Glenlivet 36 1981 Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange

I’m not gonna lie, most of the reason for my purchasing this was to have something in this age tier for the sake of it. That said, I’m not disinterested in it, it’s just nothing I’d go for otherwise. Preferring peat, and only ever having Glenlivet back when I thought Scotch was something to shoot, I’d never have thought of it, but as my appreciation for unpeated malt has grown, I am looking forward to it.

Glenlivet 36, 1981 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Speyside Single Malt, 47.6% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on December 21, 1981 and matured for 36 years with the final 76 months in Sherry butt #12 and bottled on April 18, 2018 yielding 702 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnt umber; 1.7.

Nose: Fruity, malty delight. Orange liqueur chocolate treat. Very little jumps out (other than intense fruitiness from the glass before you even get your nose to it), but many things play coy in the background.

Taste: Wow, rich, decadent fruit. Cherry goop. Orange. And whatever that tasty chewable antibiotic is that as a kid made me happy to be sick.

Finish: Orange zest and malt. Medium-short.

This exceeded my expectations, and given the described familiarity with Glenlivet that was a surprise. The nose was nice, and the palate was full of bold flavor, though the finish didn’t last as long as I’d have enjoyed.

Score: 90

Musical Evocation: Mazzy Star – “Fade Into You”

Advent 2021 #24 - Bowmore 15 2001 Signatory Vintage

With all the praise IB Bowmore’s get, it’s a bit of a no-brainer to include a sample of it in an order when there’s one available. And with that, this year’s Advent calendar draws to a close for a regular review format and schedule to resume. So is it closed out with a bang or a whimper?

Bowmore 15, 2001 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 55.6% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 2, 2001 and matured in hogshead #20117 for 15 years and bottled on August 23, 2017 yielding 233 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: Pale gold; 0.3.

Nose: Sweet, seafoody, creamy, malty, buttery, grassy.

Taste: Honey, red/black pepper, malt. Cayenne flavor and heat persists.

Finish: Pepper up front. Malt, subtle smoke. Medium.

Guess: Laddie Bere Barley? Unpeated Caol Ila? Springbank? Is there a Hazelburn in my inventory? No idea.

This is really a unique whisky. The nose started out with characteristics of a lot of whiskies, it said Bruichladdich at first. The pepper is something I never got quite like that. If Talisker did an unpeated expression that would have been my guess. A characteristic in the finish really felt a lot like Springbank finishes. It wasn’t quite smoky enough for that so I thought Hazelburn, as well as the nose having a quality I find in a lot of Irish whiskeys so I figured maybe it was a triple-distilled thing but I’m pretty sure there are no Hazelburns in my sample inventory. It’s not my favorite as I really prefer a more upfront smokiness, but this is really a very interesting dram and I’m glad I got to try it. While not an in-your-face explosion, it’s far more toward bang than whimper.

Score: 81

Musical Evocation: Denali – “Real Heat”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

Advent 2021 #17 - Caol Ila 7 2009 Signatory Vintage

This is another of those I picked up mostly just because it was available when placing an order. And it turned up to start the final third of this year’s calendar.

Caol Ila 7, 2009 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 57.2% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 13, 2009 and matured in a hogshead for 7 years and bottled on August 31, 2007 yielding 335 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: White wine; 0.1.

Nose: Smoky, funky, tarry. Smoked seafood.

Taste: Creamy, smoky vanilla, bit of spice, smoked shellfish. A sweetness tries to peek in.

Finish: Leathery smoke, white grape. Medium. After the more present part of the finish is gone, there’s a very long smoky note left over.

Guess: Octomore, X.1 or X.3 since I don’t really detect any wine influence.

Wow, this hit some notes I really associate with Octomore. Though, a young, cask strength Islay isn’t all that far off. I enjoyed this a lot, and after my last Caol Ila with a disappointing nose, it’s a relief. This reminds me of another Caol Ila from Signatory which I enjoyed so much I ended up getting two bottles. This, however, is sadly not as available as that was. It felt nice to be reminded of that Caol Ila. I’ll keep it short so as not to overshare, but lately I’ve not been terribly motivated to keep this up, but this reminded me of what I love about whisky, and I’m hoping it brings back that enthusiasm.

