Tormore 16 yo 1995 (53,4%, Whisky-Doris 2011, bourbon hogshead #20213, 132 btl., In memoriam Horst Manthée)

Nose: a mixture of youngish, fruity sweetness (pear drops, apple juice, oranges, pineapple) with buttery malt and a little vanilla. Soft pepper dust. Water makes it a little more grassy. Mouth: fairly thick. Sweet and fruity again (apricot, orange marmalade, citrus candy) with a big dash of honey. Some toffee. Then it grows spicier (mainly pepper again, maybe even a little mustard cress). Finish: long, sweet and peppery.

A nice profile, very sweet and very spicy at the same time. Pleasantly vibrant. Around € 70.

Score: 85/100

The other bottling is a 14 years old Bowmore 1997. I’ll review that one later.

Aberlour 16 yo 1994 (46%, Whisky Import Belux & The Bonding Dram 2011, bourbon hogshead #8825, 279 btl.)

Nose: fresh and aromatic with a pleasant rounded fruitiness. Big notes of apples and juicy pears. Hints of peach and vanilla. Frosties. Also soft spicy notes and gentle oak. Typical bourbon matured whisky, maybe a little younger than its actual age suggests. Mouth: creamy vanilla with a little caramel sweetness and honey. Again quite juicy with peach jam, apple compote and fresh mint. A sweet malty core again, punched up by some pepper and liquorice. Rather simple but very enjoyable. Finish: medium long on clean oak and vanilla.

This is a straightforward but well-made Aberlour, excellent as a daily dram. Sold for € 60 of which € 5 is donated to the anti-cancer campaign “Kom op tegen Kanker”.

Score: 84/100

Glenallachie 16 yo 1995
(53%, Malts of Scotland 2011,
bourbon hogshead #1257, 222 btl.)

Nose: a very neutral, malty start, full of youngish notes. Half grainy, half fruity, with an overlay of sawdust. Lots of oatmeal. Hints of pears, vanilla and some flowers. A little yeast as well. Uninspiring. Mouth: very grainy and slightly alcoholic. Starts sweet but quickly develops on more bitter notes. A little aspirin. Lemon and mint. Then a hot, peppery burst. Salty liquorice. Quite sharp overall. Finish: medium long, drying and still bitter (grapefruit and lemon peel).

A neutral, harmless nose with a palate that’s too grainy and rough for my taste. Not my favourite release of this round. Around € 60.

Score: 75/100

Bowmore 16 yo 1993
(53,5%, Whisky-Fässle 2010, 226 btl.)

Nose: a bit more smokey and a the same time a bit sweeter than the others. At least initially, because after some time they seem to converge. Still this one stands out: it shows nutty / mocha / chocolate notes that I didn’t find in any of the others. Hints of almond paste. While they’re nice, it seems to mask part of the fruitiness as well (fruits seem to come and go). The most sandy / coastal of the quartet as well, with nice hints of wet dogs and fishing nets. Mouth: holds the middle between the Thosop and Whisky Agency versions. Clean and punchy with both the lemony / zesty edge and some candied fruitiness. Medium peat. Again hints of almond paste. Not too herbal or salty. Finish: clean, half peaty, half coastal with a dash of lemon.

It’s great to find a mixture of the Whisky Agency’s power and the Thosop fruity elements. Again no peat bomb but a great all-rounder.

Score: 90/100

The 16-year-old is the only anCnoc available which has been fully matured in American oak casks.

anCnoc 16 yo (46%, OB 2010)

Nose: malty and fruity, quite aromatic in a way that reminds me more of fruit tea rather than the actual fruits. Maybe that’s also because of the distinct camomile notes. Citrus, peach, pear, strawberry. Big vanilla and toffee, as well as light grassy elements. Nice. Mouth: again a particularly tea-like flavour palette (due to the herbal / grassy notes maybe), with dashes of honey and glazed apples. Zesty citrus. Oak shavings with some tannins. A little mocha. A bit light in comparison with the nose maybe. Finish: medium length, with sweet cereals, some mint and vanilla.

This anCnoc 16 Years old is aromatic with young fruits and freshly cut oak. More of a summer whisky, I think. Around € 55.

