Tasting a Glen Moray 10yo

This is a guest post by the Colonel-in-Chief's father. A noted whisky connoisseur, he has reviewed a bottle of Glen Moray.

The Product
Glen Moray is a Speyside single malt distilled in the town of Elgin and is matured in oak casks, producing a whisky which is light gold in colour. In fact it is the lightest coloured whisky I have ever seen or tasted. It is distilled, matured, and bottled by the Glen Moray Distillery in Scotland. There is no clue on the bottle as to how old it is.*

The Nose
I have a nose of world championship quality, that is, if I was locked in a room with a limited air supply with 99 other persons I would be the last person standing. Despite this advantage, the only smell that I can pick up is whisky although the bottle claims it is 'gently spiced with butterscotch notes.'

The Taste
It has a smooth creamy texture, but again there is no butterscotch, the only thing that I can taste is whisky.

The Swallow
This is where all whisky should be judged. It goes down with a nice warm feeling with no hint of after-burn that you often get with cheap blends.

The Summary
I think that the distillery is trying to capture a niche in the market with a cheaper single malt; they obviously rate it as inferior to Glenlivet because of the asking price. Despite that, it is better than most blends but not a top whisky. Still it is good value at the current price.**

Overall, I would rate it about five lightning bolts (out of seven).

Sr. Colonel-in-Chief,
D.T.W.C.

* Comparison with the Glen Moray website suggests its 10yo
** I bought two more bottles yesterday

A Whisky Empire!

Gents, in the course of my ‘work’ I’ve discovered a website we should be looking to as inspiration for the Distant Thunder Whisky Club. In fact, it’s really three separate sites that are all pretty cool.

The first is called Malt Madness. It’s worth a look, it’s a private site run by one guy and deals with his personal whisky tastes. There is great Beginners Guide to whisky tasting*, Scotch Distillery Data, a Malt Almanac, a Liquid Blog full of great articles and a Deviant Drams section on non-Scotch Single Malt whiskies.

The second site is called Malt Maniacs, and it’s managed by the same guy, but accepts contributions from a team of other people. It has a list of over 10,000 whisky tastings conducted by members of the Maniacs team. Can you imagine how much fun they had compiling that! It makes our one meeting seem a bit sad really. To be fair, they first got together in 1997 so they have a few years on us, but I’m sure they can’t surpass us for quality**. There's also awards for yearly prizes and they maintain a list of every distillery in the world. They have an updated list of whisky events and plenty of other cool stuff like book reviews, an e-magazine (113 editions) that probably contains more stuff than our whole site.

The third site is called Whisky Fun and is a blog format that has heaps of other stuff for those inclined towards a whisky lifestyle. Music, comics and other stuff, there is plenty for you to look at here too.

These guys (and gals) are an inspiration and should be congratulated. They have heaps of useful info that any whisky aficionado will love. Their empire is vast, interesting and well worth checking regularly. I don’t hesitate in saying that in 12 years, we should be aiming for similar results. That’s gonna take some effort though, more blog postings, more meetings and more dedication from our members. So let’s get cracking. We do have one thing going for us though - we have a great logo thanks to Dave...and a great motto.

Long live the D.T.W.C!

Colonel-in-Chief

* link to the Beginners Guide under our 'Whisky Links'
** the author can't provide any evidence to support this statement

Strawberry Fields? Bruchladdich 16yo

Members will remember that the first D.T.W.C. meeting was not a resounding success for the Honorable Member for Ultimo, and that I only managed half a dram of the Talisker. Therefore, in the company of our esteemed President and Secretary, I recently approached Bruichladdich First Growth 16yo Cuvee A: Pauillac Chateau Lafite with some trepidation.

The vast majority of modern whiskies are aged in bourbon barrels, however, the Bruichladdich 16yr is aged in Chateau Lafite oak wine barrels that were used for their Cabernet/Merlot blend. You immediately notice the red hue to the whisky. It also has a naturally dark colour and I noted that no colouring had been added to the whisky.

I first tasted whisky when I was around 10 years old from my fathers glass. Such a young palate found whisky incredibly harsh and today it is still the harshness of whisky that repels me. The smooth silkiness of the Bruichladdich is what drew me in.

The nose is very clean. Fruity, blackcurrants and a hint of smokiness. I didn't detect the mint that some tasting notes I have read detected.

