Whisky Online Blog

I was fortunate enough to be in the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Vaults in Leith, Edinburgh yesterday. Everything seemed pretty normal, it was exceptionally relaxed, there were legions of bottles behind the bar, there was Haggis on the menu, all as it should be at the SMWS. However something caught my eye, a line of bottles all familiar but a bit out of place. To cut all the nonsense short it was a a row of first bottlings from certain distilleries, the difference being these were not in the display case but behind the bar. First bottlings by the society are notoriously hard to track down. The early ones were almost all consumed and rarely collected or stashed away. In the early days I’m sure few people bought multiple bottles or thought to keep hold of their purchases. This makes finding the very early bottlings exceptionally difficult. So I was pretty excited to see these ones open and available. I got quite a bit more excited when I learned which distilleries two of them were from.

St Magdalene SMWS 49.1. November 1975-October 1987. 64.6%. 75cl. Screw cap. 

Colour: Straw Gold

Nose: Typically difficult, closed and unsurprisingly spirity at first. Not particularly aggressive, just very quiet, grumpy almost. After time it starts to show a little fresh cut grass and pin sharp notes of lemon juice. Starting to open up more now with notes of butter, old riesling and quite a wonderful silky waxy streak as well. Becomes also quite leafy and herbaceous with notes of sorrel, sage and bay leaf. With water: Now it’s alive with stone fruits, super lush notes of peaches, nectarines, plums, white flowers, greengages and green apples. There are also some light hints of eucalyptus, cereals and petrol, very rieslingesque this one. A really beautiful, old style nose that keeps dancing around.

Palate: Quite a buldozer at full strength but it carries some fantastic notes of lamp oil, wet pebbles, minerals, motor oil and old canvas. Then cocoa, over-stewed black tea, mints and something quite carbolic. Devastatingly unsexy and difficult but charmingly so, clearly needs quite a bit of time though, not to mention water… With water it becomes more about honey, wax paper, mead, more drying qualities, cereals, buttered toast and lots of ashy minerals. Something like smoked butter and burnt almonds as well. It’s not as glorious as the nose due to its extreme difficulty but it’s such a huge personality.

Finish: Long. All on toasted cereals, butter, dried herbs, mineral notes and oil.

Comments: It’s always a huge privilege to taste early society bottlings but to taste the first edition St Magdalene is on a different emotional plain entirely. This style of whisky is really up my street but it’s a hugely personal preference, the whisky itself remains excessively difficult and almost uncooperative. For this reason I won’t technically go above 90, but if you like this extreme old style then you’ll adore this one. It’s one of those cases where the beauty is in the mouth of the taster.

Score: 88/100

Brora SMWS 61.1. July 1976-January 1989. 63.6%. 75cl. Screw cap.

This was the first ever bottling of the Brora distillate that was made at the old Clynelish distillery from 1969-1983. Examples of this age are otherwise non existent so, needless to say, I’m pretty thrilled to try this one.

Colour: Straw Gold.

Nose: Hyper clean medicinal notes at first with a really elegant background farminess. Then big notes of bandages, tincture, oysters, lemon juice, mercurochrome and fresh limes. Super clean, pristine peat, the kind that draws in industrial, farmyard, coastal and medical qualities in perfect balance. A feat that only Brora seems to be able to pull of. Further notes of eucalyptus oil, petrol, dunnage and tar. There is also something incredibly fresh about it, notes of wet leaves and brine give it a kind of supercharged freshness. With water: It doesn’t change too much, it just seems to to soften slightly and become even more coastal. Notes of sea breeze, sea weed, lemon thyme, chives, smoked mussels and wet grains, a touch more smoke as well. Utterly stunning!

Palate: At full strength this is almost like peat jam! Hugely thick, oily, waxy and fat! Lots of motor oil, candle wax, tar and phenols, ashy, drying phenols and peaty sweetness as well. Very compelling. Coal soap, more tar, iodine, TCP, muesli, floral blossom notes, juniper, gin and then smoke and wood resin. This is powerhouse stuff that somehow manages to be incredibly drinkable at full strength. Let’s try with water all the same. With water: Oh God! Unbelievably the peat gets even bigger, but at the same time also sort of stretched out and more complex. It feels like a much bigger dram with water (which I wouldn’t have thought possible given its potency when neat). Fat, luscious minerals, flowers, tar, garden fruits, more medicine… lets stop this madness.

Finish: Have you ever seen The Neverending Story?

