Blog Pause (Covid)

Sadly, I got the dreaded coronavirus last weekend, and after laying waste to my flesh and blood, it has scrambled my sense of smell (and presumably taste) as well. 

Tomato-based sauces like ketchup currently smell horribly burnt and acrid to me. Coffee tastes muted. Potato chips taste like metal. 

And scotch? Well, this last bottle of Craigellachie I bought from the SMWS - the 8 year sherry-matured one, at 67.9% ABV - went from a rich, explosive dram to an oddly powerless spirit. All I can scent is malt barley and chocolate, and only barely. All I can taste are chocolate and blueberries. None of those were present in my first tasting. 

Strangest of all the gigantic wash of alcohol I got when my sinuses were free and clear is totally missing. It's like the glass was left out for several days and went flat. It's the oddest thing.

So until things are tasting normal again, I can't review anything in good faith. Otherwise I'll be famous across the internet as the guy who said Macallan tasted like Laphroaig, and Laphroaig tasted like dishwater, and dishwater tasted like paperclips fried in old hair clippings. 

Cross your fingers that this passes quickly, and enjoy a dram on my behalf in the meantime. 

P.S. The last three reviews were all scheduled to release long after the bottles were in hand, so don't worry about those being "tainted" - my tongue and nose were still in service when those were done. 

Highland Park 10 Year (SMWS 4.282 "A Bothy Amongst Mountain Heather") - Full Review

 

I can't resist Highland Park independent bottlings... or, for that matter, their official cask strength expression. They have a very specific, particular set of flavors - heather, soft smoke, soft fruit, minerals, salt/sea spray - that I quite care for. I had this as a quick sample at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June Outturn event at the Jack Rose Saloon - I liked it enough to buy a bottle - this is the full, extended review. 

Aultmore 10 Year (SMWS 73.129 "In the Fields")

 

I haven't had a ton of Aultmore... in fact, I've only had one sample, of an independently bottled 11 year, which I liked. This bottle in front of me is from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), matured 10 years in a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel. It's bottled at 58.6% ABV, and here are the official notes:

Craigellachie 8 Year (SMWS 44.147 "Worm Cinders")

 

Ah, sweet Craigellachie - how I love thee. Applesauce and porkchops, in a glass. The official bottling is good, the independent bottlings are better, and even at its worst (looking at you, Five Lions), it's intriguing. So here is a bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") that I jumped on immediately - eight years matured in two different Oloroso casks (!), bottled at 67.9% (!!!)... and a companion to another eight year sherry-matured Craigellachie I had a couple months back that was like drinking a pork and sulfur smoothie (!!!!). 

Highland Park Cask Strength Release No. 2 (NAS)

 

This is a review of the second release of the much-respected Highland Park Cask Strength bottling. As many missteps as the official Highland Park core expressions have seen in their blitz of Viking-forward marketing (and what many regard as a lapse in quality of many of their whiskies), the Cask Strength line has received almost unanimously good reviews. 

Bowmore 17 Year (SMWS Rare Release, Islay Festival 2022 "Time Travelers")

 

This was a "bonus" dram at the end of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June outturn event at the Jack Rose Saloon, along with the 18 year Glen Garioch. I have had a few of these 17 year Bowmores from SMWS now, and they are all quite good, albeit slightly pricy for what they are. Eh, you pay for the name and the scarcity, I suppose - along with the fact that you'll never find a distillery bottling this good from Bowmore itself. 

Glen Garioch 18 Year (SMWS Rare Release)

 

This is a special 18 year old release of Glen Garioch from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") as part of the 2022 Highland Festival. I don't know a lot about Glen Garioch (pronounced "Glen Geery") ... Wikipedia tells me it's owned by Morrison Bowmore, which itself is owned by Suntory, the international beverage giant. Apparently production stopped for a few years in the late 60s/early 70s when their water source ran dry; they found another on a neighboring farm called "the silent spring" because it was silent and invisible (?!). 

Glen Scotia 8 Year (SMWS Campbeltown Festival 2022 Rare Release "Changes Faster Than a Chameleon")

 

Glen Scotia is a distillery I really like. "The other Campbeltown distillery" has long been in Springbank's shadow, but general awareness has really blossomed in the last few years, especially as Springbank becomes totally unobtainable. Owned by the Loch Lomond group - who have been doing really ambitious and great things these last few years - they are one of just a handful or less of distilleries in Campbeltown - once one of the busiest scotch areas. 

Caol Ila 8 Year (SMWS Islay Festival 2022 Rare Release "Throw the Cork Away!")

 

Released as part of the 2022 Islay Festival by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), this 8 year Caol Ila has been finished for two years in a first fill Oloroso barrel made of American oak (!!!) by the Tevasa cooperage that SMWS works with. Wow, ok. 

Caol Ila is a behemoth of a distillery, and one of the most ubiquitous distilleries - especially in terms of Islay productions - bottles to find on the independent scene. My good friend Rob often - and correctly - jokes that "10 year Caol Ila" should be its own category of scotch. 

