlings. In this case I agree with Michael. I prefer that the malt tastes more or less the same every year. A light Auchentoshan 10y which suddenly has lots of peat and smoke or an Ardbeg 17y which has lost its complexity and almost all its peat isn't desirable.

The last point is the developement of the taste in an open bottle. Like Michael I hate to break in a malt. When I open a fresh bottle I want to get all the fun immediately. To finish one or two drams which are unpleasant is waste of potentially wonderful malt.

Meanwhile it was past midnight and to resume our discussion Michael pulled out a fresh bottle from his shelves. "This is how whisky should be.
Always the same with each bottle, from the beginning to the last drop."  Ahhh, Laphroaig 10y. Yes, Michael's statement is true. The last dram of 'phroaig guided me well through the chilly November night.

When I awoke next morning I noticed that I had looked too deep into the whisky bottle. No headaches, - that's the advantage when you drink single malt. But the whole day I was delighted by occasional attacks of heavy peat which shivered through my body.

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prE-pistle #13 - 10 New Malts / Output of 6 Months
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001

After last week's report, here's another one covering ten new single malts (the output of six months of tasting) and first impressions of Auchroisk 12y port finish.

Bruichladdich 10y 46% (no caramel new distillery bottling)
I received this bottle as a present fom the Weinquelle, my favourite malt whisky shop. Let me tell you the story: It was deep night when I studied their pricelist which is updated daily. I looked at the Ardbeg Douglas Laing OMC malts and was very much surprised. Suddenly these malts were in the price range available for me.
"Whow! Great!
I will have to visit the shop immediately tomorrow," I thought. A closer look at other malts which were on my to-buy list set me into excitement. These malts were also a bargain. And then lightning struck. It must be prices in Euro but they were marked as D-Mark.

For the explanation of the readers outside the European Comunity: In 2002 the Euro will be the new currency in many countries of the European Community. And the shops prepare for the change. 1 Euro is approximately 2 D-Mark. This explains the favourable prices. I was in a moral dilemma. Should I plunder my bank account and order as many malts as possible or should I inform the Weinquelle. To be honest, I didn't believe that I would get the malts at the favourable price. The error was too obvious. So I decided to send the Weinquelle an Email to help them reduce the damage. The next day a courier appeared at my door with the bottle of Bruichladdich 10y and a letter of thanks.

Now to the malt:
Bruichladdich is the least Islayish malt from that island. This might change in the next years because they have a new still master with a heavy peated hand. But the results of his work will only be in the shops in a few years. The new outfit of the malt is a nice green, silver and golden sheet metal tube. I also like the bulky bottle. No caramel is used. Colour: pale, but I have seen paler Islay malts.
Nose: fresh and green with a lot of herbs, malt, a little bit pungent.
Taste: a little bit sharp, sweet, fresh  herbs, honey, unbalanced and very soon over.
Score: the bottle and the tube are nicer than the malt. Ok, but not worth to buy again. At least not until the heavy peated stuff is on the market. 74 points.

Bowmore 8y 40% (from Italy)
Bowmore is one of the  excellent distilleries on Islay. My friend Michael brought some bottles of Bowmore 8y from Italy. This malt is a young and wild one. I like the young Islay louts. Colour: full gold.
Nose: the nose is not very intensive. The strongest impression seems to be leather(?) or is it simply malt? Smoke, peat and wood and a reserved grassy note are also present.
Taste: it starts with a tingling sweet impression on the tip of the tongue which is quickly overwhelmed by peat, smoke, and tar. One of the few malts which I identify as salty. The fun doesn't last too long.
Score: powerful but yet light Islay malt, nice to drink and at less than 20 Euro per bottle a real bargain. My score 85 points.

Caol Ila Chieftain's rum finish 43% 1990/2001
The 11 years old Caol Ila comes in a nice golden cardboard tube. Both the tube and the bottle have a label which seems to be written by hand. I was rather curious how a rum cask finish might harmonize with an Islay malt. Colour: full gold.
Nose: very aromatic, fruity, honey, sweet.
Taste: It starts very fruity, reminds me of red cough candies (redcurrant, blackberry etc.). This must be the effect of the rum finish. Then the peat, smoke, tar and old rigging takes over the command.
Score: the rum finish is not a good idea. It destroys the fresh and grassy note which I like so much on the Caol Islays. The sweet and aromatic start and the heavy Islay peat just don't suit each other. 78 points.

