2020 Advent #4 - Elements of Islay Lg7

These expressions so far have been at least interesting to me thus far. Particularly appealing is the relative scarcity of Lagavulin IBs. 

Elements of Islay Lg7, Islay Single Malt, 56.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in the mid-2000s, matured in 4 refill Bourbon barrels, and bottled in 2017. Reviewed blind, neat in a glencairn.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Seawood/vegetal brine, iodine. Sweet fried dough.

Taste: Buttery, spicy.

Finish: Musty/stale. Earthy. Medium long.

Guess: The initial feeling on the nose was that it was familiar and I’d had a fair amount of something similar. That sense returned in the finish. The seawood had me leaning Caol Ila. That big buttery note (and then the doughy one that came into the nose after sipping) reminded me of Kilkerran Heavily Peated, so maybe a Kilkerran or Springbank, possibly the 15 Rum Wood. While it has that similarity to a Kilkerran, there’s just not enough “Campbeltown” in here. I’d guess an Elements of Islay Caol Ila, or possibly an Ardbeg.

This makes a ton of sense. It’s neat I got the bottler right, and Lagavulin shares some aspects with Caol Ila and others with Ardbeg so I can see why I was between those two. But seeing that it’s Lagavulin, and this is all ex-Bourbon, and 10-ish years old, that familiarity was a connection to Lagavulin 8. It’s pretty similar as I remember that, and while I gave it a higher score, I do think this is a bit better than the 8 due to that buttery note on the palate.

Score: 89

Musical Evocation: Apocalypse Orchestra – “The Garden of Earthly Delights”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2020 Advent #3 - Laphroaig QA Cask

Not much to say before getting into this one, it was a sample I picked up because it was available and I like Laphroaig.

Laphroaig QA Cask, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Matured for some amount of time in ex-Bourbon casks and finished in uncharred, new American oak. Reviewed blind, neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: Light smoke, a bit of the sea, vaguest sense of fruit.

Taste: That fruit comes in at the start, some smoke comes up, becomes a sweet meat.

Finish: Must akin to vanilla extract into bigger smoke which takes on a saline quality that gets back to that musty note. Medium.

Guess: Young Caol Ila. Low ABV, so maybe a Port Askaig.

Hm, ok. It’s certainly less “in your face” than Laphroaig typically is. It feels toned down in the same way some late 20s Laphroaigs feel, but without the richness those have. That said, I found myself enjoying this quite a lot. It’s not as punchy or smoky as I typically go for, but I found it smoky but light so it would be perfectly suitable for when you do want a smoky whisky, but don’t want what often comes with that. Think day at the beach or in a flask wandering an amusement park in the summer or at a baseball game on a warm day.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Chris Stapleton – “Whiskey and You”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2020 Advent #2 - Cladach

It’s amusing that day 1 was An Cladach, and day 2 is this. Is there an Adach for tomorrow? Marketed as “The Coastal Blend,” that moniker and the blend's makeup intrigued me. The price did not. Fortunately I found a sample available and got that. Then the other day a review had me second guessing whether I should have pulled the trigger. Was it the right move?

Cladach Special Release 2018, Scotland Blended Malt, 57.1% ABV

Minutia: Comprised of Caol Ila, Lagavulin, Oban, Talisker, Clynelish, and Inchgower. No age statement or casks. Reviewed blind neat in a glencairn.

Color: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry, 1.2.

Nose: Familiar. Earthy caramel, vague smoke, slight hospital/lab.

Taste: Smoke, wood, spice, leather, tobacco kinda.

Finish: Earthy smoke, salinity. Medium long.

Guess: I was all over the place over the course of this. Initially it felt like Ledaig, then I was thinking Port Charlotte, then Caol Ila, or Lagavulin, and even Longrow crossed my mind though I don’t think I have any Longrows in the pool. If I did it would have been my guess. My guess would be either an Elements of Islay bottle or a blend.

While I couldn’t pinpoint it, I feel good about having been so confused since there are six parts of this, two of which were possible guesses. The ABV was a surprise, I was initially thinking about 50% as the nose had little burn to it, and took the over when there was some spice on the palate. Turns out I regret getting a sample instead of a bottle. No more stock will be the only reason I don’t order one sometime soon. Nicely done, Diageo. If Blue Label were this, nobody would have anything bad to say about it. 

Score: 90

Musical Evocation: Helsott – “Eight Drunken Celts”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2020 Advent #1 - Bunnahabhain An Cladach

I am not the biggest fan of OB Bunnahabhains, but I do like them well enough where I was interested in trying more of what they make and finding what suits me. Is this it?

Bunnahabhain An Cladach, Islay Single Malt, 50% ABV

Minutia: Unfortunately I don’t know specifics of this, only that it’s a travel retail bottle and the label mentions it being Sherry influenced. Reviewed blind, neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny, 1.4.

Nose: Winey, bit molasses. Big malt comes in after that.

Taste: Bit of smoke, some spice, winey fruit, hint of tropical (kiwi, specifically).

Finish: Malt is back, it’s mostly that. Medium at typical “finish strength” but subtle linger is quite long.

Guess: Fire & Cane or a NAS Bunnahabhain.

Far too many unpeated Bunnahabhains I’ve not had before in the pool to guess which one, so I’ll consider that guess a success. I was leaning more 40s in terms of ABV so 50% surprised me a but. The slight smoke and kiwi is what had me leaning Fire & Cane, otherwise it was pretty familiar and I was thinking Bunnahabhain. I can say that after liking this a fair amount despite it not being my preferred style (peaty/smoky) I’m ready for an eventual reevaluation of the 12 and 18.

Score: 82

Musical Evocation: Dark Moor – “Swan Lake”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

2020 Advent Calendar

I had such a good time doing this last year that I’ve tweaked the process and am doing it again. You can find the old process in an earlier tagged post if you’re curious. To make the guessing less dependent on knowing what is left in the pool, this year’s selection of 24 is from among 55 sample bottles, chosen randomly. This selection was determined back in August to allow me to forget anything I might have accidentally seen during the randomizing and label obscuring. I’ll be doing my best to put these up each day, or at least the morning after.

Here are links to the posts: