Clynelish 1974 Signatory Dumpy [Review #1000!]

Hi everyone,

Here we are, the big four digits at last!

It has been a long road but I can’t say it’s been a hard one. I still love tasting whisky, making notes and sharing my thoughts. What is there more to say than that?

 

This was the other whisky I tasted in Feathers Pub in Toronto. I knew to taste this because u/TOModera had done notes on this one and said that he thought it was a Brora. I planned to taste the Lord of the Isles Ardbeg after this but decided not to. I’d found what I was looking for.

Clynelish 1974 Signatory Dumpy 55.7%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Immediately stunning. A shit tonne of amazing complexity, balance and power! Oils for days, waxy with pine smoke, Lapsang Souchong, burnt wood, lemon sherbet, a little BBQ pit. Liquorice and an incredibly good medicinal edge that cuts through, white pepper, bandages, nice chilli heat, some white florals coming in now with minerality. More calpol and earthy notes coming through after a bit. Could literally just sit here and smell it for hours.

Water: Darker, brooding and more earthy, burnt florals, singed heather, leather and dark chocolate.

Taste: Clean arrival, pure lemon, some oak, white pepper then kicks up several notches into transendant territory with big medicinal peat perfectly balanced by the clean lemon and minerals. So damn good. Ridiculously oily and satisfying. Super drinkable.

Water: Softer and rounder and darker. More malty, more oily and waxy, so balanced it almost hurts!, incredible mouthfeel, not as dry, heather. Still powerful. Pine smoke.

Finish: Long length. Arrrgh! Fucking hell its amazing! Really makes the dram. Quite dry with white pepper and minerality, late earthy note but clean finish. Earthy leather and some malt.

Bottled 2001 at 27yo. No WAY this was distilled at Clynelish! A freight train of a whisky with everything I look for. Really sings!

My scoring has been brought up again and again by folks that don’t quite understand my harsher lower scores. But when you come across really, really good whisky you just know it, you can’t help it. Truly exceptional whisky hits you in the face and goes to something right at the core of you.

93/100

A big thank you to everyone that reads these reviews! I started on Reddit and I still love the amazing community that we’ve created here. Being in the whisky industry has allowed my to try some amazing stuff and, though it sometimes comes with complications, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I still remember a time, not long ago at all, when I was little more than tour guide that enjoyed whisky and wanted to try more. I would never have dreamed that I would taste 1000 whiskies, let alone the ones that I have. I feel extremely lucky every single day.

Cheers!

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #835

Whisky Network Review #1000

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Brora 1972 Cask Sample [Road to #1000, Review #999]

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to explore something that we must all deal with when reviewing and assessing whisky; rarity.

A few reviews ago I gave the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye an 78/100. The 15yo Pappy got 75/100. To be clear, these are good scores. They class these whiskies as ‘Very Good.’ Some people seemed upset that I had given such ‘low’ scores to such rare and expensive whiskies.

But are rare and expensive whiskies worth such huge costs?

In my opinion, no. The most I would ever pay for a whisky is £200 and I have not gone over this amount for a 70cl bottle. The reason for this is that I don’t have loads of money to drop on whiskies that could be good or are rare. I have also found that the value for money goes down rapidly after the £50-£60 mark.

Really, after £200, I have found that whisky does not get better, only more rare.

And we must deal with another question; are rarer and more expensive whiskies deserving of higher scores?

The obvious answer to this is that, no, just because a whisky is rare and/or expensive it should not get a higher score. However, it isn’t as simple as all that. It is easy to start believing the hype before you’ve even tasted a whisky. You can easily convince yourself that the whisky truly is wonderful, it must be, because people pay so much for it.

 

With that in mind, this is the rarest, most ridiculous sample I have ever managed to get my hands on. Brora is rare enough in and of itself but the 1972 vintage is the one that is hyped and people rave about because Brora was the most heavily peated then. This is a cask sample of a still maturing whisky from a single cask that will likely never be bottled. It is old at 47 years in the cask, perhaps the oldest Brora ever tasted. Only a few people will ever taste this whisky, ever.

