Caol Ila 30 yo 1981 (59,2%, Malts of Scotland 2011, ex-bourbon hogshead, MoS #11009, 117 btl.)

Nose: very elegant and sweet. Marzipan, clementine, some banana. Hints of vanilla and pastry, some creamy notes (rice milk, Almendrina paste). Very interesting, and overall very refined and balanced. Develops some medicinal notes and very soft ashy touches but it never becomes an Islay monster. Great silky elegance. Mouth: oily mouthfeel with much more peat now. More pronounced coastal notes as well. Still this banana / almond creaminess. Some lemon and punchy pepper. Finish: long, initially salty but then returning to citrus and pepper.

This Caol Ila develops nicely from a discreet, rounded nose to a powerful, relatively peaty body without losing its balanced smoothness. High quality and fairly priced. Around € 130.

Score: 90/100

Inspite of it’s fame, Lagavulin releases few expressions. Until 1989, Lagavulin was always bottled at 12 years. Nowadays, the 16 year-old is the only standard bottling. There’s also a 12 year-old and a double matured Distiller’s Edition which both change each year. Over the years, there have been a few limited editions as well (21y, 25y, 30y, Feis Ile single casks) but that’s about it. If you’re a collector, Lagavulin is a relatively easy distillery…

Lagavulin 16 years is the reason why many of us became interested in single malts in the first place. Like most Islay whiskies, it’s peated but in a different way than Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Lagavulin is – in my opinion – one of the warmer whiskies around. Apparently Johnny Depp (who doesn’t drink alcohol) sometimes orders a dram of this, just to sniff it.

Lagavulin 16 yo (43%, OB 2007)

Nose: I’ve always found this to be the most complex and refined nose of the standard Islay malts. Very impressive, a bit rough yet balanced. Peaty with some iodine, antiseptic and fishy notes.  Gentle fruitiness (oranges). Earth. Pepper. Oil. Lapsang Souchong. Let’s just say it’s really rich. Mouth: evolves over time. Oily, grassy, smoky (yesterday’s ash tray), sweet and salty. A dynamic palate indeed. Hints of seaweed and liquorice. Finish: drier, on smoked bacon and walnuts. Some wood. Hints of shoe polish. Very long.

Totally lives up to its name! Every whisky enthusiast should have a bottle of this in his collection. Around € 45.

Score: 89/100.

We all know Old Bothwell has good contacts in Belgium, the alcohol volume is exactly the same and 120 bottles doesn’t seem to be a full cask, so indeed it might have been a split cask. In the end it doesn’t matter, let’s just enjoy the Old Bothwell release.

Port Ellen 28 yo 1983 (55,5%, Old Bothwell 2011, cask #230, 179 btl.)

Nose: sophisticated and balanced. Great mineral notes, lemon and grapefruit aromas, soft camphor, marzipan, walnuts, wet wool… all the typical things we’re expecting from a high-quality Port Ellen. Complex, crystal-sharp and rounded at the same time. Mouth: oily and more punchy now. There’s peat, brine, citrus, some oak but again also sweeter notes of marzipan and hazelnuts towards the end. And a nice pepper / ginger combo. Finish: very long with citrus, smoke and salty liquorice.

Very good Port Ellen. Could this be The Whiskyman’s cask? Yes, very much so. I’ve tried them side-by-side and couldn’t spot major differences. Nice surprise to see this one is still available and cheaper. Around € 170. Thanks for the sample, Fredrik!

Score: 92/100

Caol Ila 19yo 1992 (50,5%, The Whisky Agency ‘Moody Lions’ 2011, ex-bourbon cask, 207 btl.)

Nose: great coastal notes (kelp, sea water), oils and a light peatiness. Superb freshness. Wet wool, a little chalk. Clean but there’s a welcome rounded almond / vanilla / buttery touch in the background which makes this nicely balanced. Hints of apples and lime. Mouth: nice attack, medium sweet, more peaty now and quite oily with a buttery / fat mouthfeel. A little iodine and lemon sweets. Smoke. Again pretty coastal with a salty edge. Trademark Caol Ila. Finish: long and still rounded. Lemon and almonds. Mint. Ashes.

One of these very good Coal Ilas (always a sure bet if you ask me), fairly rounded this time with nice hints of sweetness on top of the usual Islay elements. Very drinkable and affordable. Around € 90.

Score: 88/100

Bunnahabhain Bn1
(55,6%, Elements of Islay 2011, 50 cl)

Nose: peated, no doubt. Rather deep smoke with a hint of rubber. Very sweet too: big notes of honey and quite some vanilla, which make this a nicely warm and rounded nose. Sweet apples. Citrus candy. Almonds. Soft medicinal notes in the background. Mouth: big and oily with punchy peat again. That same hint of rubber to start off, quickly overtaken by sweet apple and pear (makes me think it’s not too old). Lemon. Big pepper, a little ginger and a few briny hints towards the end. Finish: rather long and smoky with notes of salty liquorice and citrus zest.

This Bunnahabhain is fairly simple but packed with punch and it features a lovely nose. Even though peated spirit is not its core business, Bunnahabhain sure knows how to present this style. Check it out if you like a young, peaty profile. Around € 50.

Score: 85/100

I’ve just picked up my own bottles of this 12 years old Bowmore 1999 bottled by Fulldram and drawn from an oloroso cask so I’m quite curious to find out how it tastes.

Bowmore 12 yo 1999 (57,6%, Fulldram 2011, oloroso sherry cask, 190 btl.)

Nose: immediately smoky (charcoal) and coastal (seaweed, tarry ropes). Not really a sherry bomb but it does open up nicely with sweeter notes of apples, yellow plums and apricots. Also a wave of yellow raisins and natural caramel. Water even brings out some hints of overripe mango. Some wet hay and chocolate. Strong but beautifully balanced and mouth-watering. Mouth: very powerful with lots of peat, more than we’ve come to expect from Bowmore recently. Strong liquorice / menthol notes (Fisherman’s friend). It takes a while before the hotness fades away and sweeter background notes come forward. Raisins again, hints of berries. Anise. Water makes it a little more rounded, but it stays bold and peaty. Finish: long and coastal, with liquorice and a lingering sweetness.

A good Bowmore which combines powerful Islay flavours with sweeter aromas. I would have liked a tad more roundness on the palate – it’s very peaty so I think it could resist a little more sherry, but given the price (€ 60 for members) it offers very good value for money. If you’re not in the Fulldram whisky club, your best shot at getting it would be QV.ID.

Score: 87/100

Laphroaig 21yo 1990 (48,4%, Whiskysite.nl 2011, selected by The Whiskyman, bourbon hogshead, 60 btl.)

Nose: quite aromatic. It’s definitely peaty and smoky (hints of bacon) but there’s a nice layer of banana, gooseberries and vanilla to make it a little rounder. Similar to the Laphroaig 1990 by Malts of Scotland in that respect. Nice lemon candy. Some seaweed in the background. Balanced nose. Mouth: sweet and citrusy. More emphasis on the smoke now (smoked fish). Hints of liquorice and antiseptic. Some briny notes as well. Again good fun. Finish: very long, smoky, citrusy.

It’s complex and certainly up there with the other great Laphroaig 1990 we’ve seen in the past few months. Around € 120. They also have a sample for you to try.

Score: 89/100

Port Charlotte 9 yo 2001 (66,3%,
Malts of Scotland 2011, white Rioja hogshead, MoS 11017, 345 btl.)

Nose: rather huge notes of burnt grass, sand, brine and smoke. All this with a coating sweetness from the wine. Water is probably not a bad idea, so let’s try that. It adds big notes of damp cloth and flax rope, as well as some hay and garage smells. Mouth: utterly sweet and very peaty (it probably hasn’t been measured, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this is close to an Octomore in ppm). Quite juicy with sweet grapes and sugared lemon juice. Undiluted it tends to numb your mouth. Water adds tarry notes, sweet smoke and some saltwater. Finish: long, clean, with grapes and peat.

This Port Charlotte is extreme in many ways (alcohol, peat, sweetness). I’m not the biggest fan of this unrestricted sweet peat, but on the other hand, it’s much more than just another wine finish. Around € 85.

Score: 86/100

Bunnahabhain 43 yo 1968 (43,8%,
Whisky-Fässle 2011, refill sherry cask,
joint bottling with Whiskybase)

Nose: a bigger fruitiness here. Juicy pears and (riper) banana but also added notes of mango and apricots. Even more jammy. Extra beehive notes as well (beeswax, honey), I like that. More sherry notes obviously. In short: similar elements but a tad more luscious and warm. Mouth: sweeter, slightly fruitier than the TWA/3R release. Banana flambeed. Raisins and dried figs. Honey. Baked apple with cinnamon. Less oak. Finish: long, fruity and honeyed with subtle oak.

This one is more to my liking than yesterday’s sister bottling. It’s rounder and controls the oak more. Great selection. It’s slightly less expensive as well.
Around € 205.

Score: 92/100

Bunnahabhain 43 yo 1968 (45,7%,
The Whisky Agency & Three Rivers Tokyo 2011, ex-bourbon hogshead, 211 btl.)

Nose: very fruity – slightly tropical. Lots of juicy pears with banana. Plums. Honey. Grows sweeter with hints of fruit jams (strawberry and apricot). Not completely fruity though, there’s a layer of coastal notes (very soft saltiness) and subtle pine resin which makes more complex. Great nose. Mouth: oily and smooth. Still fruity (banana, grapefruit, orange) although the oak is louder now and adds a resinous bitterness. Soft spices (nutmeg) and salt. Hints of liquorice and mint. Finish: long and rather mineral with notes of vanilla, soft herbs and oak.

A great nose and (as often with oldies) a slightly less impressive palate. High class and very drinkable.
Around € 215.

Score: 90/100

You already know the story: Bowmore filled very few casks in 1993 and there’s nothing left in the distillery warehouses. There should be a couple of casks available from independent bottlers (check earlier bottlings from Whisky Agency, Thosop and Whisky-Fässle), but this is truly rare.

This release won a silver medal at the recent Malt Maniacs Awards 2011.

Bowmore 18 yo 1993 (61,6%, The Whisky Exchange ‘Masterpieces’ 2011, American oak hogshead, 195 btl.)

Nose: quite bold with smoke, peat and a little tar. Brine. Slightly sharp, but it’s great to see the rounder, fruity notes come straight out as well. Starts on banana and sugared grapefruit, and evolves on gooseberries, guava and tangerine. A little vanilla. This is a unique feature of these 1993’s: a lot of Islay power (more than other Bowmore) combined with tropical fruits, alternating constantly. Impressive. Mouth: very peaty and extremely salty which evolves on zesty citrus flavours and herbs. There’s a sweet wave underneath, a kind of generic sweetness without clear-cut fruit profiles. Maybe a little too strong to drink undiluted. With water it’s sweeter (apple, juicy grapefruit) without loosing the liquorice, seawater and peppery kick. Finish: long and citrusy. Salt and tobacco notes.

Complex stuff, just like the other 1993’s. Water is necessary though. Good selection and one of my whisky style icons of 2011. Around € 140 which makes it an expensive 1993. Used to be sold out, yesterday new stock appeared, now sold out for good.

Score: 90/100

Kilchoman ‘Kh1’
(59,7%, Elements of Islay 2011, 50 cl)

Nose: very peaty of course with a rather dry start. Mainly ex-bourbon casks? Gentian. Oily notes and soot. Ashes. After a while it develops faint notes of bandages, then some brina and buttered toast and finally some nice, rounded notes of vanilla. It gets better by the minute. Overall clean and focused, without any of the (too) youngish notes of past official bottlings. Mouth: a little sweeter / maltier. Powerful with quite some peppery hotness. Sweet peat and soot. Medicinal notes. Soft vanilla again. Nice notes of baked apple towards the end. Finish: rounder, still some of these apple notes. Very long and peaty. Slightly grassy in the very end.

One of the best Kilchoman releases I’ve had so far, with a balanced sweet touch alongside the heavy peat. Around € 60 – available from TWE.

Score: 86/100

Port Ellen 28 yo 1983 (58,9%, Malts of Scotland 2011, bourbon hogshead, MoS 11011, 267 btl.)

Nose: it shows the same balanced mixture of briny coastal elements, sooty smoke and rounded fruitiness. Lemon and walnuts. It would be difficult to differentiate between the two, but maybe this MoS version develops a tiny bit more sweet vanilla / dried fruits over time, which is nice, but differences are really small. Both excellent. Mouth: powerful on the palate again. In no particular order: peat, smoke, bags of lemons, sweet grapefruit, pepper, brine… Similarly nervous. Again a tad more candied or is this my imagination? In the end there’s a hint of bitterness. Finish: similar length, similar flavours, similar quality.

Another Port Ellen of very high quality, difficult to pick a favourite so let’s not do that. Good news for those who missed out on the Whiskyman release. This Malts of Scotland version has just arrived in stores. Around € 200.

Score: 92/100

Port Ellen 27 yo 1983 ‘While my whisky gently weeps’ (55,5%, The Whiskyman 2011, 120 btl.)

Nose: a very balanced expression. Plenty of mineral and coastal notes (seaweed, brine), soft medicinal notes (camphor) and charcoal smoke, but also sweet and fruity citrus aromas (candied lemon and green apple). Hints of marzipan as well, which makes the whole rounded and crystal sharp at the same time. Excellent balance indeed. Mouth: oily with a lot of peat, brine, spices (pepper and ginger) and bitterish lemon zest. The sweetness returns towards the end (especially almonds now, less fruity notes) but it stays kind of sharp. Finish: long, spicy and peaty, with liquorice and lemon zest.

A great bottling showing all the typical Port Ellen qualities. Definitely on par with many official bottlings in terms of complexity and balance. Around € 200. Sold out.

Score: 92/100

Caol Ila 30yo 1981 (50%, Liquid Treasures “Seabirds” 2011, ex-bourbon hogshead)

Nose: starts lemony, briny and slightly resinous but quickly there are sweeter notes (clementine, marzipan) and a hint of vanilla – just enough to balance it. Quite some medicinal elements, cold ashes and gentle smoke. Seems younger than it is. Mouth: powerful. More peat now, a dry kind of peat. Then it grows typically austere and coastal, with walnut skin, medicinal notes, all kinds of citrus zest, hints of salmiak and big salty notes. Big flavours. Finish: long, zesty, briny with quite some ashes.

Quite a powerful Caol Ila, which hasn’t lost any of its youthful nervosity. Around € 125. Available from eSpirits in Germany.

Score: 88/100

ps/ There’s a similar Caol Ila 1981/2011 in the Liquid Sun series. That one’s a tad less rounded on the nose and even more powerful (not to say brutal) in the mouth.

Following the tradition of their colleagues from The Whisky Agency, they’re now using different themes for the labels. This Bruichladdich 1991 is part of the second series “Seabirds” – the first series was “Boats”, the third and latest series is “Lighthouses”.

Bruichladdich 20 yo 1991 (50%, Liquid Treasures ‘Seabirds’ 2011, bourbon hogshead)

Nose: clean, punchy barley with quite a moderate fruitiness (peach and apple). A few grassy notes. Hints of porridge. Some nice waxy touches as well as a coastal, briney veil. Quite naked, not a lot of cask influence. Mouth: fruitier now, with peach, pear, apple and lots of lemon peel. It quickly turns to a slightly sharp spiciness (white pepper, mustard, ginger). Pleasantly salty with the sweet fruits somewhere in the background. Finish: medium long, quite zesty.

As natural as it gets, very much to-the-point. Nicely coastal as well, but the lack of cask influence makes it feel younger than it actually is. Available from eSpirits, around € 90.

Score: 84/100

Port Ellen 29 yo 1982 (58,5%, Whisky-Doris 2011, bourbon hogshead #18, 212 btl.)

Nose: quite a mineral Port Ellen, with big notes of limestone, wet rocks, wool, coal oven… but a nice underlying fruitiness (yellow apples, huge lemon) makes sure it doesn’t get too austere. Overtones of menthol and medicinal aromas. Quite layered and balanced, I really like this. Mouth: punchy delivery on oily peat, lemon and liquorice. Less rounded now, fairly dry, still showing quite some iodine and medicinal touches. A little salt and ginger before it settles on grassy and mineral notes. Finish: very long, half grassy / half fruity, with a clear salty twist.

An great Port Ellen, with an excellent nose and a textbook palate if you fancy the mineral, grassy and slightly austere type of Port Ellen. Available from Whisky-Doris, € 210.

Score: 90/100

Bunnahabhain 31 yo 1980 (46,3%, Whisky-Doris 2011, bourbon hogshead #13, 177 btl.)

Nose: starts fairly simple on fragrant oranges and sea breezes. After opening up, the fruitiness widens into orange peel, fruit cake, hints of vanilla. The sea breeze develops into a big saltiness and all-round spiciness. Some leather and nutmeg as well. Mouth: not overly powerful, but punchy enough and very complex. There are nutty notes, fruity notes (even hints of coconut and tropical fruits), a beer-like malty note, eucalyptus oil, a leathery note again, liquorice…   and again big coastal elements. Finish: medium long, half sweet / half salty with biscuity notes, soft peat and ginger.

Not an easy one to assess, but a very complex and proudly coastal Bunnahabhain. Take your time and enjoy. Available from Whisky-Doris, € 110.

Score: 89/100

It was presented at the Lindores Whisky Fest last weekend and I heard some discussions about the price. Many people wondered how a 20 year-old whisky could be worth € 225, but remember sherried Ardbegs are thinly scattered. Douglas Laing released a 1991 refill cask earlier this year and that was rather scandalously priced at € 450. So yes, it is expensive but relatively cheap at the same time. Ardbeg is not selling casks to independent bottlers any more, so I’m afraid the times of affordable medium-aged sherry cask Ardbegs are now officially over!

Ardbeg 20 yo 1991 (48,4%, Malts of Scotland for Hotel Bero 2011, sherry hogshead #MoS 11003, 240 btl.)

Nose: balanced nose with excellent notes of old ashes and tar on the one hand and rounded, chocolaty notes on the other hand. Sweet almonds and rhubarb compote. Figs. Lovely tobacco leaves. Old leather. Relatively soft iodine and hints of camphor. Complex, not extremely big (which is a good thing – it’s not over-sherried nor over-peated) and quite brilliant. Mouth: starts rich and oily with sweet peat smoke. Again some almonds, now mixed with dried fruits and lemon drops. Some herbal notes. The smoke grows stronger, the soft tar shows up again. No brute forces here, it’s all about integrating the different flavours. Finish: long on dried fruits and smoke with a softly coastal edge.

The sherry complements the whisky very well, and the harmonious qualities might actually justify the price in my opinion. Available at the Hotel Bero for € 225.

Score: 91/100

Sister casks #564, 565, 567, 568, 569, 571, 572, 573 (filled on the same day as this #570) have all been bottled in the Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection in 2010 and 2011, in twin cask releases. The cask for Belgium has been selected in 2 masterclasses hosted by Signatory’s Des McCagherty while he was in Belgium at the end of April 2011.

Bowmore 17 yo 1994 (48,8%, Signatory Vintage for The Nectar Belgium 2011, hogshead #570, 227 btl.)

Nose: clean and fresh but not very mature. There are coastal notes to be found (kippers, seashells), faint medicinal notes and pleasant  fruits (lemon, apple, some green banana). Hints of eucalyptus and very nice tobacco. Medium peat and a little wet wool. Quite gentle and not extremely expressive, but I like it a lot. Mouth: again not extremely powerful. Starts sweet, slightly rooty and herbal with pepper and peat. Lots of coastal notes. Smoked tea. Lemon candy. Also flowery hints and some carbolic soap (bummer). Finish: long, salty (liquorice) and peaty with the bitterness of lemon zest.

Around € 70 while several UCF releases are still available for around € 40.

Score: 82/100