Comments: I can’t tell what a privilege it is to taste Brora at such a young age, evidently it was already in the realms of greatness in its early teens. This bottling is yet more proof, if any were needed, that Brora is probably one of the most distinctive and personality laden malts in the world. It is also interesting to note that they were clearly still producing very heavily peated batches in 1976. Anyway, this one is a magnificent whisky.

Score: 94/100

A huge thankyou to Nick from the Society for these drams.

If you get a chance to go to the Society vaults in Leith I strongly recommend you do, apart from the stunning array of bottlings to try there is also an incredibly useful and informative collection on display of all the first edition bottles from their archives. It really is worth checking out. What stuck me the other day, whilst looking at many of them for the first time, was that so many were in fact very young and super strong whiskies, like the pair above. It seems they didn’t begin to bottle much older casks until the late 1980s/early 1990s. In other words, great time capsules for those fortunate enough to try them. Keep your eyes peeled.

The elusive 1.1 (An 8yo Glenfarclas)

This is a tasting I’ve been particularly looking forward to since I got the samples from my friend Luc Timmermans in Belgium at the Lindores Whisky Festival last weekend. Luc is a big Glenfarclas collector (well he’s only about 5 feet high so there are almost certainly bigger ones), and he was very keen that I write notes for these three whiskies. The drams in question are three very high strength long aged 1965 Glenfarclas, one of which is the last cask of 1965 that is still resting at the distillery, a cask of which Luc himself is the proud owner. Needless to say, I grudgingly accepted the offer of samples…

Glenfarclas 1965-2007 OB. Family Casks. 3861. 60%. 70cl. 

Colour: Bright Rosewood

Nose: Big strength but also big notes of raspberry jam, some fresh butter, cloves, blood oranges and a whole treacle pudding for good measure. This is clearly one of these old super strength drams that you don’t know weather to sit for a while and let it breath or add water straight away. I’ll wait a little I think…zzz… Ok, this is really starting open up very nicely, even a full strength, lots of raisins, orange liqueurs, bitters, dark chocolate, some notes of maraschino cherry, reminiscent of a really classy Manhattan. Lots of yummy dried and dark fruit aromas in here with great development and complexity at such high strength. You really wouldn’t believe it was still 60%, especially after all these years. Interesting notes of aged Tokaji and spicy barbecue sauce starting to come through with some soft notes of breakfast tea in the background. Lets finally add some water. Immediately softer and lusher with notes of orange marmalade, menthol, paraffin, a little steel wool and wet leaves, more of a ‘classic’ Glenfarclas profile.

Palate: Neat it isn’t so intense just very sweet and has some more of these really massive barbecue and spice notes, almost more like a Karuizawa than a Glenfarclas. Notes of firecrackers, wasabi, camphor, cinnamon, treacle, prune juice, wet earth, erasers and ground coffee. Quite a beast, lets add water… Much easier with water, some beautiful notes of crystalised citrus fruits with a wonderful bitter cocoa streak running through it. Lots of dark chocolate, all kinds of orange flavours, a big dry herbaceous quality and more maraschino notes. A great balance between fruit qualities and the more bitter aspects, but it never becomes too oaky or cloying. The water really works well on the palate with this one.

Finish: Really long with some great menthol qualities, more barbecue sauce, digestive biscuits, cola cubes and rich notes of blood orange. Great.

Comments: Fascinating how the neat palate was so reminiscent of these old super spicy Karuizawas. A difficult but ultimately rewarding Glenfarclas that swims beautifully. Powerful but not overpowering, one that needs to be worked with for it to really work, if you see what I mean. Classic 90 points material in my book.

Score: 90/100

Glenfarclas 1965-1999. The Bottlers 34yo. cask 3877. 61.3%. 70cl. 

Normally I’d put this one last due to it being a degree higher but I think on this occasion we’ll save Luc’s cask for last, just for fun.

Colour: Rosewood again.

Nose: This one is more closed at first nosing, the same mild buttery quality is present and the alcohol is again impressively quiet. You really need to dig around inside this one at first but I think it’s worth waiting… with time some notes of graphite, liquorice and light rubber begin to emerge with pencil shavings, some farmy notes and camphor all coming through. Once the aromas eventually start to come then they come thick and fast, this one really needs a bit of air. Gets lusher and leafier with notes of wet earth, forest flora, mushrooms and blackcurrants. More menthol starts to bring out a very classic Glenfarclas profile, very nice and very entertaining whisky so far. With water there are many notes of red fruits and more blackcurrants. Sultanas, dundee cake, walnuts, again water seemed to make it much more ‘classic’. Perfect sherry, clean, precise, not cloying or over concentrated, lovely.

