by Oliver Klimek on March 12, 2010
Buy at the Whisky Exchange
General Release – 57.1%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: Bright amber
Nose: Smoked bacon, honey, vanilla, apples
Palate: Peat, caramel, vanilla, a vague fruitiness, pepper, minmally bitter
Finish: Very long, smoky and slightly sweet
Overall: Some prefer it over the Rollercoaster, but I think it has a certain lack of oomph that is not really made up by greater complexity or better balance. Still very good though, mind you.
Score: 86/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
by Oliver Klimek on March 12, 2010
Regular readers will know that I usually don’t comment on each an every new whisky bottle on the market. But with the newly released Mortlach 70yo by Gordon & MacPhail I will make an exception for three reasons.
Firstly, Mortlach is simply one of my favourite distilleries because of its unique umami flavour. I never was disappointed by a Mortlach, and I guess the 70yo would be no exception, if I ever had a chance to taste it…
Secondly it is the oldest whisky ever bottled to my knowledge, so it really is something special and deserves an article of its own. And given its extarordinary age, at a price of £10,000 for a 70cl decanter and £2,500 for the 20cl version it is almost a real bargain, if you compare it to recent luxury bottlings of Dalmore, Glenfiddich and others. For such an old whisky it is even understandable to have it piped in by a Scottish Highlander Battalion, as was actually done at the presentation in Edinburgh Castle.
And thirdly – and this is the foremost reason for me putting down these lines – this release leaves me without a doubt that behind the scenes there is a silent race going on who is going to bottle the first 100yo whisky. Will it be Dalmore, Glenfiddich or Macallan? Or maybe Glen Grant? Or Mortlach again? The only thing that I would dare place a bet on is the price tag. What else could it be than a round £100,000?
Glen Wonka, here we come!
by Oliver Klimek on March 11, 2010
2010 Committee bottling – 57.3%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: White wine
Nose: Very intense, smoky, slightly medicinal, sea shore, lemon, orange
Palate: Peat, liquorice, salt, lemon peel, ginger, a bit of honey
Finish: Very long, dry, smoky and a bit salty
Overall: The Rollercoaster received slightly mixed reviews, but I really like it. The vatting of 10 vintages gives is an astonishing complexity. Overall character is rather dry compared with the standard 10yo
Score: 90/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
Side note: Read about the launch problems in Ardbeg’s online shop.
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Rating: 8.0/10 (2 votes cast)
by Oliver Klimek on March 10, 2010
Bourbon Hogshead 4751 – 58.4%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: Water with a yellow tint
Nose:Mostly vanilla, with a hint of lemon and a tiny whiff of smoke
Palate: Nuts and vanilla, lemon, a bit of orange, ginger
Finish: Long, dry and minimally smoky
Overall: Nice and well balanced, much more complex than the very pale colour suggests.
Score: 84/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
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Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)
by Oliver Klimek on March 10, 2010
Yesterday I openend the Whisky Rating page on Facebook. In the first day only, already more than 50 people became a fan of the page. A stunning number that I wouldn’t have expected, although I had sent out some invitations to my existing Facebook friends.
The Facebook page is meant to be sort of a hub for the activities on Whisky Rating. Apart from linking to my recent tasting notes and blog posts, I intend to post about my whisky-related activities if they are not really worth a proper blog entry but still notable enough not to get lost in the Twitter timeline.
You will find a shortcut to the Whisky Rating Facebook page on the right sidebar.
If you have not done so already, I can only recommend signing up with Facebook. It’s free, and it allows you to connect with people you know or share the same interests with you.
by Oliver Klimek on March 9, 2010
Buy at the Whisky Exchange
The famous single malt from Japan – 43%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: Dark amber
Nose: Dried tropical fruit, mainly pineapple and banana, honey, minimally smoky
Palate: Tropical fruit, vanilla, a bit of smoke, pepper, nutmeg
Finish: Long, first fruity, then smoky
Overall: A delicately balanced mix of fruit, smoke and spice. Sophisticated but still not too complex for casual sipping. Very good.
Score: 85/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
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Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)
by Oliver Klimek on March 8, 2010
Bourbon Barrel – 59%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: Bright gold
Nose: Honey, vanilla, apples, a hint of lemon
Palate: More honey and vanilla, lemon zest, a mild spiciness that grows by adding water
Finish: Medium long and quite dry
Overall: A straightforward but quite enjoyable bourbon cask whisky.
Score: 82/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
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Rating: 5.5/10 (2 votes cast)
by Oliver Klimek on March 7, 2010
In several months of whisky tweeting on Twitter, I got the impression that it would be nice to have a place where whisky lovers could meet and trade samples of their favourite tipples.
After some heavy pondering I figured out that a forum would be the best method of doing so. There are already some German forums with sample swap sections, so why not go international with this idea?
The forum offers you the possibility to list the whiskies you want to share either for swapping or selling (non-profit only!). There is also the option to share whole bottles or even casks, if anybody is willing to jump onto that. There is also a request sub-forum where you can publish what you are looking for. Of course there are also sections for general whisky discussions. But I don’t excpect this forum to become a serious competitor for the catch-all whisky forums that already exist, as the main focus certainly is on sample trading.
Before posting, please take the time to read through the Terms of Service in the sample and bottle share forums (they are slightly different). They are a bit lengthy, I have to admit, but they are necessary to set a frame in which fair sample trade is possible. Most of it is self-evident anyway.
During the process of integrating the the forum I decided to connect the existing site membership option with the forum. Although quite a few users have put down their star ratings on whiskies on the site, nobody actually had the guts to put up their own drams. Almost all registered users were spammers. So I restricted the membership to the forum where you can post a request, if you wish a specific bottle to be listed.
To join, klick on the forum link in the top navigation bar. You will find a “Register” button there. You will be mailed a random password that you can change after your first login. All your user data is saved encrypted on the site. Nobody, not even the system administrator, can see your password.
When you log into the site, you are taken to the forum section where you first should complete your user profile. Gravatars should autmatically be recognized. The look and feel of the forum might need some getting used to, but this system blends very easily with the blog, this is why I decided to use it.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me, should you experience any difficulties with the forum system. I would also be happy about any comments or suggestions regarding this new feature on Whisky Rating.
And now, let the trades begin!
by Oliver Klimek on March 6, 2010
Sherry Butt – 54.6%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: Cognac
Nose: Acetone, even a hint of vinegar, rum soaked raisins.
Palate: Very fruity, almost like rum soaked gummi bears and yes, vinegar
Finish: Very long and rummy
Overall: This is sherry gone crazy, just too much of it in my opinion. The chemical nose puts me off as well. But I am sure some will love this dram.
Score: 75/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
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Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)
by Oliver Klimek on March 5, 2010
Autumn Distillation – McGibbons Provenance – 46%
My Tasting Notes:
Color: Pale straw
Nose: Smoke, vanilla, honey, a bit of lemon.
Palate: All that’s in the nose plus a little salt.
Finish: Very long, sweet smoke.
Overall: A bit similar to the Benriach Heavily Peated, but doesn’t quite reach it. Still a very nice peated Speysider, though.
Score: 84/100 – Price Tag $$$$$ – Value for your Money $$$$$
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Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)
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