On the palate there is the immediate burst of alcohol, but this soon melts away leaving fruit on the palate. Strawberries are the key sensation you are supposed to get, but I have to admit that they didn't come through for me. It can apparently take 30 minutes to come through. The finish is quite dry.

I still only managed one dram, I wouldn't want to push the rehabilitation.

Four lightning bolts out of seven.

The Converted,
D.T.W.C.

The Lord of Islay? Ardbeg 10yo

Gents, I’m not sure if most of you are aware, but El Capitan and I are both employed in the outer rim of the galaxy, far from the galactic core (i.e. North Sydney). Since we work so close to each other now, we frequently adjourn from our official duties to discuss D.T.W.C. matters (and other important issues) over a coffee. Over the last week or two I have hinted to his highness that I was going to review the Ardbeg 10 year old (his favourite whisky) in the hope that he would take the hint and do it himself. Apparently the subtleties of our conversation were lost on him, and all he kept say was 'that sounds great'. So to cut a long story short here we are; I’m stuck reviewing the whisky.

As discussed in my last tasting note, I love the peaty flavours. In fact, I owe a big thankyou to El Capitan for acquainting me with them in first place. The first I tried was the Ardbeg 10yo when he generously allowed me a taste from his personal collection, so it has a certain sentimentality to me over other Islay whiskies. But this is a serious whisky review site, so I can't let sentimentality influence my analysis. Since then, I’ve tried expressions from as many Islay whiskies as I can. So far I’ve managed to taste Bunnahabhain, Laphroaig, Bruchladdich and Lagavulin. As expected, I enjoyed those with some serious peat most, which means I prefer Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg.

Along with the obvious smokiness which even my useless proboscis can discern, Mrs Colonel informs me that the Ardbeg 10yo has a hint of plants on the nose; damp grass perhaps. The drinking is good, but not as smooth as the Laphroaig or Lagavulin. Its has a harshness to it in the mouth which lasts a while. It’s a real ‘put hair on your chest’ whisky. The taste lingers for some time. I prefer some ice, but it is equally good with just water, or neat.

It always surprises me, but the Ardbeg 10yo is very light in colour. Intuitively I associate strong tasting whisky with a deeper, darker caramel colour, but the Ardbeg doesn’t conform to this. Each time I pour a dram and notice the colour I am astonished again.

Despite the harshness, I love it. Its one of my favourites and I highly recommend it to all. It’s one of those that I’ll always strive to maintain in my collection and I’m looking forward to trying other expressions from the distillery. If there standard 10yo is this good, the rest have to be sensational. Hopefully I’ll be able to find out at Whisky Live.

Another point to recommend it is that my father, a notorious whisky connoisseur who doesn’t mind demolishing my collection on his periodic visits found it to peaty, too strong a flavour. Unfortunately for him he was reduced to consuming the Bunnahabhain which as I noted earlier, isn’t quite to my taste. Things couldn’t have worked out better.

I award the Ardbeg 10 year old 5 Lighting Bolts (out of a possible seven).

Colonel-in-Chief,
D.T.W.C.

Nobody nose what it is like: The Macallan Inspiration

I have, for some time now, had in my whisky cabinet a bottle of Macallan 1851 Inspiration. As a general rule, I am a massive fan of Macallan. Those I have tried have always left me feeling like Federer does after he wins a 15th title, or even Tiger when he wins his own tournament or possibly even like Armstrong after he finishes a Tour de France. Elated, to say the least. Lets just say the anticipation in trying this was pretty high.

On those nose, this whisky rates up there with some of the greatest. Wonderful floral notes burst forth immediately, as if a bouquet of flowers has been shoved in your face. Lingering just behind is a syrupy sweetness, like the waft of sweetness you get from opening a packet of brown sugar. There is even a hint of desiccated coconut and a scent akin to walking into a Chinese medicine shop - for those that have done it. A wonderfully alluring aroma which lends itself to being broken down into distinct pieces.

Pouring this wonderfully smelling mix onto the palette, however, unleashes an oily, greasy texture. Like sucking on an oily rag. The whisky is hot and it tastes dirty – dirty like ‘let’s go on a dirty Contiki Tour, or let’s go on a dirty buck’s weekend to Amsterdam’. Afterward, you look back and think...ooh…not right.

There is also a smoky flavour, but not smoky as in Islay, smoky as in burnt rubber. If you went to a drag racing event and bottled the smoke from the tires, this would be it. It’s also bitter, and with a good whisky I like to hold it in my mouth to dissect the flavours. Not with this, it’s got to go down, and fast.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is no aftertaste. The flavour disappears as soon as it goes down. For me, I prefer the flavour to linger in some form, however, in this case it’s a blessing. The sooner this baby is gone, the better.

