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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