Port Ellen 13 1979 Douglas Murdoch

For a very long while I've wanted to try a Port Ellen expression. Nearly all are just about unobtainable for me at this point, so when I saw this was available as a sample for a price that's not quite so upsetting to pay for 30 ml, I jumped on it. It's not terribly old, but I think that's a bonus as opportunities to try pre-closure Port Ellen will only skew more and more aged.

Port Ellen 13, 1979 Vintage, Douglas Murdoch, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 1979 and matured for 13 years. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: Earthy, medicinal, salty peat. Something I can’t place, in the medicinal family.

Taste: Thin. Earthy-style peat impact. Ashy. Hint of something sweet.

Finish: Ashy and smoky, fairly long.

The proof is more disappointing than low proof usually is. There was a lot going on in the nose, and the finish was longer than you’d expect from that, but the taste was just too thin to fully work. I can say with certainty that the score would improve at least 3 points with a bit more substance.

Score: 86

Springbank 21

This expression, particularly here in the States, is well above what I like to spend on a bottle. Fortunately, before whiskysite stopped shipping to the US and before it ran out of stock, I was able to order a sample. I was particularly interested in this one given the rather unique makeup of casks and to see whether that worked out nicely or was an attempt to salvage an overly aggressive handful of casks.

Springbank 21 (2020 Release), Campbeltown Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Matured for 21 years in casks with a makeup of 30% ex-bourbon, 30% ex-rum, 25% ex-Sherry, and 15% ex-Port. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Brown Sherry, 1.9.

Nose: Fruity, malty, nutty. Rust, orange, leather, damp wood. Custard later.

Taste: Intense fruit, chocolate (kind of like a jelly-filled chocolate when they combine). Oak, dried fruit. Dirty, earthy.

Finish: Nutty, sweet/syrupy. Coffee. Long.

This was really quite nice. When I get these 60ml samples I split them over two pours to have one where I just experience it and one where I really focus on it. It was much better the second time around. Not bad the first one, but not terribly impressive. This does better as it spends more time in the glass, so possibly a day or two in a half-filled sample bottle had a similar effect as time in the glass. Definitely not something to pour if you’ll finish the dram in short order, but if you’ll be working on it for a while, it’s a great choice. 

Score: 91

High Coast Timmer

Part of what they called the Origins series, this is a Swedish peated single malt given the name of the Swedish word for ‘timber.’ I love peat, and I’m always interested in exploring that outside of Islay and outside of Scotland. The only peated Swedish malt I’ve had thus far was from Mackmyra which involved some juniper in the smoking as well, so it’s nice to try some more traditional peated whisky from Sweden.

High Coast Timmer, Sweden Single Malt, 48% ABV

Minutia: Matured for seven years in first fill bourbon casks in Ångermanälven, Sweden. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Grape gum, green smoke, vanilla.

Taste: Floral, fruity, smoke.

Finish: The sip of a mocha latte where you also get the cinnamon on the top in the sip. Some smoke after that, the cinnamon kinds of turns into smoke, and then it becomes like a charred marshmallow. 

Really nice, especially on the finish. The alone got this up a few points, and I’ll be following thie distillery more closely. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get a bottle of the 63, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for sure.

Score: 85

Musical Evocation: Bathory – ‘Born for Burning’

Bowmore Vault Edit1on No. 1 "Atlantic Sea Salt"

The first of a four part series of limited releases, each highlighting one of four characteristics of their whisky maturing in their No. 1 vaults warehouse.

Bowmore Vault Edit1on No. 1, Islay Single Malt, 51.5% ABV

Minutia: Matured for an undisclosed amount of time in ex-bourbon casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: A light smokiness which feels ramped up due to the ethanol hides the rest of the nose at first. Lemon meringue comes in. It takes on a smoky, creamy quality, like a smoky cookie dough.

Taste: Salty, slightly medicinal, some smoke.

Finish: Much the same, up on the salt. Orange/grapefruit in there a bit. Medium long. Much less salty if held longer in your mouth.

Goodness, this delivers the salt the label promises in spades. I don’t find it to be too much, but not much more and it would be. I’ve not experienced a finish like this where it’s so affected by how long the whisky was in the mouth before swallowing. A solid offering from Bowmore I’m glad I got a chance to try a sample of, and makes me more excited about the bottle I bought of the second release, highlighting the peat smoke. 

Score: 84

Musical Evocation: Bitter:Sweet – “Salty Air”

Bunnahabhain 12 2007 The Ultimate

After a handful of Ardbegs reviewed for Ardbeg Day, and unpeated dram felt like a good change of pace. I don’t have all that many, but chose this Sherried Bunnahabhain to keep the flavor (hopefully) strong but without the peat.

Bunnahabhain 12, 2007 Vintage, The Ultimate, Islay Single Malt, 58.1% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 13, 2007 and matured in a 1st fill Sherry butt, cask number 592, for 12 years and bottled on January 9, 2020 yielding 595 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Sweet, nutty, malty.

Taste: Sherry, fruity, nutty. A strong caramelized/carnalizing brown sugar on certain parts of the tongue.

Finish: About the same, but softer. Some toffee on the tail end. Medium-long.

After a stretch of unpeated whiskies below it, it’s nice to come back to an unpeated whisky near the top of how much I tend to enjoy them. A really nice, flavorful dram.

Score: 83