Whisky and other wonderful things

And it just goes to show that I really need to do more blind tastings… I requested that we do a blind tasting where I was “blind” myself when the committee planned the spring meetings of NMWL Trondheim, and Thursday evening I showed up prepared to make a fool of myself. Which I proceeded to do. Mind you, no one else did much better at the guessing, so I was in good company.

Bjørn and Stein had picked six whiskies for us. We were told all six were available in Norway, between 10 and 13 years of age and 40-46%. Those who wanted one were given a “cheat-sheet” with 15 distillery names, but I opted to try without.

Whisky number one:
Nose: Vannilin, wood, congeners, grass, flowers
Palate: Wood, malt, bitter notes
Score: 4.5 out of 10

I suspected it might be Glenmorangie 10 years, which was way off. We established “Speyside” quite quickly, but went through pretty much every likely Speyside distillery before Bjørn said it was “favoured by collectors” and I shouted “Macallan”. And it was. Macallan 12 years old fine oak. And I suspect the reason it didn’t enter my mind earlier is that I still think of Macallan as a sherry-whisky, which is partly because I still drink Macallan as a sherry-whisky, I’ve only tried the fine oak range once, at the first Oslo Whisky Festival, shortly after its launch. Still and all.

Whisky number two:
Nose: Strange, sweet, oak, sweet white wine, something a little pert, citrus, gooseberries
Palate: Citrus, flowers, gooseberries
Score: 7 out of 10

I was sure this had to be something finished in a sweet white wine cask of some sort, but it turned out to be a Duncan Taylor NC2 Imperial 13 years old, which no one managed to guess until an embarrassing amount of hints (including IB, Speyside, not a Glen and closed) had been dropped.

Whisky number three:
Nose: Sweet, sherry, a bit nauseating, rubber
Palate: Too much sherry and rubbery notes, but at the same time the whisky seems too young.
Score: 2 out of 10

I had no ideas whatsoever. The answer was Arran 12 years old. Contrasting it with the notes for the 10 year old we had on Sunday is interesting to say the least.

Whisky number four:
Nose: Peat, banana, sweetness, seaweed?
Palate: Peat, mostly. At the moment you swallow you get a burst of fresh fruityness which comes as a bit of a shock the first time, but is quite pleasant.
Score: 6.5 out of 10

I drew a blank. I was kind of sure it was coastal, but probably not Islay. It was Longrow 10 years old 46%.

Whisky number five:
Nose: Closed, vague sherry notes, hint of peat, sour grassy notes (cattle feed?)
Palate: Bitter, cloying sweetness, glue and wood
Score: 3 out of 10

I didn’t like it at all, and hence suggested a Springbank-destillate, partly based on that unpleasant bitterness. However, it turned out to be Bruichladdich 12 years old.

Whisky number six:
Nose: Peat, heat
Palate: Peat, ashes
Score: 7 out of 10

I guessed at Laphroaig 10 or Bowmore 12, but it was Talisker 10, which was perhaps the greatest suprise of the evening. We could not find any pepper at all, and there was much more peat than I would have expected, though I suppose that might mainly have been in contrast with the rest. It appeared pleasant, if a little one dimensional.

NMWL Trondheim had a visit from Jon Bertelsen on Sunday, and we made our way through eight malts. Needless to say, my notes for the first four or five are rather more extensive than for the last few, so I’ll just include the reasonably sensible ones…

Glen Scotia 45% OB
Distilled 31 May 1999, bottled 24 April 2007, cask no. 78.

Nose: Apples and pears, malt, hint of lemon, more obvious lemon but less of everything else with water, I’d drink it without.

Palate: My first impression is of pepper. Also it’s very heavy on the grain, chewy maltiness. Bitterness and wood (not the rubbery notes of old casks but the dry smell/taste of weathered planking).

Comments: Quite nice as a “light” whisky, but the bitterness detracts.

Score: 5 out of 10

Arran 10 years old OB 46%
(L26 09 07 3 14:15 BB)

Nose: Closed, barely opens with water. It might just be my nose, though…

Palate: Wood, sweet, dare I say sherry? No raisiny notes, though, just the sherry-sweetness.

Comments: I was pleasantly surprise and noted the batch number because I wonder if there might be differences. A good, though not terribly exciting, dram.

Score: 6 out of 10

Springbank Vintage 2000 OB, bottled for Jon Bertelsen, 58.5%

Nose: Some smoke, though cigar rather than peat.

Palate: More peaty smoke, ashes, coldness

Comments: Quite definitely the best whisky from (spirit distilled at) Springbank I’ve ever had. I tried it very quickly at OFW and decided to buy a bottle just because I actually liked it, but a “proper” taste has left me changing “like” to “love”.

Score: 8.5 out of 10

Bladnoch 15 years old OB, sherry matured, 55%

Nose: Sherry, malt, vaguely floral/grassy

Palate: A lot of sherry, a little wood, some malt.

Comments: In this company this is just boring, too much sherry, not enough whisky. Not bad, at all, just too one-dimensional. I must try it again in a different setting, though.

Score: 5 out of 10

Longrow CV 46% (batch 08/330)

Nose: metallic, vague peat, liquorice

Palate: coldness, ashes, rock, peat smoke

Comment: With water, that familiar Springbank bitterness appears and it becomes undrinkable. Note to self: Do not add water.

Score: 7 out of 10 (without water)

And then we had Bruichladdich 2001 for Jon Bertelsen, Bruichladdich Waves and Longrow 10 years old CS, which were all fine, but nothing to write home about.

These notes were written “blind”, that is: I had no idea what this was when I wrote the notes. We have a bit of a Mystery Malt thing going in the NMWL Trondheim group and this was one of those.

Nose: Immediate first impression was fruity (pears?), but that disappeared quite quickly, leaving toffee and malty sweetness in its place. I seem to find a hint of smoke. There is also something rather alien on the nose which I can’t quite place – something somewhat perfumy.

Palate: More smoke on the palate than nose, but still not an awful lot. Lots of sweetness and toffee. Some spices, a bit christmassy. Lemon or orange on the tip of my tounge. With water the taste develops a bitterness which doesn’t quite agree with me.

Comments: Better without water. The toffeeish sweetness dominates the nose and palate, and this is not bad, but not very exciting.

Score: 5 out of 10

(In case you’re interested I guessed at it being reasonably young, but not very, around 46% and possibly something rougher than a Speyside with the roughness concealed by the cask. Because of the element I characterised as alien, I guessed at a finished malt, and suggested Arran – simply because they do a lot of finishing – or Glenmorangie (ditto).)