Thank goodness for the D.T.W.C, at least I can offload this onto the poor unsuspecting members. Or shouldn’t I have written that…doh!

I give this whisky two lightning bolts out of seven. One for the nose, and one because it’s a Macallan.

El Capitan,
D.T.W.C.

P.S. - whisky sidekick was once again a contributor to this blog

Butter me up, but don't touch me there: Glenmorangie Original

Glenmorangie Original

If there has ever been a label that so well depicts what is in the bottle, then it has to be the Glenmorangie Original 10 Year Old. Tell me the colour alone is not a pronouncement of complexity?

My first tasting was of course the inaugural meeting of the D.T.W.C. Thanks to the Colonel-in-Chief for giving it to Brad so I could consume half the bottle in one sitting! Ever since I have been draw by it's allure. No booty on this one, she is finesse, she is style, she is a catwalk model in a bottle...and I think her name is Amber.

Glenmorangie Original
Distiller: Glenmorangie
Location / Region: Tain, Scotland
Type: Highland
Alcohol / ABV: 40%

Nose: Simply a pleasure. On opening, to the nose there is the pronouncement of Butter and vanilla toffy and it is thick. Certainly the is a aromatic floral note but for me the butter is in the forefront.

Taste: On the pallet there is a rush of alcohol which passes quickly to be replaced with the zest of citrus. Still the toffy is there but the butter is now well and truly pronounced. An extremely well balanced almost slippery experience I could almost call this...refreshing? It certainly sits high in the throat and on the mid to top of the tongue (the complete opposite to a well peated Islay which likes it down in troughs).

Finish: I am not so sure it happens or at least you don't notice it quickly. The flavor remains for a long time after the last sip is spent. The saturation does not occur in the nose but rather on the tongue leaving creamy butters and orange spice.

I have found with many Scotch Whiskys that the initial nose is lost once your pallet has reached saturation point and to relive the flavor you must take another sip. Not so with the Glenmorangie Original which just adds to the right balance overall. I have found I am nosing the glass well and truly before taking the next sip (does that sound just a bit to kinky?) I have found this also with the Glenmorangie Lasanta so I can only imagine this to be the case with the whole range.

This is a Scotch Whisky to really relax and enjoy (and possibly lust after). If only I was Moses, I could have scratched this Whisky in as the 11th Commandment and then threw the bottle in the Arc Of The Covenant with the tablets as it really is sinful.

If I was to give a dram this easily rates 6 out of 7.

The Baron

Our first blend review: Suntory Hibiki 17yo

Well lads it is time someone blogged a blend for our club. Yes a blend! This evening we, being The Grey Bush and myself, decided to open a small bottle of Suntory Hibiki 17yo blend.

What to say? WOW this is probably the best blend I have tasted. Could we believe what we were drinking? Not really. We knew it was a blend but then it did not feel like it. Have we ever had a Japanese whiskey before? No. So where did it come from? We have a little tradition in the family when traveling overseas to make a purchase of a local liquor for each other. Unfortunately this tradition has brought back some god awful experiences, but in this case not so. Getting to the point this bottle of course came from Narita Airport in Japan, approximately 4 years ago on the way back to Aus.

The colour is probably best described as deep caramel. Very clean and very pure. On the nose, sweet and floral. We could actually relate the smell and flavor to that similar found with the Glenmorangie Lasanta. Only briefly but yes we think it is there. 'Surprising and pretty bloody good' as Stefan would say. No burn in the nose as was to be expected due, we had no idea so we expected the worst. Taste again floral and sweet. For a blend there is not the hint of alcohol in the month feel that is found in the cheaper blends. Rested for 17years we have to hope it is starting to mellow.

The flavour certainly remains in the bottom of the pallet and like many blends there is little to no taste in the throat. As a comparison we had a bottle of Chivas Regal 12yo and had classed this as our 'best in store' for a blend at this time. No really this takes Chivas and kicks it up the bum.

Recommendation would be to buy a bigger bottle next time...YES...but more so it has given us the enthusiasm to try more Japanese whisky's in future (and this was only a blend).

Well this signs us off for now but hopefully inspires you other lads to not knock back the offer of a Japanese whisky if it does come your way.

The Baron