Score: 92

Musical Evocation: Heart – “Alone”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

Advent 2021 #5 - Caol Ila 9 2010 Signatory Vintage 316659

 

I think this was just a sample I added to an order to make shipping less upsetting. I like Caol Ila so was happy to get a chance to try it.

Caol Ila 9, 2010 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 60.1% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on September 22, 2010 and matured in cask #316659, a refill Sherry butt, for 9 years and bottled on February 10, 2020 yielding 673 bottles. Reviewed blind, neat in an opaque glencairn.

Color: Mahogany, henna notes; 1.6.

Nose: Weird fruit, nuts, maybe seafood. Might be some blackberry? This was tough for me to get anything specific, overall sense of something that’s “turned.”

Taste: Quite similar, some spice. Some smoke and wood comes in.

Finish: Smoke, wood, tobacco. Medium.

Guess: Fire & Cane? But it feels higher proof than what I think that’s bottled at. Maybe a weird Bowmore or Laphroaig, possibly peated Bunnahabhain.

This was tough to guess. Almost nothing was familiar to me. It’s ok, but not for me. I didn’t really care for the nose, and I think that hurt the overall experience a bit for me, but the finish kind of saved it.

Score: 73

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2020 Advent #18 - Ledaig 8 v2010 Signatory Vintage

I’ve loved Ledaig since the moment I tried it. After that point I was eager to get my hands on as much as I can. Finally one turned up in the calendar. How was it?

Ledaig 8 v2010, Signatory Vintage, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 60% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on June 12, 2010 and matured for 8 years in a 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #700389, until bottling in April 2019. Bottled for The 20th anniversary of The Whisky Exchange, resulting in 2019 bottles.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Peat, green smoke, some medicinal/maritime astringency. Vegetal. Chalky (texture, not a smell of chalk). White wine fruit (reminiscent of a dryer Chardonnay), very subtle white chocolate later. 

Taste: Maritime smoke, sharp. Pepper (black mostly, hints of cayenne).

Finish: Smoke, wood, dry must, salty. Beach late. Medium.

Guess: Laphroaig, maybe Kilchoman, Caol Ila or Lagavulin or Ardbeg could be. Leaning Bourbon cask, Lagavulin, maybe Elements of Islay.

As I was writing down my guess, I got a slight sense of funk that had me thinking “Maybe Ledaig?”, but nothing else brought me enough in that direction to formally include it. The ABV was a bit higher than I thought (probably low 50s) but makes sense with that astringent quality in the nose and a pretty strong heat on the palate. This was nice but not spectacular. A young peater, more akin to Islay for me than Ledaig. Despite me getting more notes than usual this felt simpler than others, but not in a bad way. The nose was a bit better than the rest, otherwise all elements were pretty much in line with each other enjoyment-wise. If that white chocolate hint developed into something more than a fleeting hint, the nose would have been quite remarkable.

Score: 81

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

Bunnahabhain Staoisha 4 2014 Signatory Vintage

I got this to continue trying more peated Bunnahabhains as they’ve yet to disappoint. I don’t know how old the NAS distillery bottlings are, but I believe they at least contain casks older than this, so something 4 years old is rather interesting. Aside from Wee Beastie, Octomore’s the only whisky I’ve seen giving such low age statements, I’m happy to be seeing the transparency with youth and lack of fear that anything young will be poorly regarded.

Bunnahabhain Staoisha 4 2014 Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 60.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 20, 2014, matured in what the label calls a dechar rechar hogshead for 4 years and bottled on April 1, 2019 as one of 290 bottles. Enjoyed neat it a glencairn.

Color: Burnished, 1.1.

Nose: Salty, seafood smoke, brown sugar, something in the nut family. Socks, but not bad.

Taste: Peaty/smoky, spice/heat.

Finish: Earthy, hot, dry, long. Weird bit.

This is overall better than the individual notes suggest, they go well together. It’s a bit young in that even though the aromas and flavors work together, they aren’t quite married. I’d really like some well-aged peated Bunnahabhain.

Score: 84

Cameronbridge 34 1984 Signatory Vintage

I’ve been curious about single grain Scotch for a while and was looking to try a proper, well aged single grain that is its own thing, not part of a blend, but it isn’t super available (at least not at prices to “see what it’s about”). Fortunately I was placing an order and they happened to have this so I gave it a shot.

