Tasting Notes: Gordon and Macphail: Old Pulteney: Cask Strength 1995

Gordon and Macphail: Old Pulteney: Cask Strength 1995 (Scottish Highland Single Malt Whisky: 15 Years: 59.9% ABV)

(Bottled 2010)

Visual: Burnished gold with somewhat of a cherry red influence.

Viscosity: Deathly slow streaks for the most point with the occasional outburst.

Nose:  Brandy cream and raisins. Mild liquorice and a touch of shortbread. Light planed wood. Fruitcake. Water relaxes it slightly giving planed wood prominence and adds a slight tar.

Body: Treacle and alcohol burn. Fruitcake, plums and oak.  Water makes sweeter. Toffee style. Very slick. Somewhat of a charring touch, though this lightens to light coffee with more water.

Finish: Charring and alcohol at first. Tongue numbing. Bitter chocolate. Water makes much more chocolate and toffee and much more appealing. Slight salt and raisins here.

Conclusion:  It’s always fun having a cask strength whisky. Spending time adding water drop by drop trying to reduce the burn whilst keeping as much flavour as you can.   This keeps very close to the influence of its choice of casks and wears it proudly.  The sherry gives a huge amount of fruitcake and toffee, with raisins and alcohol punch to end it. This really punches home the difference using a first fill cask can make as the flavours are potent indeed.

Fun as that is, and boy is it fun, it does make it feel more of a display of the cask than of the spirit.  The spirit struggles to show its house character. There is that slight salt evident in the finish that is a Pulteney trademark, but apart from that it doesn’t manage to fight the sherry enough to stand out from the plethora of sherry heavy whiskies on the market.

So it is a nice whisky, but it isn’t that distinctive and thus doesn’t really get the full advantage of its cask strength.  A mixed blessing then.

Background: From a first fill sherry butt. Don’t know if it is single cask as that would indicate. I’d imagine so but wouldn’t want to say for sure.  Drunk at the Rummer hotel after the Ardbeg reviewed previously. Had a lot of water in-between to try and refresh the senses. I have had Old Pulteney official bottling before this independent bottling, but it has never been one of my favourite whiskies. Still it looked fun enough to give a try, and I do love playing with a cask strength. Oh, I got so caught up in doing the tasting notes I only got a photo of the bottle this time and forgot the glass. My bad. Oh and yes that is a ladder to reach the higher shelves of sprits you see there in the photo. There is quite the selection.

Tasting Notes: Ardbeg: Uigeadail

Ardbeg: Uigeadail (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: No age statement: 54.2% ABV)

Visual: A rich but light gold.

Viscosity: Medium thickness streaks form from the spirit, neither slow nor quick.

Nose: Charred wood. Light iodine and salt. Warming. Heated oils. Smoke. Barbecued fish. Oak.

Body: Very strong. Charring and charcoal up first. Lots of alcohol and old oak feel. A touch of boggy peat. Water adds a light sweetness, possibly custard like, which contrasts the harsher content.

Finish: Dry peat and very dry charring. Gin like in dryness. So yes, very dry. Water makes a massive smoke come out with the charring. Salty. Water also adds the lightest malt chocolate sweet offset

Conclusion: Huh. I never knew it was possible to burn a whisky. This thing is all charred husks and salt. Oddly it seems to favour the slightly medicinal character that I would associate with Laphroaig rather than the usual Ardbeg peat explosion.

Lots of salt character, however most noticeable is the extreme dryness which puts me in mind of the cask strength Glen Ord I had a while back. Again, like the Glen Ord playing with water to offset the cask strength didn’t seem to dampen the dryness. However here we did get a light sweetness contrast, I presume from the increased sherry representation

So unfortunately while this is a nigh universally well received whisky, like the glen ord it was too dry for my tastes.  The gin and salt style feels like it needs more to work with, as otherwise the alcohol punch feels like it has too much free reign.  I suppose that is what the sherry is meant to do, but I can’t quite see it.  Possibly it just needs the right water balance to bring out, something it’s hard to do without having a full bottle to play with. I can but review the drink I drank however and that I’m afraid to say was not to my tastes.  It just lacked that meaty grip, or mainstay component to grab onto. The alcohol strength, massive charring emphasis, and an attempt more subtle style just doesn’t play well together.  Ah well.

