Mine is a Douglas Laing. It’s a tame-ish 55%
As promised, cross-posting…
Mortlach 50, bottled in 1939. Pretty amazing stuff.
‘The Maltman’ Mortlach 15yr, Distilled October 1998, bottled August 2014, recasked in Bourbon.
I’ll bet it was. Nice.
Some of the oldies and goodies depleted at the 16 Annual Gathering of the Clan (Ardbeggeddon XVI), held a couple of weeks ago in Dick Cheney’s Secret Bunker
(The red stamp reads, “Drained by PLOWED at ARDBEGGEDDON. DO NOT REFILL”
Not yet released single cask Ardbeg 40,
A small Macallan vertical for breakfast
And a couple of old Springbank dumpies for good measure
Good grief – well done!
What was the SOTN?
Not a night. Always a 4 day weekend, as some of the clan travel great distances to attend. Hard to say what the best/favorite whisky was; probably one of those in the top picture. As is our custom, everyone stepped up and brought good hooch; although we only had a few old Ardbeg/Springbank/Port Ellen, as they have become irreplaceable. If I had to choose only one, it would probably be Rare Malts '72 Brora 22 year old or '73 Ardbeg 31 year old (Cask #1146). Very Old Ardbeg 30, which was bottled in 1996 and contains a lot of very old whisky, is pretty good, too.
Wow, what an amazing lineup. I have heard stories from the legend that is Ardbeggeddon from a couple (I assume mutual) friends who attend. That 1972 Rare Malts Brora 22 is incredible- amazing to see that thing open! Which single cask Ardbeg is that? Is that an Italian tax strip?
I think you mean distilled (not bottled) in 1939…
What a lineup, thanks for the report. That Very Old was amazing. So much finesse…
slapped some Longrow 14 in my flask and hit the mountain in Mammoth last weekend. It was certainly tasty and very well-received by my burning quads at the end of the day!
This is from a small get together with a couple good friends and malt geeks last weekend.
Triple dramming some Port Ellen. The sherried OMC was stylistically interesting and not what one expects from a typical PE. Despite some of the variable ratings, the 8th was liked by some more that the 12th.
We actually has 2 Caol Ila Feis Ile bottlings. I liked the 2009 FI a bit better - richer on the sherry.
The 1977 Ardbeg was good, but I am glad we hit it before we got into the cask strength bottles. The two Lagavulin 16s are a new Port Ellen maltings and an older Whitehorse from the late 90’s. It is amazing to taste how much the Lagavulin profile has shifted.
Very cool! although the thought of putting Port Ellen in sherry just makes me want to slap someone … I have to assume that malt went into barrel before the distillery was shuttered, but still …
Yes, I was typing fast . . . full text should have read:
Mortlach, 50 year old, distilled in 1939, bottle no. 35.
John, how was that Mortlach?! Mortlach is probably my favorite Speysider, especially out of first fill Oloroso. I just love that savory/beefy characteristic; I think it is what gives Mortlach the backbone to stand up well against first fill sherry butts without becoming a genericized sherry bomb. Sadly, I hear the new (and fancy) Mortlach official bottlings have toned down this savory characteristic in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience.
It was excellent. Really what you want.
The new Mortlach offerings are going after the Macallan drinkers. There will be a distillery expansive and more stuff out soon.
Very nice, Mark and everyone, glad the latest Ardbegeddon was another success. Love me the older Brora, such a fine, fine dram.
Mike
Thanks, Mike.
We drank a couple of old Brora annual releases, too. The second annual 30 year old, bottled in 2002, and a 35 year old, bottled in 2013. I liked them both, but in my opinion, the 35 lacked the energy of the 30. The Rare Malts '72 22 year old is one of my all-time favorites and was the best of the three. Every time I drink one of these irreplaceable bottles, I’m a little sad. Mouton can always make another great vintage, but Brora and Rosebank are no more and other once great great distilleries (Springbank, Ardbeg, The Macallan, et al) choose not to invest in making great whisky any more.
It’s a hard trend to watch, Mark, and how many other distilleries are picking up the ball to take their place? Arran is producing a lot of product, but I’m finding unevenness in my preferences for them. As you say, lots of fancy new names and products from Macallan, but almost all of them seem to be inferior in character to what was produced in the good old days. As you say, even more so than with Bordeaux and Burgundy, we may see skyrocketing prices for these treasures—I’m seeing that already.
OTOH, maybe still some hope. Down in Florida, my friend and I went into Total Wines and they had an entire shelf of stuff from a new bottler, Battlehill, out of the UK. I talked my buddy into buying a 20 year old Longmorn for about $100, and they had stuff like 20 yr Caol Ila and 21 Bunnahabhain for a little bit more. We’ll see how it really is when we taste it together (I was actually sorely tempted, and by some of the Berry Brothers bottlings too, but selected an Orphan Barrel 20 yr Bartertown as my hard liquor to bring back this time).
Thoughts? And from ye others?