Clynelish Douglas Laing OMC 50% 1989/1999
One of the less expensive Douglas Laing OMC malts. The hexagonal package is something special. Colour: pale.
Nose: very malty, fruity, wet earth (?), the fresh opened bottle has touch of chemical smell which even in 3 months hasn't vanished. Altogether the nose is not very pleasant. Dilution of the malt changes the nose (bergamotte!) but it doesn't improve. It is still not favourable.
Taste: rather strange, there is definetely citrus and spice, also some kind of fruits all together in sweet cream. The diluted malt has a strong bergamotte and pepper note.
Score: 77 points for a OMC malt. That's almost a disaster. I am quite sure that the Clynelish/Brora needs more years in the cask to get to ripeness.

Glen Deveron 10y 1989 40%
A Speyside whisky from the district Banff. Colour: full gold.
Nose: relatively weak, malty and earthy, some sweetness, not very pleasant.
Taste: fresh and light, first sweet and fruity, then minty with toffee- and coffee-aroma. Some bitterness in the finish, not very long.
Score: 75 points, easy to drink but not impressive, bad nose.

Glen Moray mellowed in chardonnay barrels n.a.s. 40%
The Glen Moray came into my hands at the end of of the summer in late august. I opened the bottle and when I closed it again an usual amount of liquor had left the bottle. So easy to drink was the malt. Colour: gold.
Nose: very pleasant fresh and fruity aroma. The new opened bottle had a strong scent of smoked ham. With the months this note was reduced but didn't vanish.
Taste: very pleasant and easy to drink summer malt. Sweet, fruity, flowery and malty. Balanced but not very complex.
Score: 21 Euro for the 0.7 l bottle, that's a real bargain. As soon as the next summer is near I will have a new bottle in my shelf. My score 81 points. Excellent for a malt which has no age statement.

Glen Rothes bottled for Kirsch Import 1990/2000 43%
The malt comes in a standard whisky bottle with a really ugly label. Compared with the beautiful distillery outfit this is a comedown.  But I am willing to do without if I get something special at a good price. Colour: gold.
Nose: very interesting, there is neither the rich fruit nor peat. How shall I describe it? Fresh, sweet, malty, spicy (cinnamon? ginger?), nutty, strange toffee and fresh pale wood.
Taste: the frame is built by fresh citrus and mint plus toffee. Nuts, ginger and coffee are also present. Nice but soon over.
Score: The Glen Rothes 1985/1997 was really great. The 11 year old 1989 a disappointment. Now what's up with the 1990?  When I first opened the bottle I was quite sure that it beat the 1989. But at a blind tasting with several Speyside malts I rated it lowest. Could it be that to know it's Glen Rothes gives a bonus? Or did I just have a bad day? Since I have neither the 1989 nor the 1989 bottling at hand for a head to head tasting I rate carefully. 78 points.

Highland Park Sherrywood MacKillop's Choice Single Cask 1988/1999 61,5%
The Highland Park Sherrywood from MacKillop is a very interesting malt. My friend Michael had bought a bottle of it but refused to open it. So every time when I was at the shop to buy whisky I had to struggle. Should I bring a bottle home with me? Finally Michael showed mercy and we had a joined tasting where we tried his Highland Park. This tasting notes are only the first impression. Colour: full amber.
Nose: a little bit pungent (must be either because of the freshly opend bottle or because of the high proof), very malty, resinous, wood and honey.
Diluted with water: sweet, again pungent, malty, and dry sherry.
Taste: at full strength: oh my - very strong, - it burns, but very delicious and very intensive. Wood, malt, resin  and honey. Diluted: the malt changes - sweet and fruity, berries from the woods, a touch of toffee and malt, but no wood.
Score: this malt definitely deserves further investigation. It changes a lot when you add water. Although at 61,5% it is barely drinkable I prefer the cask strength. My prelimenary rating 90 points. That's the same as the HP 12y and 2 points lower than the 18y old malt.

Laphroaig MacKillop's Choice Single Cask 1983/1999 52,5%
The Laphroaig is the problem child in this malt family. You probably will not believe it. It is very unstable! When I opened the bottle and took my first dram there was a big disappointement. Taste: the content of two full ashtrays mixed with fermented vanilla pudding. Poohh, what's this? The smoke, peat, and tar is Ok. Vanilla too although not so strong. But what's the matter with the disgusting gastric acid? Did somebody drink the malt and has spilled it back into the bottle? Ok, - two months rest for the malt. In the next tasting the bad sourness was gone. But now there was very much sweetness, but no fruits. A rather average malt. The tasting notes which follow now are from the 3-4 month old malt.

Colour: pale gold
Nose: not much of a peat monster although peat and smoke are present.
The rather light aroma is ruled by malt, vanilla and wood.
Taste: I associate the first impression of the malt with it's colour, sweet and yet fresh vanilla cream with touches of toffee and wood and maybe two or three leaves of mint. In the finish smoke and peat appear and settle down in the throat. The sweetness slowly disappears and peat governs for several minutes.
Score:  I don't like this Laphroaig. The strong and sweet vanilla impression at the start is not my cup of tea. It is very un'phroaigish. 16 years in the cask is not an explanation which satisfies me. Well, the 15y old distillery edition goes into the sweeter direction but there is also the Douglas Laing OMC which has used additional 5 years to grow even meaner. Another thing which is strange is the alcohol content. 52.5% after 16 years. I don't believe that the angels were so busy sipping on that cask.
My score 82 points . A shame for a Laphroaig.

Macallan Signatory sherrycask natural colour 1990/1999 43%
A young Mac from an independent bottler. Signatory delivers the malt in a yellow sheetmetal tube and a standard whisky bottle at the reasonable price of 35 Euro. Colour: old gold, paler than the 10 y distillery edition which has caramel to adjust the colour.
Nose: very pleasant, wet, fruity, leafy, resinous, a touch of honey and some wood.
Taste: sweet malty fruitiness, a touch of sherry, mint and toffee. Very delicious especially if one considers its young age.
Score: The malt is lighter than the 10y or 12y distillery malt. The 9y has no obvious flaws whereas the 7y old Mac which is sold in Italy tastes a little bit unready. A really nice summer malt which scores 85 points.

Chieftain's Auchroisk port finish 43% 1989/01
After the disappointment with the Chieftain's Caol Ila I was a little bit afraid to open the Auchroisk. But when I wrote this report I tried it nevertheless. Colour: copper.
Nose: not very pleasant. I hope it improves with time. Port wine, rotten wood, wet leaves, mouldering fruits, rose hips, very dark.
Taste: fresh,  mint and ginger, nuts and a touch of toffee. Some port in the background but you must know that it is a port finish to identify it.
Score: Nice malt. The influence of the port finish barely detectable except in the colour. No score yet because I hope the nose will improve.

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prE-pistle #14 - 'Phroaifish Tasting Report
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001

Inspired by Craig Daniel's 45th prE-pistle about a tasting of six Laphroaig's and Johannes' remark "I doubt any of us will be able to top 6 Laphroaigs in a single sitting, but we'll see..." I invited my whisky friends to a 'Phroaig-only tasting. Not only that my second name is Laphroaig ;-) also the other HarLeM-members are followers of the "way of the heavy peated malt". So I was quite sure that we would beat Craig's score.

Wednesday 19 December. Temperatures a few °C above zero, rain and fierce gusts.  That's the weather when I need my medicine from Islay. I took the bus and rode to Michael's flat where the other three HarLeM-members gathered for this historic event.

These are the malts we enjoyed this evening:
Laphroiag 10y dist. (3)
Laphroaig c/s dist. (4)
Laphroaig 15y dist. (2)
Laphroaig 18y  Selection Islay Malt Whisky (6)
Laphroaig Mackillop's Choice c/s 1983/99 (8)
Laphroaig OMC 15y 1985 (1)
Laphroaig Cadenhead 1990/01 (5)
Laphroaig Leapfrog Murray McDavid 1988/99 (7)

I can assure you that all malts tasted rather 'phroaigish. Since we had cheese and oatcakes between the drams we were able to pay tribute to the beauty unfolding on the palate for each malt.  But now enough of the babble here comes

Laphroaig 15y 43% Dist.
The malt comes in a dark green cardboard container which is difficult to open. When you have made it you find the standard 'phroaig styled bottle and a paper which tells you that you are now ready to the richer and more mature brother of the 10y old dist.
In the matrix my score for the 15y dist. is only 86 points. I remember that I was somehow disappointed by this malt. This time I was delighted with the combination of minty freshness and a touch of toffee at the start and the crecendo of smoke peat and tar in the middle and finish. Either this bottle was a lot better or my taste had changed. I am inclined to rate the 15y dist. even higher than the 10 y dist. But I must verify it and have some time to think about it. But 86 points is definetily too low.
Michael said that in a blind tasting he would identify the 15y as a 10y. The differences are too small. I must object. In the nose you can detect a sweet, fresh and minty note among the 'phroaigish peat and smoke. And this feeling also cannot be ignored on the tongue. If the Laphroaig 10y is a mighty castle with thick walls and a large towers then the Laphroaig 15y is a castle which is almost similar at first look. But the stones are smoother, the towers are slimmer and is has magnificent tapestries inside.