Brora 1972 Cask Sample 40.1%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Stupidly complex, oils and fruits and wax galore, the best strawberry fruit pastilles ever made, faint smoke, crushed seashells, very Clynelish actually, gorgeous honey, Oolong tea, green tea. More woody and spicy as it opens up- black pepper, complex chocolate notes, then more fruity with fragrant orange peel.

Taste: Soft and lacking power at first, builds though with an emotionality, smoky, wood and oak, tired wood, black tea, leather and old books, very very dry, some black pepper and very light salt, dried orange peel, then the oils and waxes I was looking for. Good mouthfeel for the strength.

Finish: Short length. More smoky here with malty, oils, some fruit and loads of chocolate.

47yo cask sample for the Brora masterclass at the 2019 Whisky Exchange Show. The nose is stellar but the taste and finish are too dry and tired as well as lacking power from the low strength. A shame that this wasn't bottled 20 years ago! A massive, massive thank you to the legend Colin Dunn for letting me try this!! Oh, and thank you to Jason for the photo because I forgot to take one.

As with the 1964 Longmorn, I can give this a score but truly it was more of an experience.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #834

Whisky Network Review #999

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Hibiki 30 & Yamazaki 25 [Road to #1000, Reviews #997-#998]

Hi everyone,

Today I have two very special whiskies that I tasted last year.

I have mentioned before that I am attempting to complete my edition of Ian Buxton’s 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die and one of the hardest to get hold of and most expensive in there was the Hibiki 30yo.

And I’ve always wanted to try the Yamazaki 25.

Though, to perfectly honest, I didn’t expect to enjoy these whiskies quite as much as I did. I was really expecting to be saying that these are over-oaked, over-Sherried and under-proofed. I wanted to say that the hype is all noise and you can live out your lives in the contentment of knowing that you’ll never have to hunt these down to try them.

Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case…

Hibiki 30 43%

Colour: Dark Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Ridiculously complex. Standing in a carpenter's workshop with loads of different types of wood being worked on, polished oak, pine, as well as loads of others that I couldn't begin to guess at, Acacia honey, leather and cigar box, complex oils, dry forest floor. Menthol and complex herbs and subtle spice, spearmint, freshly crushed mint, chocolate powder too. The balance here is insanely good.

Taste: Dry arrival, incredible balance and silky texture, then more powerful with leather and chilli and ginger spices and old honey, delicate oils, evolves through endless layers. Dried leaves, there is some smoke in there too but its interwoven into the fabric of everything else, dried apple. Slightly sweeter into the finish with very old brandy.

Finish: Long length. Softer, more delicate, very subtle earthy flavours then the most incredibly delicate oak you can imagine. Moving.

Blended? Really, with what? 5% grain whisky? Seriously, this stuff is kinda magical. The heft, weight and poise of this is exquisite for a blended whisky.

92/100

 

Yamazaki 25 43%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Complex herbal and Sherried nose, wood sap and marker pens, pine forest aromas, sweet orange, orange peel, something light and ethereal yet also heavy with burnt thyme, pine smoked ham?, Lapsang Souchong and Ginseng tea, honey comb, some forest floor, something medicinal perhaps? Even more complex as it opens up.

Taste: Full on from the off (despite the 43%) with a great balance of sweet and dry, pine and sap, orange and oak, cherry and cough sweets, very oily mouthfeel- chewy, very old Sherry, dry dark chocolate, raisin and prune, something perfumed then some very slight rubber into the finish.

Finish: Long length. A long slow bleed of sweet and dry, some oak and Sherry, tobacco and all sorts of chocolates. Stunning finish.

Not quite the equal of the also stunning Hibiki 30 but damn close. I really wanted to believe that this would be a little tired and over Sherried like the 18yo but no, alas not.

