A ll the more so, because I had the misfortune of buying a bottle of YB "Why Be" whisky in France.  I picked it up after a fun-filled, but cold day on the glacier. The "bugels" at the "La Chiaupe" piste proved quite a challenge, and at night me and my friends needed a lot of liquid warmth. The shop we visited had only two blends to offer: Ballantine's or the aforementioned YB. I knew the Ballantine's, so the YB didn't seem too much of a gamble at first....
And then we opened it. The blend had no descernable nose, which proved to be a good thing after my first bitter sip. Old leather and fungus! It was not unlike chewing on an old shoe! Bloody Awful!  It's an Yves Bataille Production. Perhaps the French should concentrate on what they do best: producing Cognac and generally annoying people?

Erm.... Sorry. I may have gotten a bit carried away here, I know it's wrong to generalize, and I'm sure there are very nice frenchmen (and - women) - It's just that I haven't met any of them last week. And besides, I had brought my own emergency-bottle of Lagavulin 16, so washing away the YB was'nt exeactly punishment.
But enough about my little holiday-frustrations - back to liquid matters.

A head-to-head of Balvenie 15 yrs. Single Barrel against the Balvenie 21 Port should be interesting, especially because both score a (provisional) 84 points. The nose of the 21 is bigger and sweeter at first - but it's a deeper sweetness than the honey of the younger versions. It's more like a Macallan or Highland Park sweetness. The 15 seemed to develop some frehsness and almost Glenmorangie-like pepper notes after a while - in bouquet and palate. Both have quite a burn in the mouth - especially the 15 at 50.4%. After dilution to about 40% the 15 showed a lot of development - but not necessarily for the better. The 21 had also changed considerably after a few drops. At first sight the Balvenie 21 Port is just slightly better than the 15 - but not quite enough to justify the price difference. I'll have to do antother head-to-head of the 21 again the 12 to make a final judgement.

I finally poured myself a glass of Glen Rothes 1985. Hmmmm......
A very deep and sweet aroma. Faint hints of currants and pipe tobacco. Old fruit. After some breathing a little oilyness and something that reminded me vaguely of vegetables. The taste is a bit harder to pin down.
... (another sip) ...
... (another sip) ...
No - nothing yet.
Today seems to be a "Bad Tongue Day" rather than a "Bad Nose Day". Or rather Bad Tongue Night - It's 01:40 and I've got to get some sleep.

More - much more - later.

The French Tasting