Background: At the time of trying I did not know how well regarded this whisky was. No less that Jim Murray called it world whisky of the year in 2009. Probably for the best I didn’t know so not to have expectations up. This whisky has a significant chunk of it sherry aged compared to the normal Ardbeg.  I’m a huge fan of Islay whisky, with Lagavulin being my favourite. Drunk at the Rummer Hotel in Bristol which has a quite quite silly sized spirit selection.  There was a zombie walk going on at Bristol at the time creating very odd atmosphere.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Sur Munk

Mikkeller: Sur Munk (Denmark: Sour Ale: 9.99% ABV)

Visual:  A dark ruddy purple brown with maybe a touch of mashed blueberry hue. Slight dust of darkened bubbles over the cloudy body.

Nose: Sour. Raspberry and blue berry. Very sharp yet with toffee pavlova and fresh baked cake. Fruitcake soaked in Madeira. Very fruity.

Body: Sharp and sweet mix. Strawberry. Fudge cake. Acidic apple. Quite thick for the acidity. Tart raspberry and blueberry. Lots of fruitcake again. Wine like touches.

Finish: Lots of toffee. Apple and cider. Still sharp acidic fruit. Slightly throat burning in intensity.

Conclusion: A quick question to open. Do you like Rodenbach beers, particularly the Grand Cru? If you answered no, then you will not like this beer.

Yep, it’s another sharp to the point of vinegar acid beer. Somehow I don’t mean that as a bad thing. I’m not sure how, but it’s true.  This time however it is Mikkeller bringing their talent for Belgium style beers to the fold, fresh off their success with “Not just another wit”

The beer is sharp as hell and brings with it one of those lovely roaming aromas. The ones that can tantalise your quivering nostrils for an age as you try and discern its aromas, and as it fools you into nigh holographic smells emerging. Fruity and surprisingly sweet, you can take your time letting it shimmer and smell before you take that first sip.

The high alcohol means that the fruity main body seems much more vinous that in a lot of these beers, and you can be forgiven for imagining port or Madeira influences.  Yet again the huge toffee sweetness counteracts it. This fascinating departure from the Rodenbach style marks it as comparatively (comparatively) welcoming and open despite its acidity. Very rich and surprisingly thick textured.

The only complaint really, as long as you can put up with the intended acidity, is that at 500ml it really must be shared. The weight of the acidity makes it a beer that you don’t need a lot of to enjoy. I think there may be a 330ml version of this, which is a far better size for the average drinker.

So very good, very challenging, very sharp and very sour. If you can put up with that you will love this.

Background: Ah Mikkeller, quite quite mad they are. This beer was picked up from Brewdog’s guest beer selection.  Oddly lists the abv at 9.99%. This is odd as I’m fairly sure there is an EU law that says beer abv must be listed to no more than one decimal place. Guess it wouldn’t have been worth scratching the extra nine off for all the export sales. No I have no idea why that law exists either. Not that I care overly, though I do wonder if there is some symbolism in the 9.99, similar to another EU law ignoring  beer which had 6.66% ABV (in that case the symbolism being the obvious number of the beast). I can’t see any such symbolism for this beer however. Odd.  Anyway Mikkeller has had a good run with me so far, and I would put them very high on the brewers I trust to turn out a good beer so looking forwards to this one.

Tasting Notes: Wurzburger Hofbrau: Julius Echter: Hefe Weissbier Hell

Wurzburger Hofbrau: Julius Echter: Hefe Weissbier Hell (Germany: German Hefeweizen:5.3% ABV)

Visual: Nicely cloudy honeyed lemon haze. Good inch of dense packed bubbles that are just off white.

Nose:  Wheat. Jiff lemon. Possibly a touch of cinnamon and coriander.  Fresh and slightly meringue like. Lemon curd as it heats.