Palate: Sherry casked rocket fuel on delivery, big huge sweetness, all kinds of fruit jams, cask strength prune juice and litres of, oddly sour, fruit liqueurs. That sour note is reminiscent of the Belgian Gueze Beers, although that may well be a natural contamination from it being Luc’s cellar for a number of years. The delivery at full strength is similarly wacky to the Family Cask, although whereas that one was spicy this is sweet and sour, a pair of oriental Glenfarclas at full strength? Notes of tonic wine, herb liqueurs and a touch of salt. Wild and crazy, lets add some water… much better, still a little sour but not in an unpleasant way, some wonderful notes of soda bread and savoury biscuit come through followed by peppermint, lavender oil and more elegant beery notes. Quite an unusual profile I have to say but very idiosyncratic and enjoyable. The sherry is super clean and almost takes a background role to all the other crazy flavours that are in here.

Finish: Sweet and long with fresh herbs, coal, more sultanas, cognac, hessian, mint leaf and dark chocoalte. Still a touch of sourness.

Comments: It’s hard to know what to make of this one, I love it’s wild and crazy personality although I think it will be one of those drams that polarises opinion quite a bit, for instance I’m not sure what some people will make of these sour notes. I don’t think I can score it above 90 for technical reasons but I adore it’s individualism.

Score: 87/100

Glenfarclas 1965. Luc’s Cask Sample. Drawn 2011. 60%. Sherry hogshead. Cask 3859. 

I’m not sure what Luc will do with this cask, obviously he plans to bottle it (and then probably to sleep in the empty hoggie) but he says he is in no hurry to do so. So it will be interesting to bear in mind when tasting how much longevity is left in the spirit, at 60% you would hope plenty.

Colour: Rosewood yet again

Nose: Wow. This is much more classical in style at first nosing. Loads of luscious green and dark fruits, dundee cake, cherries, raisins, fruit compotes and citrus rind. Some gentle notes of balsamico and decaying leaf mulch (nicer than it sounds), a little freshly ground white pepper and some nice background oak. Very clean, lush and compact so far. Let see what happens with water… now it becomes drier and leafier, more fresh forest aromas, more spiciness and a little smoky bacon. Very good if not quite as entertaining as the other ones in terms of its ‘straighter’ profile.

Palate: At full strength it is unsurprisingly quite intense and potent but the profile is not as bonkers as the other two. This is still quite typical Glenfarclas and very in keeping with the nose. Loads of intense fruit which is very good news, well controlled oak and the sherry is very much lush rather than cloying. Damsons, dark chocolate, liquorice, cedar, graphite, coal and some nice muesliesque freshness. With water: bam! Perfect fruit, oak and sherry combination, great, unmistakable old Glenfarclas. Full of chocolate, spices, dark fruits, green fruits and all kinds of minor sherry-led complexities. No tannic bite, nothing cloying, it’s all very fresh and very balanced.

Finish: Lots of eucalyptus, dried fruits, some cereal notes, oak and aged Armagnac. Great length and very consistent with the rest of the profile.

Comments: In technical terms this is easily the best of the three. Although it is not as wild and entertaining as the other two which were a bit difficult/wacky if you ask me. This one is much straighter and has more in common with the very luscious 67/68s. 1965 seems to be a tricky vintage at Glenfarclas, great but somewhat difficult, whiskies that make you do a bit more work than usual. But that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. This one is great but I wonder how much longer it will survive in the cask. It all depends on weather it gets woodier and dies or weather the high alcohol keeps the fruit alive and it gets more luscious and extravagant. It will almost certainly make it to 50 years pretty unscathed that’s for sure. We’ll give it an interim score for now but I’ll have to re-taste it whenever Luc decides to bottle it (hint hint).

Score: 92/100

By way of sacrilege here is a quick vatting of all three:

Nose: Oily and more meaty than any of the individuals with quite a fat but closed fruitiness.

Palate: Dirtier than the individuals with those crazy notes of spice and barbecue dominating, more notes of salt and vinegar crisps, cider and hummus. Quite different but still excellent. With water: Great, fruity old sherried whisky.

Finish: Long and consistent.

Conclusions: Again a vatting works really well, although the bonkers notes again come to the fore. What have we learned? Glenfarclas is truly one of the crown jewels in Scottish distilling and Luc Timmermans is a lucky wee bastard.