Laphroaig Selection Islay Malt Whisky 18y 40% (Loch Lommond)
There was nothing to be read about Laphroaig on the bottle. Only the horrible name (Loch Lommond) was mentioned and made me shiver. For those of you didn't have an encounter with Loch Lommond malts yet: I know at least two malts of that distillery which should at best be sold as lawn mower fuel. But Christoph who had brought the bottle ensured me that it was Laphroaig and a quick sniff at the cork proved it.
I think that Islay malts normally loose some of their aggressiveness with higher age and develope some fruityness. In this way they are similar to humans. (I meant the agression not the fruits) This malt was the oldest Laphroaig we tasted and so you might believe me if I say that I smelled the aroma of overripe peaches among the smoke, peat, phenol and tar. The taste: mint, bergamotte and caramel at the start and the typical Laphroaig medical notes more reserved. Definetely tamer than the 15yo dist.

Laphroaig 10y dist 43%
This is the standard Laphroaig which I enjoy so much. Especially in winter. I can prove that it helps to cure a beginning cold and it is good against stomach troubles. So I agree with the U.S. authorities which didn't banish this malt during the prohibition. They said it is medicine. No need to describe this peaty, smoky and tary jewel. I have done it several times for maltmadnes. You will love the malt or hate it.

Laphroaig Cadenhead (dist. 1990, bott. 2001) 46%
It seems that by now my nose was somehow dazed. The tasting notes about the smell only say "'phroaigish". But my tastebuds were still fully functional. Longer than any other Laphroaig it held sweet, minty and spicy notes in the crossfire of peat, smoke and medicine. The victory of the typical 'phroaig aroma was celebrated in a beautiful afterglow of smoke. Cadenhead's Laphroaig is one of the more graceful malts.

Laphroaig MacKillop's Choice (dist. 1983, bott. 1999) 52.5%
I think this is the worst Laphroaig among the malts tasted this evening. In an earlier report I described the unpleasant taste of ashtray and fermented vanilla pudding of the fresh opened bottle.  Now three month in an opened bottle the malt seems to have stabilized. The nose and the mouth indicate that the cooper has burned out the oak cask to excess. There is the typical Laphroaig aroma and a lot of vanilla, nothing else. I think this combination is not very lucky. Vanilla with honey and fruits is great. But peaty sticking plaster with vanilla? Brrr!

Laphroaig Douglas Laing OMC 1985 15y
I had eaten an oat cake with mild chedar and then devoted myself to the glass containing the OMC Laphroaig. Probably I had forgotten that the OMC is a mean little rascal and I had underestimated the neutralizing effect of the food. Boof! There was the nastiest blow of peat and smoke this evening. How can a malt be so focussed on the mean side of the Islay malts? Don't get me wrong. I don't complain of the OMC - I LOVE it. Is that a hint for a hidden masochism aspect in my personality?
Christoph and Michael said that thought the malt tasted sweet and malty. I needed several sips to agree with them and look behind the smoky medicine curtain. The dark and difficult to define aspects in the 10 y dist. were indeed missing and there was sweetness. Only masked by the brute force.

Laphroaig Leapfrog Murray McDavid (dist. 1988, bott. 1999) 46%
The Leapfrog is one of the lighter Laphroaigs. My nosing notes have a remark "fresh" additional to the standard 'phroaig description. The taste is lighter than the typical Laphroaig. Even the 15y dist. has a stronger impact. I could describe the Leapfrog as a MacKillop's Choice without vanilla but that won't help you because the MacKillop's is more difficult to obtain than the Leapfrog. Sorry to say that my tasting notes are now that Laphroaig No. 7 has run down throat are really sparse.

Laphroaig 10y c/s dist. 57.3%
The cask strength Laphroaig is very similar to the 10y dist. The higher proof  doesn't intensify the already mighty aroma of the standard 'phroaig. So it is only the higher alcohol content which might speak for the c/s. But do we enjoy single malts to get drunk?  I hope not.

The next day: no headache, no more indications for a beginning cold and random explosions of peat. A small but not a total recall of a wonderful peaty night.