Worthy Park 7 Year Rum (SMWS R11.14 "Hot Shots")

 The Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") has, for me, a pretty good track record of releasing wild, wild, wild rums. So far the ones I've had have been just completely insane - reeking of motor oil, fresh paint, gasoline, rotten fruit, wet dirt, you name it. So when I saw this Worthy Park 7 year aged rum come up - finished in a peated whisky barrel, and bottled at 67.5% ABV, no less! - I jumped all over it. 

Mortlach 19 Year (SMWS 76.149 "Flavor Maze")

 

The sixth of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. This was everyone's favorite of the entire event - every single person raved about it, including the bartenders. A 19 year Mortlach with a two year sherry finish (first fill Oloroso hogshead) with a massive mouthfeel... how can you go wrong? 

Blair Athol 12 Year (SMWS 68.65 "Floral Laurel")

 

The third of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. This is from Blair Athol, one of the quasi-anonymous Diageo distilleries whose output is used for various blends - in this case, Wikipedia says it's primarily Bell's. The distillery dates to 1798, and was closed form 1932 to 1949 - then it expanded in 1973. 

Glen Moray 14 Year (SMWS 35.302 "A Quick Witted Dovetail")

 

The fifth of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. I love a good Glen Moray, which is known for delectable and rather sweet offerings. This has a very unusual two-year shaved/toasted/rechar ex-first-fill Pedro Ximenez sherry cask finish after a dozen years in ex-bourbon, and was a big winner among all the conversations I overheard at the event.

BenRiach 12 Year (SMWS 12.67 "Horseback in the Forest")

 

The fourth of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. I quite like BenRiach, who I think has had one of the most successful rebranding of any scotch in the last 20 years. Their current quadrilogy (The Ten, The Smoky Ten, The Twelve, The Smoky Twelve) is just lovely stuff. So I was quite interested in a 12 year expression labeled "Deep, Rich, and Dried Fruits" due to a red wine barrique finish. 

Highland Park 10 Year (SMWS 4.282 "A Bothy Amongst Mountain Heather")

 

The seventh of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. A 10 year Highland Park from, presumably, the same vatting project that almost all the SMWS Highland Parks have come from, this one was pretty popular at the event, at least by word of mouth.

Inchmoan 9 Year (SMWS 135.39 "Smoked Scrunch Munch")

The ninth of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. From Inchmoan (one of the many Loch Lomond imprints), this is always interesting stuff - they aren't afraid to take chances at Loch Lomond, and it almost always pays off. This is a heavily peated 9 year old, bottled at a nice, full 58.5% ABV. 

Allt-a-Bhainne 11 Year (SMWS 108.41 "Burnt Dust")

 

The eighth of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. Allt-a-Bhainne is a really wacky, kooky distillery - I've only had two bottles from them (both independent), and both were unusual. One had flavors of latex and breakfast sausage (!); the other was pungent and funky and meaty, metallic, earthy. So I was very curious about this peated version.

Balmenach 8 Year (SMWS 48.130 "Yellow Smash")

 

It's no secret that I don't like mint as a flavor in my scotch (or when it's combined with sweet things in general) ... and Balmenach is the most mint-forward distillery I know. So I tend to avoid them; this was the second of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. I was curious and feeling adventurous, so I gave it a shot. 

Royal Brackla 10 Year (SMWS 55.69 "Easy Rider")

 

The first of nine whiskies at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") June 2022 Outturn tasting at the Jack Rose Saloon on Sunday, June 5th. I've never had Royal Brackla! So this was a nice new experience. Royal Brackla is owned by Bacardi, and dates to 1812. It gets the word "Royal" because King William IV (the king who immediately preceded Queen Victoria) selected it as the official whisky of his court - the first whisky to be granted a Royal Warrant. It closed from 1985 to 1991, like so many distilleries. 

Ben Nevis 8 Year (SMWS 78.53 "Death in the Afternoon")

 

Ben Nevis is a distillery I know very little about; mainly I hear what everyone does - they are owned by Japanese beverage company Nikka, and the vast majority (and best) of their distillate is used for the Nikka line of Japanese whiskies. Ben Nevis is a coastal distillery at a very high elevation - Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK - and they supposedly source their water from the highest elevation water source in scotch whisky. 

As you may know, Japan (until very recently?) has some odd alcohol laws, including one that allows any whisky that is stored in Japan for even a very short time - no matter where it was distilled - to be called Japanese. Hence how Nikka whiskies are actually made in Scotland by Ben Nevis. Supposedly the law has been made stricter, and soon more and better Ben Nevis will be released under its own name. 

Tomatin Cask Strength (NAS)

Yet another (relatively) unfamiliar distillery - Tomatin, owned and operated by the Takara Shuzo Corporation, which is the largest manufacturer of traditional shochu liquor in Japan. I've had a couple samples of their 12 year in the past, but it's been a while. The experience is somewhat like seeing the same strange guy or girl at different parties from time to time.

Most of Tomatin's output goes into blends like Antiquary and Talisman (I've had neither). This is their no-age-statement cask strength offering, matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry. 

Highland Park 12 Year (Pre-Viking)

 

Many thanks to Rob Martin for this blast from the past: a sample of Highland Park 12 Year from before their infamous 2017 "Viking" makeover. 

Here is a list of the current offerings from post-Viking Highland Park: