Clynelish 13 yo 1997 (48,9%, The Whisky Fair 2011, bourbon hogshead, 170 btl.)

Nose: typical round Clynelish, with sweet apples and pears, some vanilla and a few flinty / waxy notes. A little leather. Fresh lemon. Fresh oak shavings. Faint grassiness. Unsurprising but that’s not a bad thing! Mouth: even sweeter than expected, with pineapple sweets and pear drops. Some rounded oak which gives way to a little pepper and ginger. Wax. Then moving to grassy notes and softly bitter notes (grapefruit). Finish: medium long and zesty with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Young and solid Clynelish. Around € 50, readily available. Good value for money.

Score: 86/100

Strathisla 48 yo 1963 (51,8%,
Gordon & MacPhail for The Whisky Fair,
Book of Kells, first fill sherry butt #576)

Nose: the first thing that struck me is a wonderful “green” herbalness. Not the most common herbs, but cardamom, parsley, dill. Cough syrup. At times it reminded me more of old rum (more specifically the Long Pond 1941 cask #76 by G&M) than of old whisky, but after a while it changes and comes back to typical sherried whisky aromas: dried fruits, old leather with a faint meaty note. Wax. Mineral notes. A little mint sauce. Mushrooms. Dusty cedar wood. But all very subtle. Impressive complexity and difficult to express in words. Mouth: beautiful sherry influence, dried apricots, resin, hints of forest fruits and raspberries. Almonds. Quite dry but no prominent herbal notes this time. A little cocoa. Oranges. Nicely balanced oak and intense fruits. Finish: dry, long, with spices, liquorice, faint nutty notes and lingering dried fruits.

Strahisla is the champion when it comes to extremely long maturation, and Gordon & MacPhail have the best casks. Nice selection, even better than the 1960 bottled last year!
€ 300 is a heavy price, but worth it in my opinion.

Score: 93/100

ps/ some other people thought the nose was a slight setback,
so be sure to form your own opinion.

It’s even bigger than I expected, and the number of both newly launched bottles and legendary old stuff is impressive. The best thing is that I hardly saw standard supermarket whisky, this is a place where bottlers and retailers are working hard to impress their customer.

Here are a few of my highlights. I’ve brought home samples of most of these, so expect a full review in the near future:

• Glen Keith 40 yo 1970 (47,9%, Malts of Scotland, cask #6041)
  Lovely Glen Keith, check the TWA Landscapes version to get an idea. Too bad there were only a few whiskies available from the new MoS releases (like the two Caperdonich 1972 and the Glenrothes 1968). There was a new and interesting Strathisla 1970 though. 

• Glenrothes 41 yo 1968 (43%, Duncan Taylor Peerless, cask #9974)
  Very sophisticated. Duncan Taylor has some of the best old Glenrothes casks, and I’ve heard that a few were sold back to the distillery. Expect some (expensive) official releases in the future.

• Strathisla 48 yo 1963 (51,8%, G&M Book of Kells for The Whisky Fair, first fill sherry cask #576)
  This is truly unique whisky, which at times reminded me of a very old rum rather than an old whisky. I’ve heard some mixed reactions but I adore it.

• Longmorn 44 yo 1966 (43,1%, G&M Book of Kells for The Whisky Fair, refill sherry cask #281)
  Subtle sherry, needs some time to open up, but really beautiful.

• Tomatin 45 yo 1966 (46,1%, Whisky Agency / The Nectar)
  Nicely fruity, mixed with polished oak. Some say it’s a tad too woody on the palate.

• Inchgower 28 yo 1982 (56,6%, Whisky-Doris cask #6971)
  A nice creamy Inchgower, not very typical but really surprising.
  

All of these new Whisky Agency / The Nectar / Daily Dram releases are very high quality by the way (Glen Keith 1970, Glenury Royal 1973…).

And then there was a whole bunch of old things. A great Longmorn 1969/1999 (DL OMC) at Mara’s stand, a Saint Magdalene 1965 (G&M CC) from Bert Vuik, a 1920’s blend from Berry Bros (thanks Magnus), a series of Moon Import bottles chez Diago Sandrin, etc.

Also worth noting was the Liquid Sun stand, a sister company of The Whisky Agency. Originally meant for Japan and Sweden, I’ve heard some rumours that their bottlings would come to Belgium in the near future.

As a final note, I was surprised to see so many Glenfarclas 175th Anniversary and Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix bottles being sold at different stands. They’re far from being sold out.

On to next year!

The Whisky Fair is unique for its combination of new releases and old rarities. Germany is an important whisky market so every distiller or bottler is present. Moreover there’s an array of related events around town, like the barbecue in Villa Konthor.

I can only stay for the day, so I’ll post some highlights on Sunday.

Gordon & MacPhail have the largest collection of old Strathisla casks, no doubt about that. Most of them seem to be ex-sherry casks, but this is a bourbon matured Strathisla.

Strathisla 49 yo 1960 (53,2%, Gordon & MacPhail for The Whisky Fair 2010, Book of Kells)

Nose: wow, great start packed with aromas. Sweet notes of honey, apricot marmalade and dates. Lovely. Almonds. Orange peel. Balsam and pollen. A bit of pine wood. There’s also a superb “un-freshness” to it: old cellars with whiffs of diesel. Works perfectly here. Outstanding complexity. Mouth: oily and oaky. Dried herbs. Bitter oranges and liquorice. Quite some resin again. Walnuts. Just enough fruit to stay interesting, but certainly less complex than on the nose. Also a faint phenolic / tarry edge which gets stronger when you add water. Its minty side is amplified as well. Finish: long with oak and oranges.

An excellent Strathisla that is worth discovering if you have a chance. The oakiness is pretty well controlled for a 50 year-old (well, almost 50…) and the dusty elements make it really worthwile. Sold out – worth around € 300.

Score: 92/100

This Port Ellen 1982/2009 was bottled for last year’s Whisky Fair in Germany. It was matured in a refill hogshead. A few months ago a similar cask was bottled for Daily Dram / The Nectar.

Port Ellen 27 yo 1982 (55,2%, Douglas Laing OMC 2009 for The Whisky Fair, ref. DL 4904, 133 btl.)

Nose: powerful but quite round with lots of vanilla and a bit of nougat. The peat smoke is relatively delicate. Then there’s a wave of dentist cabinet. Yellow apples. Coastal / tarry notes as well (seafood, harbour smells). Hints of rubber but in a nice way (think of fresh balloons). Very faint hints of fruits and citrus zest. Very good. Water brings out fragrant oranges but also wet newspaper. Mouth: again round and creamy, starting on sweet notes and evolving towards the peat smoke. Lemon marmalade and honey which make it rich and flavoursome. Hints of pepper. Very profound smoke and bonfire. Finish: long and balanced. A tad sharper with liquorice and clean peat.

As you know by now, I prefer this type of (relatively) gentle, vanilla infused Port Ellen over the sharp / mineral / grassy type of Port Ellen. This is a perfect example! Nothing to complain about. Around € 180.

Score: 91/100

This concludes our ‘ten days of Port Ellen’. I hope it’s clear why Port Ellen is one of my favourite distilleries. Now it’s time to review a few promising new releases. Glendronach Grandeur is one of them.

Glen Grant from the beginning of the 1970’s can be outstanding. This one is 36 years old and bottled for the German Whisky Fair.

Glen Grant 36 yo 1972 (56,3%, Duncan Taylor 2009 for The Whisky Fair, sherry cask, 209 btl.)

Nose: an exotic fruit basket. Tangerine and kumquat followed by mango, fresh figs. Ripe gooseberries. Dried apricots. Superbly candied, with hints of honeysuckle. Whiffs of vanilla (crême patissiere). Not unlike a Bowmore from the late 1960’s. Very round and polished, but it’s not all fruity because there are subtle undertones of oak polish and coal smoke, even something that reminds me of gas. Mouth: still very fruity (lots of grapefruit now, tangerine, passion fruit, papaya). Much more wood than on the nose which gives it a drier, slightly bitter profile. Still really exotic. Cake with honey. Chocolate. Very refined sherry. Finish: medium length, on oak polish, tangerine and the lightest hint of mint.

Around € 150 at the time, but sold out soon after the publication of the Malt Maniacs Awards. Quite a lot of wood (not surprisingly) but very very good!

Score: 92/100

ps/ It’s safe to say all of the Malt Maniacs Gold medal winners are stunning whiskies (we didn’t think otherwise of course). This Glen Grant and the Yoichi are top of the bill for me, with the Yoichi being the nicest surprise. Also, these two turn out to be the cheapest of the pack. Woohoo!

BenRiach 33yo 1976 (47,4%, OB for The Whisky Fair 2009, hogshead cask #3558, 162 btl.)

Nose: interesting how similar casks can play in the same league and still bring lots of differences. Vanilla is the key to this one, the fruit is sweeter and less tropical. At the same time, a bit more wood and more expressive notes of menthol. Vanilla again, fruit cake. More wood influence, which makes it a tad nuttier, “darker” and warmer. Less tangerine, less grapefruit. Hints of ginger. Mouth: now it gets taken over by the grapefruit, just like the #3550. Still a bit more vanilla and toffee. Spicier and more powerful, I would say. Pepper and ginger. Finish: slightly dry and minty. Grapefruit as well, you guessed it.

Well, difficult. Most other reviewers seem to prefer the BenRiach #3550. I must say I like both but the #3558 contains less dominant grapefruit and adds lovely vanilla which make it stand out a bit. The #3550 lacks a bit of punch as well (it seems younger, although that’s a ridiculous way of discribing it). Around € 190 (sold out).

Score: 93/100

Recently, The Whisky Fair released two casks that are already legendary.

BenRiach 33yo 1976 (46,2%, OB for The Whisky Fair 2009, hogshead cask #3550, 103 btl.)

Nose: a fresh start on oak varnish and menthol which take a while to fade. In the meantime, notes of exotic fruits start growing stronger. Very fresh, quite citrusy. Pineapple, mango, passion fruits, tangerine… A lot of pink grapefruit as well and a light touch of star anise and nutmeg. A fruit basket with a slightly flowery edge. Not far away from a Bowmore 1968 Anniversary. Mouth: very fruity again, dominated by the grapefruit which gives it a slightly dry edge. Medium oakiness with hints of pepper in the end. Long finish on grapefruit, tangerine, oak and pepper.

You can only have respect for this kind of whisky. It’s wonderful how a 33 year-old kan be this fresh and fruity. The nose of this BenRiach is stunning, the rest is very very good. Around € 190 (sold out).

Score: 92/100