Grain tasting!!!

My final round of obscurities today, there have been blends, single grains, irish malts, irish blends, canadian, new-make spirit, whisky liqueur, bourbon, kiwi(an???), czech single malt whisky and norwegian single malt eau de biere. A rollercoaster with both highs and lows. I'll do my last tasting of this sort today with two wee verticals of Scotch single grain, actually its just four whiskies from two distilleries, so as small a vertical as it gets. I see myself doing tastings like this in the future as well, but after this one there'll be a while with mainly scotch malt tastings, except a Whyte & Mackay tasting not so far ahead. That meaning, after this tasting I will enjoy whisky from Dalmore, Fettercairn, Isle of Jura and Tomintoul. I know that there probably are some Tamnavulin and perhaps other whiskies in these blends, but apart from Isle of Jura in the oldest bottlings, I think it consists mainly of whisky from the 4 distilleries I've already mentioned. After those tastings I will do a big blend vertical of Whyte & Mackay and see if I can find what distillery does most of the talking in these blends. Now, let's try some whisky from the short-lived distillery North of Scotland...


North of Scotland 37yo 1972-2009 50.6% Clan Denny

Everytime I try whisky from a distillery that ceased to exist less than a decade after opening, I wonder why? And more often than not, I am pleasantly surprised, and a bit saddened with the quality it shows despite never being very popular back in days. But at 37yo this surely isn't the standard quality of North of Scotland. Golden brown color, smells gasoline and licorice, burnt car tires, gasoline again, alongside heavy vanilla. I don't think I've ever come across such a distinct gasoline expression in a whisky before. The taste is peppermint and licorice, old candy. I think its pretty perfect in its own way, but you have to like this old and a bit perfumy style. The aftertaste is sugary and bitter, more like a herbal liqueur now. Water deducts the sweetness and makes it more bitter and spirity, not recommended.

A very old-style whisky, this style is getting scarcer by the minute: 7


North of Scotland 17yo 1964-1981 57% George Strachan Ltd.

A miniature which is still around at auctions and such. I believe it's, although pricy, still an affordable alternative to the full bottles if you want to try whisky from this distillery before its all gone. And its as I see it, due to its rather young age, perhaps as close to the "original spirit" as you might get today. Nice golden hue, I don't know if this is bottled at CS, I doubt it. It smells camphor, licorice, honey, vanilla, cream, caramel, seems to be a rather light and sweet dessert whisky so far. The taste is sweet and spirity, it needs to be diluted I think, although it has this meaty/smoky twist just at the finish when neat. When diluted it turns drying, grainy, wool, plastic, certainly sheds some light on why this distillery was closed down.

Interesting, probably shows why malts often superior to grains at young age: 2


Girvan 15yo 1989-2004 58% James MacArthur's

http://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies.php?merkid=186&whiskyid=15291 It says it's a 16yo doesn't it? Well, the back label on my bottle says its a 15yo. I trust my bottle. White wine color. It smells sweet vanilla and burnt, burnt but not spirity, a high strength bourbon matured whisky that already now screams for some recognition from the spirit. The taste is licorice, strawberries, fruit jam, ammonia, vanilla, thick and sweet vanilla, orange marmalade, it has a lot going for it, but the burnt varnish notes and sort of phenolic sweetness drowns many of the other flavors. With water it becomes lighter and sweeter, and if possible even more vanilla.

A nice whisky, I can see why this is a blenders favorite: 5.5


Girvan 15yo 1989-2004 60.4% James MacArthur's

Same distillery, same vintage, same bottler, will it have the same sweet vanilla character as the 58%? It's a bit darker than the 58% which tells me its from a different cask, as they're both bottled at CS. It smells sweet and vanilla again alongside some oaky notes, burnt peppers, fabric, polystyrene, marshmallows, pine nuts and cardamom. This lightly dryish spiced notes that I found on the nose makes for an interesting start. The taste is sweet and honeyed, not so much vanilla this time, a richer spirit, thyme, oregano, basil, cooked tomatoes, salty shrimps, a mixture of bacalao and italian herbs. It's pretty much a more intimate and complex version of the 58%. If you want something that will keep you up all night smelling, tasting, wondering, smelling, tasting, wondering, smellin, tasting...

Then this is the one for you: 6.5