Glamis Unblended Pot Still Malt 10 yo 86 proof vs Lauder’s Royal Northern Cream Scotch Whisky vs Ballantines 30 yo 43% vs Four Roses Louisville brown embossed glass bottle vs Miyagikyo 18 yo 1991 / 2009 #114675 Whiskylive 10th Anniversary 54%
I seem to have missed World Whisky Day, so digging deep into the drawer named ‘Others’ now and this is what I pulled out:
Glamis Unblended Pot Still Malt 10 yo 86 proof ~ distilled at the Glenfyne Distillery, before 1937
Yes closed in 1937. Long story but a batch of these bottles were found, some opened and shared. Major old bottle effect here with lots of glass which comes across as chrysanthemum tea and honey but crystalline and fragile. Unfortunately it did not age well. Still some earthiness and gentle smoke remains, and dry malt with some dustiness. The proof is well, proven on the tongue, where some anise and pepper shows, next to brown paper and quite some dryness, perhaps some bark, but it’s clearly past its prime. Is it perverse to rate this? Maybe so. 75 pts
Lauder’s Royal Northern Cream Scotch Whisky ~ bottled 50s
Curious oddity with a metal ring seal that suggests 5cl was a standard pour in those days. Thick reused cooking oil, overcooked pears in overboiled lemon syrup. Normally I would have assumed a flawed whisky but the fill level was amazing and the whisky crystal clear. Musty tones of compost and damp funghi. Something here suggests gentle peat again. Surprisingly it clears up a fair bit on the palate which is rather grainy with dry rye flakes, coagulated honey and slightly rancid butter. Sorry. 75 pts
Ballantines 30 yo 43% ~ 80s bottling
It is said a lot of old Ardbeg went into this one. And it shows on the nose which is frankly quite amazing. Phenolic and complex despite its 43% with old dry earth in forgotten pots, tar, bitumen droppings, coal, lamp smoke and soot smeared glass. Small lumps of labdanum. It does feel blended down however, as the amazing part of this whisky gives way to the mundane. A flaky dusty dryness now appearing on the tongue. And also some glass effect, noticeable but not a showstopper. This feels like watching the glowing outline of a cloud disappear against the night sky. 85 pts
Four Roses Louisville brown embossed glass bottle ~ July 1914
Is this what bourbon old bottle effect smells like? It’s the sense of fragile honey and dried chrysanthemum petals which does it. However this one is a lot more interesting with camphor tea, turpentine, fennel extract and burnt sugar. Finally moving into flambed banana, parched leather flaking into pieces, and ancient oak chests long left to moulder. Now it’s recognizable as a bourbon. On the tongue the turpentine or paint thinner effect is a little too pronounced to make this objectively good, but its certainly a far less sweet, woody or tannic bourbon than today’s. 80 pts
Miyagikyo 18 yo 1991 / 2009 #114675 Whiskylive 10th Anniversary 54%
Definitely a powerful sherry cask here doing the talking, Smoked ham in what must be a crusty dry pepper rind, dried fruit of purple and black shades so dry they sit like wizened fingers in plush boxes. Unsweetened cocoa. Cold asphalt. Soiled garden shears, little vials of metal lubricant and an oily medical extract of mandarin peel, ivy leaf, wolfsberry and other little herbs. It’s a decent sherry after all. 88 pts
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- Glenugie 1967 / 1989 Sestante 43% vs Glenugie 1967 / 1989 Sestante 59.5%
- Clynelish 25 yo 1993 / 2019 Gordon & MacPhail 19/079 54.3% vs Chollet Lot 1960 bottled 2020 ‘#4 Le bon vivant’ Fin Bois Malternative 46.3%
- Macallan 8 yo FLLI Rinaldi 43% 75cl vs Macallan 18 yo 1973 / 1991 43%
- Caperdonich 1972 / 2011 Malts of Scotland #1144 57.4% vs Caperdonich 1972 / 2008 Gordon & MacPhail #1975 57%
- Glen Garioch 27 yo 1991 / 2018 Carn Mor #20392 51% vs Glen Garioch 21 yo 1965 Full Proof 50%
- Talisker 10 yo ‘map label’ 45.8% ~circa early 90s vs Talisker Gordon & MacPhail 100 proof ~ circa 80s bottling
- Laphroaig 1977 / 1995 43% vs Laphroaig 12 yo 1984 / 1996 Cadenhead 60.3%
- Highland Park 25 yo 1992 / 2017 Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting 59.8% vs Mortlach 30 yo 1989 / 2019 Douglas Laing #DL13722 52.4%
- Clynelish 21 yo 1989 / 2010 Whisky Agency 54% vs Clynelish 20 yo 1997 / 2017 Spirit Shop Selection #6932 56.5%
- Benrinnes 17 yo 1995 / 2012 Signatory #5883 50.4% vs Benrinnes 20 yo 1997 / 2017 SMWS 36.153 The Lightness of Lyne 60.6%
