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
Whiskyrific RSS
- Port Charlotte 12 yo 2004 Highland Laird 57.3% vs Octomore 6.1 / 167 5 yo 57% vs Octomore 7.1 / 208 5 yo 59.5%
- Bowmore 11 yo 2001 / 2013 Berry Bros 20197 46% vs Bowmore 12 yo liquid Library 2001 / 2013 52.9%
- Ben Nevis 17 yo 1996 / 2014 The Nectar of the Daily Drams 49.3% vs Ben Nevis 1997 / 2015 Pearls of Scotland #614 50.9% vs Ben Nevis 16 yo 1998 / 2014 Lady of the Glen #1407 52.1%
- Dailuaine 34 yo 1980 Special Release 2015 50.9% vs Dalmore 27 yo 1990 / 2017 MacKillop’s Choice #252 54.6%
- Bruichladdich 21 yo 1993 / 2015 Douglas Laing DL10706 51.5% vs Bruichladdich 25 yo 1992 / 2017 Cadenhead 175th Anniv 53.8%
- Springbank 21 yo 1993 / 2015 Lockett Brothers #470 49.4% vs Cooley 22 yo 1991 / 2014 SMWS 117.5 55.5%
- Wardhead 19 yo 1997 Pisces Stellar Selections Japan #186 50.7% vs The Huntly Burnside 18 yo 1997 Dimensions Duncan Taylor #6481 52.5% vs Westport 18 yo 1997 The Oceans Duncan Taylor for Whisk-e Japan #1500071 58.4%
- Port Ellen 1979 / 2014 Gordon & Macphail R0/14/01 46% vs Port Ellen 35 yo 1978 / 2004 Douglas Laing for Alambic Classique DL655 61.1% vs Port Ellen 35 yo 1982 / 2018 Signatory 30th Anniversary #2040 55.1%
- Benromach 28 yo 1965 / 1993 Cadenhead 47.6% vs Laphroaig 10 yo ‘Original Cask Strength’ 57.3% 33.33cl duty free bottle
- Jura 21 yo 1992 / 2014 Hunter Laing for FassZination (Vom Fass) #VF10272 46% vs Jura 27 yo 1967 Stillman’s Dram 45%