Cameronbridge 34 1984, Signatory Vintage, Lowland Single Grain, 49.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on March 12, 1984, matured in a hogshead numbered 19307, bottled on July 24, 2018 yielding 217 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnished, 1.1.

Nose: Popcorn, some nut, bit of fruit maybe citrus, like an old fashioned smells.

Taste: Slight off-note like an orange peel, butter, cola candy flavor.

Finish: Medium. Maltiness persists long. Cereal probably is a better descriptor for what I’m detecting as malty, as it turns into that unflavored Cheerio type aftertaste toward the end.

I’m not converted to grain over malt whisky, nor am I compelled to put in tremendous effort to get my hands on more, but I do want to explore it further. It was different from malt whisky, but not by all that much, and I quite appreciated it as I’ve been looking to distance myself from smoke for a bit and let my palate restabilize.

Score: 85

Caol Ila 12 2006 Signatory Vintage

One of the first distilleries I found myself enjoying, and the first IB producer I’d ever tried, the combo shouldn’t disappoint. The sample came open a teeny bit in shipping so it’s possible that’s affected the experience, but it didn’t taste off in that way to me.

Caol Ila 12, 2006 Vintage, Signatory Vintage, Cask Strength Collection, Islay Single Malt, 55.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on December 7, 2006, matured 12 years in hogsheads (Cask Nos. 311567 & 311568), bottled on March 20, 2019. 506 bottles produced. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: White wine.

Nose: Sea spray, bit of citrus, bit of apple. An amazing smoky smell lies on top of everything.

Taste: Seaweed, intense smokiness. It’s a bit funky. 

Finish: Salty, smoky, bitter in the way salty sweets can be. Medium long (much closer to long). Like the aftertaste of a really good sausage, a smoky venison sausage came to mind.

The nose is the star of the show. The finish felt substantial; more substance to it than you’d expect from a liquid you’ve already swallowed. It feels and tastes good in the mouth, but it’s the weak point – albeit next to two very strong points. I think the palate suffers from being bookended by a terrific prologue and epilogue. I don’t believe the shipping issue had any effect on this, but if the spirit suffered from the minor seal break in transit, then the untainted expression has to be out of this world. I liked it enough to order a whole bottle when I came across it, and another when the stock was down to the last one, and I’m definitely going to be keeping my eye out for similar Caol Ila bottlings.

Score: 93

Bunnahabhain 28 1989 Signatory Vintage

This is a special bottle as it’s a birth year distillation, so these notes are of the first pour from the bottle. I opened it on my 30th birthday and intend to have a wee dram each subsequent one so didn’t really have the opportunity to try a significant number of pours before reviewing. I’ll probably re-review/update in future years if I find any notable change from having been opened with more air in the bottle. Anyway, on to the review.

Bunnahabhain 28, 1989 Vintage, Signatory Vintage IB, Cask Strength Collection, Islay Single Cask, 48.4% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 23, 1989. Bottled on March 5, 2018. Opened and evaluated neat in a glencairn on June 30, 2019. Matured in a Hogshead, Cask No. 5795. Bottle number 207 of 215.

Color: Burnt gold.

Nose: Citrus. Wood. Herbal/earthy/vegetal. Medicinal, slightly. It smells like some kind of workshop, but I’m not sure what goes on there. There a scent of a nut that’s had something done to it, but I’m not familiar enough with what people do to nuts to know what.

Taste: Warm, spicy, peat. Thick/oily. Ginger. Some malt, you know it’s there but the other flavors speak more loudly. There’s a nutty transition into the finish.

Finish: Long, spicy oak. Traces of the palate.

I didn’t much care for Bunnahabhain 12 or 18. I had some concerns that the birth year bottle I bought might rub me the same way since I was unsure of whether it was peated (and to what degree if it was) as I believe that’s what was keeping the 12 and 18 from finding a place in my heart. I figured if I had a chance to try the 25 I would, but I wouldn’t seek it out given the cost and would stick to trying to taste the peated expressions from this distillery. Having tried this one, I no longer have any apprehension about trying the 25. Age seems to do amazing things to the distillate produced by Bunnahabhain. This kind of made a journey of an experience, and my impression as I went from nose to palate to finish was: “This is a whisky” to “This is a special whisky” to “This is a memorable whisky.” And quite literally, I chose that word because the finish kept it on your mind well after having swallowed.

Score: 93