Body: Lemon. Honey. Light crisp wheat. Light bitterness.  Touch of raw carrot. Ice cream floats.

Finish: Slick honey. A slightly warm syrup. Light bitter and a popcorn touch. Still lemon. Malt drinks. Touch of cloves.

Conclusion: It’s all in the texture for a weissbier. This is more evident when you are having the beer on tap than from a bottle. I’ve had the same beer, with just slight difference in the gas used for carbonation, and it ranged from a super smooth beer to fizzy piss.

Bottles, as mentioned, don’t have the same variety, but it’s just as important to get the carbonation and thus the texture right. This beer gets it right so damn well.

It’s very smooth, but with still that wheat grip. The main body has just enough flavour, the finish however soars.  Depending on the moment the remaining flavour after a sip could be distinct honey, lemon or a slight chocolate malt touch hanging around.

Now I’m not saying that the main body’s a slouch. With the smooth hell character and subtle carbonation it is refreshing yet thick and gives you a nice moment before the finish, which quite frankly, is where it is at.

Frankly an impressive beer. Unlike say the Mikkeller “Not Just Another Wit” (Which yes I know is a Belgium wit, but it does for the comparison I need here) it is not pushing the style to the extreme. That means however that it can be enjoyed as a casual drink as well as a one to savour.

I would consider this one of the mainstays of any good summer beer stable.

Background: I’ve been a big fan of the various weissbiers. They were the first slightly unusual beers I tried, and are a big part in starting me on the road to investigating the world of beer.  Wurzburger has been a damn solid brewery from Germany so far.  I always like a chance to break out the weiss glasses as they always seem to make the beers in them look so amazing with how they interact with the light.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Hops Kill Nazis/ Hops Kill ?

Brewdog: Hops Kill Nazis/ Hops Kill ? (Scotland: Amber Ale: 7.8% ABV)

Visual: Very dark yet clear black cherry red. Good inch of caramel head forming in a bubbled froth manner.

Nose: Treacle. Mixed spices. Heavily hopped and bitter. Some grapefruit. Malt drinks. Either ground chilli seeds or maybe a mild chicken curry. Cherry aid.

Body: Grapefruit and granite. Bitter and hops. Dry black liquorice. Touch of canned peaches in syrup. Slight glacier cherry. Dusty apricot? Shortbread. Caramel becomes evident when it warms.

Finish: Chilli seeds. Hops and bitterness. Dry and gritty. In fact lots of bitterness. More glacier cherry.

Conclusion: So this is 5AM saints big brother, or so they say. Appropriate, it took me a while to warm to 5AM saint and this has me equally in two minds.

Actually it would be more accurate to say that this is the half way point between 5AM saint and the brutal AB02. AB02 still holds the crown for uber expression of the hop explosion. This does not match up to AB02’s massive flavour, though considering the cost, lack of availability and ABV of AB02 that’s hardly surprising.  Similarly this beer cannot come close the comparative sessionable of 5 AM saint, its 7.8% comes in far too high for that.

So what is it, not the big time beer, nor the session ale?   What are we to do with it?

Well it ratchets up the tingle. Very chilli like, even though none were used in the making. In fact for a short moment the aroma almost seemed to carry curry scent with it.  Now it disappeared quickly enough, but the true oddity of it led me to include it in the notes for reference. Thing is the aroma is fractured to include everything from that to cherry aid and hops.  It’s so all over the place that it’s hard to tell its intent.  The flavour is powerful main body but the thick full hopped kick means that you really have to search to get the subtleties.

Despite all this it is remarkably easy to drink. It’s harsh and heavy, but slips down easy.  Without AB02’s full power it doesn’t quite pull the complexity main body, but for all I’ve been picking it apart it is tasty and so dangerously easy to drink a bottle of.

The thing is it is such a mixed up beer. Enjoyable, but for every element it does well I can think of another beer that does it better. A jack of all trades beer, yet master of none.  Still, for fitting badly into any one niche perfectly it does find itself quite adequate for a range.  So maybe not a bad thing.

A last thought. Don’t chill the beer too much. At the current autumn room temperature it expresses itself much better than when chilled.

Background: This beer’s name was voted on, with “Hops Kill Nazis” being the winning name. Unfortunately not drunk whilst listening top Anti Flags “This Machine Kills Fascists” as that would have been awesome. To make up for it I am listening to it while writing this tasting note.  This beer seems to be slightly cursed. Available mail order only it sold out before hitting general release, and fell in the very short time that Brewdog was using Yodel as a delivery company and thus a good chunk of the bottles were broken or went missing in the post.  I got some bottles thus I am happy.  A comment from Will on the change in name to “Hops Kill ?” “The beer is an emissary of certainty in this confused world. Which many mean they’re all logical positivists. That would be a bad thing”. I agree. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers despite my best efforts.

Note: This has recently been rereleased as one of four prototype Brewdog Beers.

Tasting Notes: Magic Rock: Cannonball IPA

Magic Rock: Cannonball IPA (England: IPA: 7.4% ABV)

Visual: Just slightly bronzed gold. Good lemon grind coloured frothy head that is about half an inch of foam in size. There is visible but not heavy carbonation main body.

Nose: Resin. pine and grapefruit. Bitter hops mix with golden syrup cake.

Body: Solid malt with a huge hop oil bitterness. Lots of resin. Apricot. Fluffy wheat and hop texture. Pineapple. Slight dry white wine feel in a way. Touch of custard sweetness on large mouthfuls.

Finish: Resin, pine and fluffy hops. Significantly bitter. A very dry feel. Turmeric and hop oils again.

Conclusion:  This is a real stripped down hop delivery system IPA. A lot of American inspired IPA’s go the whole hog on the citrus route. This takes about one step in that direction then returns to the resin pine and hop flavours that make up its core.

It makes for a very dry drink, with only a dash of sweetness to go against it.  Id guess this has a solid but not excessive IBU, but the lack of contrasting sweetness makes it seem a lot more bitter than that.  Oddly the pine and resin influence gives it an almost woodland IPA feel. Maybe a lumberjack IPA. Is that a thing? It should be.

It does have a touch of sweetness, apricot style that it brings to the table, but that doesn’t disrupt the main flow very much. Id say that oddly the beer seems more bitter than hops if that makes sense. The bitterness seems detached from the usual hop characteristics that come with it.

Overall enjoyable if slightly earthy. Very stripped sown, and down to earth. Competently made, and an interesting variant on the usual fare.  Slightly too simple to be wondrous though.

Background: I’ve been hearing a bit of buzz about the Magic Rock brewery recently, so when I saw this at Corks Of Cotham I thought it was worth picking up. I’m a huge IPA fan, though it is getting quite the crowded market these days.

Tasting Notes: Bruichladdich: Waves

Bruichladdich: Waves (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: No Age Statement: 46%)

Visual: Very rich rose and apricot colour. Almost perfumeqsue. Very unusual

Nose: Peat beef and smoke. Light planed wood. Quite smooth. Water brings out a slight sulphur egg smell.

Body: Contradicts the nose by being rich and fruity. Peaches and apricots. Peat back. Sweet syrup. Beef casserole. Some custard in the sweetens as well. Spice red grapes. Water makes even sweeter and spicier.

Finish: Dried apricot. Light wood. Grows into some malt taste. Water makes a mulled wine touch that lasts long.

Conclusion: The first sip, they say, is taken with the eye.  Or is it the first bite. Same idea anyway.  This performs wonderfully to that first bite. Beautiful with an almost perfume and apricot colour, and it’s a nice visual key that you are about to try something a bit different.

The difference skips the aroma though. It has the usual pungent sulphur smell. Nice but not usual.  The difference then is in the main body. Bruichladdich is one of the milder Islays usually, but this brings quite the beef stew feel and a touch of island peat against a huge fruitiness. This fruitiness and spiciness is the wonderful part, unusual and works so well against the main dram.  The flavours don’t dim with water, instead expanding. The sweetness in particular booms post the first drops, easily strong enough to combat the Islay style.