If the 2013 Sherry Cask is something like this then I can see why Jim Murray would have given his whisky of the year to it.

91/100

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Reviews #25-#26

Whisky Network Reviews #997-#998

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Longmorn 1964 Gordon & MacPhail [Road to #1000, Review #996]

Hi everyone,

Gearing up towards Review 1000, we now have one of the oldest whiskies I’ve ever tasted. A Longmorn from 1964!

Amazingly, back at this time, Longmorn still had floor maltings on site and direct fired stills. A huge difference to today’s distillery and, in theory, should be giving this a heavy character.

There’s been quite a few of these old Longmorn’s from Sherry casks done by Gordon & MacPhail but quite a few have been at 40%. Part of what made me jump on this one was that it is cask strength.

Longmorn 1964 Gordon & MacPhail 'The Dram Takers' 53%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Dark-af, old-af and complex-af. Incredibly rich, ethereal ghostly oak, fruit and sweet Sherry, loads of cherry, liquorice, really dense, dark chocolate, pine and outdoorsy forest floor.

Taste: Intense, old, dark chocolate, dry arrival, big kick of spice and tingling oak, dried cherry, leather. Massive whisky, really a lot of oak but really good.

Finish: Long/Very Long length. More dark chocolate, even more oak here, lots of staying power. Emotional. A tad dry here maybe.

Bottled at 46yo. Essentially my tasting notes for this are useless, and the score is probably too. Its an emotional old whisky, similar to Highland Park 40. The oak isn't handled so well here though. The oak is massive, its everywhere and it isn't balanced. So I'm taking a few points off for that... However its about more than just flavour and balance and power and complexity. This thing has an emotional punch that very few others have.

88/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #833

Whisky Network Review #996

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Glen Scotia 1969 Old Malt Cask [Road to #1000, Review #995]

Hi everyone,

More whisky from the 60’s today. This time Campbeltown’s turn!

I was lucky enough to be in Toronto for my birthday earlier this year and I knew about Feather’s Pub from some of the Toronto Whisky Society guys. In particular, I knew that u/TOModera used to go there for some birthday drams and those posts would always make me jealous.

I had planned to have a few whiskies there but only ended up trying two, but both were well worth it.

Glen Scotia 1969 Old Malt Cask 50%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Bourbon levels of oak to start, musty fruit, red apple and black pepper, a little wild strawberry, a delicious toasted marshmallow thing as it opens up, complex florals and candy shop notes now too. Milk chocolate and milky coffee too. Its a little bit tired but in a really interesting way. Big black liquorice coming in now, and continues to develop.

Water: Freshens but brings out some soapy lavender and parma violets.

Taste: Tingly sweetness first, amazingly zingy for this age, incredible fresh strawberry, strawberry fruit pastilles, oily mouthfeel, complex honey and honeycomb too, the oak is in the background with a very soft spice underlying things, black liquorice, some white pepper, a little chilli dark chocolate. Big chewy whisky.

Water: More spice and dry oak bringing it further out of balance. Loads of white pepper. Very dry now.

Finish: Medium length. Very soft and actually quite subtle here, some spicy oak, oils continue to coat the mouth, all about the oils really. More oily and malty chocolate as it opens up.

Bottled 1999, at 30yo. Difficult to score. Super interesting and complex but just a touch tired. The spice bringing it a bit out of balance on the taste too. Water did not help things and I definitely preferred this neat. Anyway, amazing to try.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #832

Whisky Network Review #995

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Tomintoul 1968 Whiskybroker [Road to #1000, Review #994]

Hi everyone,

Now I know I said I don’t often taste whiskies distilled back in the 60’s but this was an exception.

In fact, both this and the 1968 Glen Elgin were reasonably priced at Usquabae in Edinburgh. Which was great. Great bar, great atmosphere and food.