Score: 84/100

Giacconi, Casari, Giuliani, Begnoni, Righi, Ambrosio… all famous Italian whisky collectors. Valentino Zagatti is one of them.

He bought his first bottle (a Gilbey’s Spey Royal) in June 1958. To celebrate 50 years of collecting, he selected a couple of casks from Linkwood, Springbank, Glenlivet, Mortlach and Caol Ila bottled by High Spirits.

In this series there’s also this 16 years old Clynelish, bottled from an obviously very active oloroso sherry cask. I opened this bottle a couple of months ago with some whisky friends, and the first thing that struck us was a slightly sulphury smell. While I fully agreed at that time, a little airing seems to have changed it for the better – I can’t find any sulphur now.

Clynelish 16 yo 1991 (46%, High Spirits 2008, Valentino Zagatti’s Personal  Choice)

Very very dark. Nose: over the top sherry, dry and herbal with notes of dried fruits, coffee, walnut liqueur, crushed pecan nuts and a quite some wood. The sulphur has disappeared, but there are still traces of matchsticks and ashes to be found, which I don’t find disturbing. Water brings out orange peel and nice apricot aromas. A slightly exaggerated nose. Mouth: really dry. It starts on cold coffee flavours, then shows very dark chocolate and finally some Campari and Seville oranges. Quite nutty and a little tannic as well. This is an Octomore amongst heavy sherry bottlings. Finish: long, nutty, bitterish and slightly smokey.

Apart from the sulphur story, this could have been any whisky, as it’s 95% sherry influence and 5% Clynelish. Sherry extremism, I would say, which is a pity if you know the true character of young Clynelish.
Around € 80.

Score: 79/100

ps/ If you want this kind of profile, why not buy actual dry oloroso or Palo Cortado sherry? Lustau Don Nuño or the 30 year-old Gonzalez Byass Apostoles (both € 20-25) are well worth it.

BenRiach 16 yo 1993 (55,6%, OB 2009 for Pin’Art, hogshead – Sauternes finish, cask #2587, 295 btl.)

Nose: starts rather curiously buttery on toffee and nuts. Hints of marzipan. Not as tropical as I thought it would be, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After a while the expected sweet and fruity notes shine through. Grapes, peaches on syrup, soaked raisins, hints of dried figs. A little water brings out Cavaillon melon. Nice balance. Mouth: thick mouth-feel with a little vanilla. Sugar coated nuts. Quite a refined sweetness although the spices soon take over (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg). The fruits are pushed aside by the power of the spices. Water doesn’t change this. Finish: dry and peppery, with lots of spices from the oak.

The combination of the spirit with the Sauternes influence is not at all cloying nor overly sweet. It’s well balanced (although a little on the spicy side) and very enjoyable. Around € 70.

Score: 85/100

Thanks for the sample, Serge.

This cask strength bottling is the third or fourth Tamnavulin release in the Master of Malt series.

Tamnavulin 16 yo (55%, Master of Malt 2008)

Nose: malty start with grapey accents. Some pears. Becomes significantly more flowery and sweeter after breathing. Vanilla. There’s also a vegetal side to it, like raw cabbage. That may seem strange, but it’s very enjoyable. Mouth: punchy attack. Starts very sweet but grows maltier. Apples and pears. Nice oak. Hints of pineapple sweets and violets. Lemon squash. Some notes of lavender. Getting slightly spirity and even perfumy in the end, but nothing too bad. More or less the same with water. Finish: long, grainy and very sugary. Loads of honey with hints of oranges.

Interesting Tamnavulin. It shows a few uncommon flavours, although it’s not overly complex. Maybe not my style of dram, but still quite nice, certainly if you have a sweet tooth. Around € 70.

Score: 81/100

Like most Tyrconnell single casks at the moment, this release is 16 years old. It was bottled exclusively for Belgium, at cask strength.

Tyrconnell 1992 Ambassador’s Choice
(51%, OB 2009 for Belgium)

Nose: very fruity barley. Hints of apple pie and lemon sweets. Lively and juicy with tiny notes of freshly cut grass and mint. Apricots. Spicy undertones (cinnamon, lots of vanilla). Floral notes as well. Mouth: big, fresh maltiness with some lightly toasted accents which gives it more weight. Sweet and honeyed with banana. Interesting notes of hay and green tea. Finish: medium length, with some oak and hints of prunes.

Clean, firm and summery with a lovely nose. Around € 80 which is a heavy price for a faultless but still relatively simple Tyrconnell.

Score: 84/100

Clynelish 16yo 1992 (46%, SMOS 2009, cask #5871, 293 btl.)

Nose: grassy start, needs some air to open up. After a while, there’s Clynelish’s trademark wax with oranges and yellow apples. A rather big fruitiness. Fresh walnuts and a touch of vanilla. Lemonade. Mouth: oranges again, grapefruit, lime. Peach. You get it, fruit. A slight gin-tonic kind of bitterness towards the end. Finish: medium long on violet candy, chili pepper and hints of wax.

Another interesting Clynelish from The Whisky Exchange. Nice and clean but not very typical. Around € 55.

Score: 85/100

This 16 year-old is the first Bladnoch to be bottled in the Single Malts of Scotland series by The Whisky Exchange.

Bladnoch 16yo 1992 (46%, Single Malts of Scotland 2009, bourbon hogshead, cask #2694, 375 btl.)

Nose: holds the middle between grassy, floral and fruity (in that order). The freshly cut grass comes first, but after being warmed up there are hints of heather and lavender and quite some fruits (lemon of course, grapefruit but also peaches on syrup). Very subtle vanilla. More complex than you would initially think. Mouth: sweet lemon juice with more grapefruit now. Quite citrusy, gentle and delicately fresh (yet not lightweight). Orange peel with a slightly bitter edge (grapefruit tea). A pinch of white pepper. Finish: medium length, on citrus mostly. Some flower honey as well.

There is a thread about this bottling on the Bladnoch forum. Unfortunately I’m not familiar enough with Bladnoch to say whether this is an exceptional bottling. It has a very interesting nose (give it some time though), it’s easily drinkable and well-balanced. A good summer dram. Around € 55.

Score: 85/100

Ardbeg 1990 ‘Airigh nam beist’ 
(46%, OB 2006)

Nose: starts surprisingly floral and fresh. Over time, with a bit of hand warmth, it changes to a more powerful, medicinal profile.  Some lemon, peach, even vanilla ice cream. A few salty notes. Overall nicely integrated with the peat smoke. Mouth: creamy impact. Less fruity than on the nose. Lemon again. Seaweed, pepper and more extravert peat. Smoked bacon. Some chocolate. Finish: long with predominant liquorice and smoke. Sweet coffee as well.

Ardbeg at its (affordable) best, I would say. Strong and sharp but balanced with a good foundation of sweet malt. Still available (newer batches). Around € 65.

Score: 87/100

Thanks Johan, for this sample.

It’s a 16 years old Bruichladdich, distilled on the 22nd of April 1993 and filled into a refill sherry butt. It’s a valinch, which means it’s bottled directly from the cask by the customer. The actual outturn is therefore probably lower than the predicted 1000 bottles. 

Bruichladdich 1993 ‘Oirthir gàidheal’ (53,6%, OB 2009, Feis Isle 2009, Cask #13, 1000 btl.)

Nose: quite a malty start, but it opens up on fruity notes (peach, honey, berries covered in white chocolate) with (false) hints of peat (see below). Some fresh mint and grapefruit. Mouth: a lot punchier, quite some barley and still a few peaty associations (or so it seems), some sour notes, a bit of yeast and baked bread. Walnuts. Finish: nutty again (macadamia), peaty and again quite sour. Getting really dry in the end.

Enjoyable enough but not the best Feis Ile 2009 bottling nor the best Bruichladdich.

Score: 83/100

Update/ The reply from Bruichladdich’s Mark Renier made me want to taste it again. It turns out the sharp barley together with some false information about the dram’s properties (here and here) tricked me into thinking it was peated while it’s not. Apologies. It proves that the learning process never ends and that the power of suggestion should not be underestimated.

ps/ The second release of the Octomore has been bottled. It’s peatier than the first release (now 140ppm) and it will be presented in a box (I think I liked the tin better). There will be 15.000 bottles. Check the Laddie Blog for pictures. Oh, and PC8 will be the last in the PC… Port Charlotte series (30.000 bottles).