Overall it gives that touch of extra character which Bruichladdich may need to stand out from its fellows, and a great touch it is.  It’s still not quite as complex as some of the other examples form the region, but in this case is definitely different and accentuates Bruichladdich’s quirks.

An easy sipping balance of sweet to peat. A relaxing Islay that I must say I do like

Background: Odd one to do research on here. The whisky menu listed this as a ten year, online research suggest seven. The bottle gives no clue. Also there seems to be different versions of this finished in different fashions. Best guess I think this one was finished in a Madeira cask, but don’t quote me on that. Fits the taste profile though. Drunk at The Tasting Room, where despite the fact I and my friends have been a bare two times, we were remembered and greeted with friendly conversation.  The latter half of the dram was had with some shortbread which was a nice accompaniment. Thanks to Dylan for providing the improvised background on this photo.

Tasting Notes: The Arran Malt: 10 year

The Arran Malt: 10 year (Scottish Island Single Malt Whisky: 10 Years: 46% ABV)

Visual: Light barley to grain.

Viscosity: Thick streaks form quickly and in multitude.

Nose: Lemon meringue first with a light alcohol tingle. Grain dust. Cream pots, the type used for coffee. Shredded wheat. Water makes dustier initially then opens to an almost finished coffee sup style.

Body:  Smooth with lime touches. Sweet and syrupy. Big cream influence, or maybe custard doughnuts.  Slight milky chocolate. A touch of water makes silky smooth and much creamier.  Spiced blood orange comes out in a welcome manner.

Finish: Barley and dry oak. Light milk chocolate that grows slowly. Water makes it punch out more. Lime alcohol and chocolate come to the fore.

Conclusion: Always take your time with whisky. It is hard to do sometimes. A 25ml measure is basically a spit in a glass, and a double in a bar can be more expensive that a threesome in a red  light district if you aren’t careful.

Not that I would know from personal experience of course.

But anyway, whisky is a spirit that rewards time taken to let the vapours warm and to get rid of that initial burn that can fill the glass.

Now I’m fairly sure most of the blogs readers already know this, but here and now with the Arran malt it really does come back to the forefront of your mind.  Initial impression is an alcohol burn nose, lime and grain body and oak finish.  Not that impressive

Take your time though. Look again.  Let it settle and it becomes so very creamy with a milk chocolate finish. Silk textured if you add water. It’s pretty much a custard doughnut whisky. The slight burn at the finish makes sure you don’t forget and think you are playing in Krispy Kreme territory here though.

Good texture. Not the greatest flavour range but heck of a grip for what it does deliver. Manages to do the cream texture and taste without getting sickly. So a good ten year, that may just need a bit longer in the barrel to get some more complexity to go with the texture.  I may just be saying that as I know I have a bottle of the 14 year awaiting me. Should be interesting to see how it goes.

Background:  I picked up this mini as I know I’ve got a bottle of the 14 year waiting for me whenever I visit the family back ooop north.  So I thought it may be worth seeing the baseline of the spirit first to get an idea of how it grows.  The Arran distillery is quiet a new one, a moment of research tells me it has only been open since 1995. Which means I’m older that the bloody distillery. Then again if the distillery was a person it couldn’t legally drink yet.

Tasting Notes: Shieldaig: Speyside: 10 year

Shieldaig: Speyside: 10 year (Scottish Speyside Single Malt Whisky: 10 Years 40% ABV)

Visual: A light chestnut brown. Clear.

Viscosity: Very slow, very thin streaks.

Nose: Shortbread. Peanuts. Light sugar dust floating in the air. Marzipan and shortbread.

Body:  Sweet. Syrup and meringue. Light apricot. Black cherry at the back with thick cream.

Finish:  Dry chocolate. Dried apricot. Brandy cream and a chocolate dust air. Slight sour cream touch at the very end.