This one was recommended by one of the people behind the bar.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that Tomintoul had only started production in July 1965! Only three years before this was distilled. This was probably sold for an insanely low cost, as most of Whiskybroker’s bottlings are.

Tomintoul 1968 Whiskybroker 47.6%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose:Kinda soapy, outside a Lush shop, lavender, FWP-esque, Haribo Strawbs, wood varnish, green apple amazingly (can’t believe that it’s kept that freshness), leather as well.

Taste: Chewy, fruit, red apple, a little soapy then big strong oak, spice with ginger, then backs off with the soap returning. Not bad soap, not really an off note, but a little weird.

Finish: Long length. Strawberry Haribo-Strawbs, plenty of awesome chocolate, amazing finish.

Bottled at 43yo. Better as it opens up, though it remains a bit soapy. Similar to the two 1972 Tobermory’s that I’ve tasted actually.

82/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #831

Whisky Network Review #994

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Glen Elgin 1968 Gordon & MacPhail [Road to #1000, Review #993]

Hi everyone,

It is not often I get to taste whisky distilled in the 60’s!

In some ways, it was an innocent time for whisky; sales were going up, things looked bright, new ideas and equipment were being tested, distilleries expanded. Sherry casks were still good shape and decent supply.

Before the law change of 1986, Sherry could be transported to England where the casks would be dumped and then transported on to Scotland. This is what I would term ‘Old School Sherry Casks.’

This 1968 Glen Elgin was distilled just 4 years after their expansion in 1964 and remember that they also use Worm Tub condensers…

Glen Elgin 1968 Gordon & MacPhail 40%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: Complex old nose, old style Oloroso sherry, the most expensive black raisins that money can buy, old Jag leather, rich, figgy, honey, darker tobacco and more waxy after some time. Incredible old nose.

Taste: Soft, lacking power of course, but builds in the mid-palate with rich sweetness and restrained oak, raisin and leather, fig, dark chocolate truffles, old school sherry, dark cherry, good quality coffee.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Oily here, sweeter with fig and plum, orange and chocolate dusting too.

Bot 2000. Nose is high 80’s but the taste doesn’t quite live up to it. It’s such a shame that many of these early 2000’s Gordon & MacPhail’s were bottled at 40%abv. There just isn’t quite enough power to keep them going despite the naturally more heavy spirit. Still, this was a pleasure to try.

81/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #830

Whisky Network Review #993

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 [Road to #1000, Review #992]

Hi everyone,

Welcome.

Take a deep breath in. Let it go, out…

There is a scent of pine needles underfoot, the wind is rustling cherry blossoms nearby. Above you a vast volcano looms with some form of inner darkness that you cannot comprehend fully.

Karuizawa

The name is but a breath upon the gentlest wind.

Karuizawa

More forceful now. Impatient. Impossible to ignore.

Karuizawa

Volcanic. Muscular. Now supple and teasing, now devastating.

Karuizawaaaa…

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 60%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Beautiful nose, fresh wild strawberries, orange and raisin, ethereal juiciness and cherry, malt, leather and cologne. Its all pretty muscular and salivating. Mead and old wood and browning red apple and golden raisin and brandy and perfumed wood. Yeah, complex.

Water: Darker, more cherry, black coffee, and very dark chocolate.

Taste: Sweet start, raisin, great oils and dryness, some brandy and leather, plenty of oak, some chilli chocolate, black pepper, orange peel, cherry into the finish.

Water: Still some spices but finds a nice sweet balance, less oak.

Finish: Medium length. More oils, more cherry, some oak, leather and chocolate.

Bottled 2009 at 19yo from a Sherry cask. Incredible nose, taste is a little dry. My second experience with Karuizawa and I was not disappointed in any way. This stuff is amazing. Not quite as amazing as the 1983 I tired but if the taste was on par with the nose, it would be well on its way.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #24

Whisky Network Review #992

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?