(P.S. The numbers in brackets behind the malts at the beginning of the report indicate the order of deliciousness in this session.)
 

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prE-pistle #15 - Scores, scores, scores...
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001

Malt Madness now has a matrix.
On this page every visitor can find out with a quick glance which malts are esteemed by the various maniacs. We discussed a lot and finally agreed on a scale which is somehow an industrial standard. A scale which goes from 55 to 95. This scale is almost equivalent to the one Michael Jackson uses. Some questions still remain open:

Does rating of malts make sense?

Ok, I know you like it...
84 points for the Glenfarclas 10... Seems to be a good malt... But does that number tell you about the nose, the fruity taste with toffee and sherry? Does it say anything about the excellent value for money ratio? You miss a lot if you just look at the score.

Another example: Laphroaig 10y scores 95 points, Macallan 12y only 92 points. Just by looking at the numbers you might think that Laphroaig is the better malt (at least for me). But things are not so simple. My rating of malts depends on various circumstances.

On a hot summer day a heavy Islay malt surely scores less point than in icy winter.
Tasting of malts depends on the things you have eaten before: For example the impression after a very spicy meal is totally different from the one you get after a neutral salad. Malts which I appreciate mainly because of their nose, score drastically less when I have a bad nosing day. . On a stressful day my rating for malts is lower than in a quiet week. Some malts need time in an open bottle to develop. On the other hand if a bottle is open too long the taste gets poorer. The only way out of that dilemma would be to rate the malt and add a standard deviation to the score. Another solution is to use a very rough scale. In this case the "floating" of the malt cannot be expressed in steps.

Rating systems

I don't like to make a big fuzz about one single point of a malt in a rating system.
The reason: the malts somehow float on the scale. Some are more fixed than others.
Therefore I personally use a system with only five classes. Class 1 = dishwater and class 5 = outstanding, marvellous, excellent.

Then we decided to create the matrix for malts and I rated my malts on a scale from 1-100. 20 points were for Glen Grant (no age statement) and 100 points for my most favoured malt Laphroaig. These were my landmarks. As a scientist I know that you need fixing points to define a scale. Think at the celsius scale: 0 degrees = water freezing, 100 degrees = water boiling. I chose Glen Grant (n.a.s.) with 20 points as the lower orientation point because there are malts that are worse (e.g. Loch Lommond). My co E-reporters argued that there was no room for a malt better than Laphroaig 10. Right they were. I was willing to reserve 5 points for further discoveries in my search for the holy malt grail. This meant Laphroaig scores only 95 points.

When I mailed my results we saw that my ratings where highly incompatible with Michael Jacksons, Johannes' and Craig Daniels'. And the reason was not that I have developed a strange malt taste. In Michael Jacksons system the fact that a whisky is a single malt is reason enough to give it at least 50 points. Johannes says that his rating orients itself at the Dutch education system. Less than 50 % is unacceptable. He also mentioned that he uses his scale to rate all kinds of liquids. If you rate cat piss and nectar the drink of gods on the same scale there is indeed very little room for single malts )-; Craig Daniels also uses a system which is almost compatible with Mr. Jacksons.

I think the best argument for using the full range of 1-100 is that it is barely understandable why one should castrate a scale by cutting the lower half of it. Nobody builds speedometers which go from –200 km/h to + 200 km/h into a car which is capable of running 170 km/h. The lower half is useless even if you drive backwards.

Well I may have had the better arguments but there are some "industrial standards" which you can't avoid even if they are silly. Just think about the relics of MS-DOS in Windows or the strange non-metric units they use in Britain. So I had to recalibrate my scores to a scale defined by 55 (lower limit ) and 95 (upper limit) which is consistent with Michael Jacksons ratings.

If you use a different scale and have problems with comparing your results with our malt madness ratings here is a formula to do the recalibration.

Your system:
A = your lower limit, B = your upper limit, X = Rating in your system

Our System:
C = our lower limit = 55, D = our upper limit = 95, Y = Rating in our system

Y = ( X – A ) / ( B – A ) * (D – C ) + C
   = ( X – A ) / ( B – A ) * 40 + 55

Can you now live with the malt madness rating system? I can.
If you get sick by our system and have some new powerful arguments why to change it please mail me.

Klaus
 

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Check out Klaus's Personal Profile for an overview of all E-pistles or Click HERE to jump to the latest issue of Malt Maniacs.
 

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