Rating 6/ 10
Macallan Late 90s 10 Year 40%
Nose: Raisins and figs
Palate: Viscous with long long finish, fig newton, lychee, orange peel on the finish.
Rating: 6 / 10 – simple but lovely.
Tasting Notes Rated: 6
Rating 6/ 10
Glenallachie 2010 12 Year Oloroso #5139 56.6% for Kirsch Germany
Nose: Sherry vinegar, apples, nice subtle sherried notes of dates and figs
Palate: Fig vinegar, dark soil, cecina, sour grass
Rating: 6 / 10 – a nice sour balanced with oloroso
Rating 6/ 10
White Heather 8 Year De Luxe Blended Scotch Whisky 1980’s Bottling (Glenallachie) 40%
Nose: Vanilla, citrus and stone fruits (apricots and blood orange), angels food cake
Palate: Golden raisins, honeycomb, dried figs
Rating: 6 / 10 – this is so absurdly approachable I could pour it for nearly anyone. It is so beautifully sweet and balanced.
Rating 6/ 10
Glenallachie 4 Year Future Edition 60.2%
Nose: Heather, campfire, honey, spearmint, milk chocolate after notes
Palate: Ashy, dried apricots, lime zest, tiny eucalyptus note, incredibly well balanced.
Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – this is seriously akin to a clean lochindaal and it is right up my alley. It just a hint too eucalyptus for me to want to buy one but it’s so damn close.
Rating 6/ 10
Levi Serafino 1991 Ciò che Sottovoce 45%
Nose: Geraniums and marigolds, latex paint, asparagus, dolma, green beans, hard unripe green plums, gooseberries, grape leather and tannins. Light hint of nuts and the shells of sunflower seeds.
Palate: Lemongrass, spearmint and chamomile … which is basically sleepytime tea. Lemon pith. A light glue, like licking an envelope. White peppercorn. Increasingly dry and bitter with more time in the glass.
Rating: 6 / 10 – Levi poetically named this bottle, and even Google seems incapable of capturing its spirit. Google translate gives three results: what under voice, what subheadings, and what is quiet. This is the first spirit of his we have had the pleasure of tasting (thank you Sten!) and it did not disappoint in spite of all the lore around these bottlings.
Rating 6/ 10
Mortagne au Perche Calvados Tres Vieux 43%
Nose: Why hello apples of the tart variety. Crab apples and honey crisps. Apple vinegar, apple cider, apple butter, I’m Forrest Gumping at this point about apples. This is the very essence of apples in distillate form. Green olives stuff with pimiento peppers.
Palate: Apple vinegar, bone dry cider, licorice root and cloves, dry tannins, green olive brine
Rating: 5 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – This is an interesting spirit and also quite opinionated. We could both see hopping between a 4 and a 6 on any given session with it.
Rating 6/ 10
Belgrove Distillery Hopped Malt Whisky Distilled IPA 64.5%
Nose: Lychee white tea. Rose hips. Strong perfumey note. Honeydew melon milk hard candy. Sugar cookie. Lychee, did we say lychee? Tangerine and fresh hops. Organic herbal Oway body lotion, for the modern man. Honestly, the way Ryan sells it, I would use that but the odds they make it to western africa is low. Orange zest.
Palate: Palate mirrors the nose. Loads of that lychee front and center. Orange zest, fresh peeled orange wedges, and essential oils. White pepper. Jasmine. Rose hips. White chocolate. On the more astringent side.
Rating: 6 / 10 – How can this be so beautifully fruity? It’s completely off the charts palate volume. Def leopard of whisky. Could be a 6 or 7 but had too many to make the call.
Rating 6/ 10
Belgrove Distillery 100% Rye Grain Cask PB 081 Ex Wine Cask 62.6%
Nose: Right as ryan came on zoom, he was rubbing tigerbalm into his eyes. Trying to break the evil spell and prepare himself for all that biodiesel potency. Fennel seeds, peach tea, potters clay, apple chutney, turnip, creamy black peppercorn sauce on smoked loin. Dried peppers. Reminds me a lot of some of the agave distillates like sotol with the earther green funk. With more time in the glass, canned pears and….very oddly….raw beef.
Palate: Strong pepper and leek notes, garden variety hot peppers. Arugula with grapefruit supremes. Much lighter smoke of touch than the others, like a nice chargrilled steak. Add green peppers, sharp onions and broccolini. Bouji fajitas, molcajete, rehydrated peppers.
Rating: 6 / 10 – the agave lovers will flip over this. This isn’t the type of profile I typically reach for, but dang it’s fun, interesting AND good. Peter thinks it was mostly likely a 200L pinot noir. 6.7 Years in the barrel.
Rating 6/ 10
Savanna 14 Year Grand Arome Porto Cask #391 57%
Nose: There is something magical to a glass ignored. It blooms like a flower in a vase, slowly filling the room with character. And while it’s got that nose which I consider distinctly savanna which my brain translates as pineapple, tonight it feels like a tart granny smith apple peel. And red globe grapes. And heavily wooded. Two hours later, when I finally come back to drink it (oops), it distinctly reminds me of mom’s greenhouse. Chocolate tomato vines in bloom, the habanero with its bright bold flavors, stringbeans, rich moisture and decomposing leaves under foot.
Palate: Greenhouse on point. And a distinct earthy sweetness. Julie went through a phase of shopping at the hippy grocer not far from our home in santa cruz. She’d bring home sweets from the bins and I never could quite get into them. I’d only eat the licorice, leave the rest for her. Something less refined. Distinctly herbal and quite musky the more this rests. Like aged and fermented teas
Rating: 6 / 10 – This is fun. A bit on the bizarre side, and probably not a pour I would reach for regularly, but what a powerful nose at first, and a beautiful confluence of flavors.
Rating 6/ 10
Pochegu RAC 1997 Cask B4 55.1%
Nose: In a strange place tonight as I find myself contemplating mortality. Worked with my parents for a few hours on their medical directives. We legit argued about where my mom’s brain should get donated. And then the queen of England passed and I’m watching friends process. Don’t have much of a horse in that race. But all in all there is something austere in the air. Spiced plums and holly. A huge blast of cloves. And definitely sweet and earthy. Sticky rice with tamarind sorbet.
Palate: Fun! Old timey candy, both herbal and lightly sweet. Thyme. Catnip. Jasmine tea. Honey lozenge. I usually don’t go for this type of style, but it is so beautifully balanced, and kind of fits my mood. I’d drink this at a funeral and appreciate both the past and the future yet to come.
Rating: 6 / 10 – Not typically in my wheelhouse but an incredibly elegant pour.
Rating 6/ 10
A6 Hontembere 2014 Folle Blanche 54.2%
Nose: Such a gentle and lofi nose. Elegant and rounded. Chestnut y hazelnut. Warm wood. Touch of dried apricots. And the after hints of loquat when my daughter had one for breakfast.
Palate: An rich and mouth coating almond nut butter, tiny hints of kumquat.
Rating: 6 / 10 – smooth is nearly an insult in whisky. But if you could elevate smooth to an artform, this is it. As an adamant fan of the neurotic, I rarely can slow down enough to appreciate this. But I put on lofi hiphop on spotify, and it paired perfectly. I could imagine happily owning a bottle, though I don’t imagine I would actually buy one given my leaning. So it’s between a 6 & 7.
Rating 6/ 10
Port Charlotte 13 Year 2009 / 2022 Rum Cask 61.6%
Nose: Tangerine, smoked salt, juicy fruit gum.
Palate: Sumo orange, very gentle peat notes, miel de caña
Rating: 6 / 10 – an unusually elegant port charlotte. Cleaner than some of its kin.
Rating 6/ 10
Lheraud Cognac 1914 Petit Champagne 42%
Nose: I’ve been making chai from scratch again. It’s interesting how quickly they can vary in character, even with similar ingredients. Sojourn was asking me if I could make a decaf chai and I found myself staring at the rooibos and pondering. A rosehip, ping peppercorn red tea and wildflower honey concentrate, to be blended into oat or almond milk could be the ticket. Or you could just smell this glass and get the same experience. Potent notes groseille, not just the fruit but of the whole plant. Had a rhubarb fritz soft drink at lunch today, something I plan to repeat. Worth the shot my friends.
Palate: I think the biggest gift of this broken leg bullshit has been resetting my palate. I took nearly 4 months off of spirits to focus on recovery, a journey with many months left. But now, 42% has a full mouthfeel that it certainly did not back in 2022. Real deep fritz cola concentrate vibes, carob malt balls, licorice sticks they sell in health stores as alternative to a toothbrush, dried goji berries, and some herbs quickly landing in ricola territory.
Rating: 6 / 10 – I’m really enjoying this tonight, and its got a surprisingly intense palate. But you have to want the dense roots ‘n herbs mojo this delivers. Having just come back from Greece and enjoyed a ton of ouzo, this is definitely a step up, but it shares a lot of DNA.
Rating 6/ 10
Salie 1979 47% for Darroze
Nose: The abv tickled the nose, but there’s plenty of classic old Armagnac raisins. You can smell butter, French oak, plums, vanilla cream, balsamic vinegar, and some wool sweaters.
Palate: It tastes quite peppery and boozy, with pleasant drying oak and burn. A bit of tar, toasted pumpernickel rye and figs.
Rating: 6 / 10 – Pretty long finish, with tar, sour oranges and carpet.
Rating 6/ 10
Domaine Le Frêche 1972 Cask #11 48.9% for L’encantada
Nose: Jungle juice (ryan also thinks DEET), citronella, acetone. Juicy red plums, candied crushed walnuts or macadamia nuts, bitter orange peel / Grand Marnier. Almost burnt toast, bratwurst and bbqs leeks. Cloves & nutmeg.
Palate: Raw vietnamese cinnamon, cloves, orange oil, eucalyptus oil, lavender cookies, dandelion green, soapy
Rating: 4 (Shane & Sascha) 6 (Ryan) / 10 While I love the nose, and the palate has something fun in the mix, the soapy bitterness is brutal to me. I’ve tried this blind twice now and stand by the score.