Conclusion: I had this a week ago. The first time I had it, it didn’t make much of an impression. Lots of push on the flavour but a certain simplicity that didn’t make it seem very appealing, and the character reminded me of some of the base notes in a blended whisky. Quite middle of the road.

I was then quite surprised, I revisit it, tasting note book in hand and within moments I realised I needed to give it a touch more credit.  Whilst still slightly simple, it brings a nice fresh fruit and brandy cream favour that were completely hidden initially, possibly by a cold room temperature. These new elements make it seem almost Christmas tipple style and are very welcome.

The long chocolate finish is done especially well. Well apart from a touch of alcohol burn, then sour at the end. Those two elements don’t quite fit. Apart from that it compares very well to Dalmore which brings in a similar finish. A pity I didn’t get to try it with water as I get the feeling it would open it up a lot.  A nice forceful little number, not a bad attempt and much better than I remember from the first attempt.

Visual: A touch of research tells me that Shieldaig is not, as I first assumed, a distillery, but an independent bottler. Due to a lack of “The” at the start I don’t think its from “The Speyside” which is a distillery distinct from speyside, the region . Though I could be wrong. I presume the somewhat generic “Speyside” name means that they did not get the rights to say which distillery it is from.  A pity as it would be interesting to find out. Tried at the Royal Oak, it was the only single malt whisky they had that night. A crying shame, they used to have such a great range. No side jugs of water were available for the tasting so this is all done neat. I messed up the glass photo, so it is bottle only at the moment I’m afraid.

Tasting Notes: Mikkeller: Black Hole: Barrel Aged: Tequila Edition

Mikkeller: Black Hole: Barrel Aged: Tequila Edition (Denmark: Imperial Stout: 13.1% ABV)

Visual: Black. An amazingly thick head considering the abv. Creamy brown and leaves coffee style rim around the glass.

Nose: Coffee and roasted nuts. Distinct spirit style alcohol evident at range that gains a recognizably tequila tweak up close. Bags of jelly babies. Strawberry crème centres

Bady: Thick and creamy. Jelly sweets and strawberry jam. Very frothy. Very sweet. Some malt chocolate. Orange liquorè. More bitter chocolate as it warms, or possibly chocolate fondue .

Finish: Jelly sweets again. Vodka initially, then develops to tequila. Good but not heavy bitter backing. Milk chocolate.

Conclusion:  Ah, tequila, the drink of student years. My mate once ate the worm from a bottle and spent the rest of the night hallucinating. This apparently is not the standard reaction. Also chilli tequila. Ugh, that stuff was vile. Why the hell did I drink that?

Excuse me, was lost in reminiscing about my stupider days of being me. So, Black Hole, a beer I loved, add in ageing in tequila barrels, a spirit I have…interesting memories of and we have this, possibly the odder end of the ageing spectrum.

Here we go. Holy shit it’s sweet. No alcohol burn, I mean you definitely know what you are drinking but its smooth.  The dry chocolate and coffee of the original black hole is much more muted. This thing is super smooth and feels like a trifle has been dropped in it. Probably in a good way. Probably.

I first had this slightly chilled, which is where it was so very insane jelly babies sweet. As it warms some of the dry bitter chocolate comes back to fight.  Not as much still as the un aged black hole, but enough that it is at this point the beer really starts to impress. A very character full beer.

Now this is such a fun ageing trick, and not one I would have ever thought to try myself. It is a one trick pony, and technically, technically too sweet. I am having so much fun with it though that I can’t complain though. The black hole base is just strong enough to fight its corner against the tequila. It almost fails, but thankfully doesn’t.

Now it does not quite hold up to the end of the glass. The final quarter may be slightly wearing out its sweet welcome, but its one I was happy to have.

If you thought Black Tokyo* Horizon wasn’t quite mental sweet enough then this thing may fill the void in your life.
Background:  Mikkeller Black Hole was one of the first really big Imperial Stouts I got to try and so still holds a special place in my memories. Tequila, as you may have seen in the conclusion has an, interesting, place in my memories.  Frankly I am a nut for odd barrel ageing and I’ve not seen tequila aged before so this was a must try.