Thanks to Luc for this great and illuminating tasting.

Glenfarclas is one of those distilleries it is very hard not to love. Family owned, very independent, very generous, very enthusiatic and welcoming. Not to mention the whisky; direct fired stills, epic investment in top notch sherry casks, a glittering back catalogue of gorgeous stock. Who could resist their charms? So today we’ll try a pair of official 1960 Glenfarclas, well almost, the Millennium 40yo doesn’t state ’1960′ as a vintage but I’m assured it’s almost entirely from this year. Enough chatter, lets try them…

I just realised this is the only picture of the actual bottle I possess. Here we see the wonderful Helen from Glenfarclas pouring a dram of the Millennium 40yo for a very satisfied visitor at the Whisky Show in London.

Glenfarclas “Millennium 40yo’ OB. Bottled 2000. 43%. 70cl.

Colour: Mahogany

Nose: What strikes first is this very distinctive note that some might describe as sulphuresque but I find it has a real dirty beauty to it, not cloying or intrusive, it’s more like a some very old earthy phenolic qualities surrounded by lots of stewed fruits and sultanas. Very earthy whisky, this was from the era at Glenfarclas when the malt was still peated. Old leaf mulch, forest flora, dried mushrooms, wet earth, damp hessian, dunnage floors, really beautiful and distinctive nose. The sherry is fragrant and profound but not cloying or overpowering in any way.

Palate: Lovely spicy old wood with a few juicy tannins round the sides of the mouth but still beautifully balanced sherry. Lovely old notes of rancio, cough medicine, tobacco leaf, leather, dried meats, sultanas and some curious notes of black olive tapenade and various herbs. Becomes waxy and oily, there are still glimmers of peat, it feels like the phenols have held the whole thing together behind the scenes, I really like this, it’s dangerously drinkable.

Finish: Long, earthy, leafy, phenolic and full of stewed fruits, more sultana notes and reduced characteristics.

Comments: I love this but I do know a few people who really don’t like it. Some say too woody some too dirty, but I love it, I think that slight phenolic/dirty earthy quality really freshens it and makes it stand out. Something delicious and a bit different.

Score: 91/100

Lets see what another seven years of aging does to the same distillate.

Glenfarclas Family Cask 1960. OB. cask: 1767. Bottled 27/02/2007. 228 bottles. 52.4%. 70cl.

Colour: Pedro Ximénez

Nose: This is more classical Glenfarclas, very syrupy, focused sherry qualities. Lots of fruit syrups, ancient cognac and pastis with notes of marzipan, smoky bacon, salted almonds and tobacco leaf. This is a bit of sherry monster this one but it’s perfectly clean, nothing approaching the ‘dirty’ qualities of the Millennnium edition. Rancio, wet earth, shammy leather, furniture polish, preserved lemon rind and notes of old marc de gewurtz eau de vie that has lain in glass for many years. Quite a powerhouse of a dram so far. With water the nose becomes more farmy and earthy with some even bigger notes of marzipan, there are even some little flecks of minerality which is quite astonishing.

Palate: Very woody with big, chocolatey, dark tannins and flavours akin to wood bark, pine resin, old cognac, mixed nuts, old leather and walnut oil. If you like massive, pristine sherry then you’ll probably need a change of underwear for this one. It’s not massively complex but this sort of whisky is more about intensity and delivery of flavour, on that level it’s pretty flawless. Now notes of prune eua de vie, molasses, old dark rum, dark brown sugar and apple crumble. Lets try with water… BAM! Now theres treacle, dark chocolate, old spices and phenols all over the joint. Glorious with water, those tannins are still there but they somehow manage not to be too overtly cloying, a real tightrope walker. Now all kinds of herb liqueurs, flints, greengages, dried herbs and mushrooms. I retract my previous comment this is becoming more and more complex by the minute.

Finish: Long, incredibly dense and mouthcoating. Feels like the best old rums and cognacs rolled up in a big perfect sherry cask.

Comments: I wasn’t expecting to like this one so much. I tried it briefly last weekend in Alsace and I thought it was just too much sherry for my taste but now given a fresh palate, lots of time and a few drops of water this is brilliant old whisky. It’s really staggering how the sherry can be so intense and yet still allow so many other flavours through. A great old Glenfarclas, one that really rewards time and water.

Score: 92/100

Once again… Merci beaucoup Moinseur Valentin!