We were back in The Gunmakers, but in the back room for this, the second Whisky Squad Christmas dinner. Due to Mr Rook claiming that he had ‘work’ or ‘a small child to look after’ or some other rubbish excuse I stepped in to introduce the first few drams until he could make his way over. As such my notes were minimal as I was standing up and getting in the way of a room eating and drinking. Anyways – whiskies:

Hibiki 17 year old – the surprise hit of the Suntory session with Zoran Peric earlier this year, this is the first (that I remember) repeat dram at Whisky Squad and was chosen to go with the first course (soup, pate or smoked salmon). Here are my notes from last time: On the nose it had glue (naturally), maple syrup, apples and custard, and candied lemons – ‘Apple tart with cream’ my notes read. To taste it was generally sweet with butter, sweet apple, vanilla cream and perfumed wood. It’s finish was long and spicy, with green apples and a lightly tannic woodiness hanging around.

Balvenie 21 Port Wood – I’ve spent a lot of the last year drinking Balvenie, so this was quite a fitting next dram for me, matched with the main courses (beef stew, roast chicken or something vegematarian). Annoyingly I don’t have any notes on this, the peril of having drunk it enough that I always assume that I’ve already written them loads of times – here’s some stuff from my unreliable memory. On the nose it’s got the regular Balvenie spice but isn’t quite as heavy as you’d expect from something with 21 years in a port pipe under its belt. To taste it’s got balanced savoury and sweetness, with honey, a bit of sticky red fruit, liquorice and some elegant wood. It’s a tasty dram and works better as a digestif in my opinion, although it happily held up to the beef stew.

Glenisla 1977 / 28 Years Old / Cask #199599 – I think it was this specific single cask bottling, but I didn’t get a chance to note down all the details. However, as soon as I stuck my nose in the glass I sat down and started writing tasting notes – I was trying this one blind (unlike the last two, which I’d been given up heads-up about) and it was unlike anything else I’ve smelled in the world of whisky. Glenisla was an experimental whisky made (I think) just in 1977 at Glen Keith distillery. I’ve heard a few tales about what it actually is, but as far as I can tell it’s a peaty whisky that was made peaty by using heavily peated water in the mash rather than peaty barley. It’s rather rare and there are only a few independent bottlings of it in the wild, so I was rather pleased to get a taste, especially as I’d only learned of its existence about the previous week.

On the nose it started off rhubarb-like, with stewed rhubarb and rhubarb & custard sweets, before moving into much more savoury territory with fresh celery, celery salt and the smell that I always associate with artichokes, despite not having any memory of what artichokes smell like. It went on with unripe figs, and grape juice before taking a weird turn through mushrooms, wet forest floors and rich compost. To taste it started out muddy before the artificial rhubarb from the nose made itself known. From there it went through artificial sweetener and sweet smoke to honey and cloying syrup. It finished with mint and aniseed balls, both hanging around for a little while. A totally strange whisky and one that after a single dram I couldn’t say whether I liked or not. It was also picked out as Gunmakers Landlord Jeff’s favourite whisky of all time. He is a man with strange tastes.

Glendronach 21 year old – ‘Parliament’ – this wasn’t in the originally published version of this post, but when Jason gave me a call to ask whether he had dreamed it or if I had left it out for editorial purposes I thought I’d better do a quick update. I forgot it as I was attempting to get Darren to eat his dinner at the time, although not in a ‘here comes the big airplane!’ style spoon to mouth faux-flying way, as I feel that he is probably a lot more qualified than I in that respect currently. Anyways, the whisky is named for the Parliament of rooks that live in the tree opposite the distillery and in short I rather like it. I even said so in the blog post I wrote for work when I went through a bunch of their whiskies. My tasting notes from then read:

Nose: Sticky black liquorice, dark chocolate, stewed raisins, spiced apple and hints of nuts and marzipan. It’s rich and fruitily sweet rather than syrupy, and it sits on the edge of cloying.

Palate: Rich and bitter sweet, with charcoal and raisins, soured PX and hard liquorice sticks. Water lightens the body and brings out some custard, but leaves the charcoal edge.

Finish: Menthol, ground almonds, woody liquorice root, dry fragrant wood and a lingering edge of marzipan.

The King’s Ginger – as donated by Whisky Squad presenting alumnus and regular attendee Rob Whitehead as a post-prandial dram, this was presented blind and with no comment on the fact that it’s a liqueur rather than a whisky. It was created in 1903 by Berry Brothers & Rudd on commission from King Edward VII, who required a drink to fortify him during his morning car rides. As such it’s sweet and spicy with lots of ginger to ‘keep the blood flowing’. It’s no longer a recommended driving aid but is incredibly popular, with Rob spending much of his time during December handing bottles over the counter at Berrys. On the nose you get a big sugar syrup hit as well as spicy ginger, but it’s not particularly heavy or cloying. To taste the ginger and sweetness is balanced by lemony citrus, although it does have the sticky syrupy finish of many liqueurs as well as a hint of sweet tea. A hit in the room and now on the Christmas list of a number of the attendees.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures of the food or whisky, but here’s the solitary snap I did get – landlord Jeff riding Squad regular (and Christmas fan, as his hat shows) Ross around the room…:

There was also a quiz with less questions than the previous year, winners who didn’t work in the whisky industry and a stack of whisky miniatures as prizes. A good night and a fitting end to the Whisky Squad year. Apart from the final ‘Whisky Surprise’ bring a bottle session, that is…although I suspect that will remain shrouded in mystery (my increasingly drunken notes peter out half way through).

Hibiki 17 year old
Japanese Blended Whisky,43%. ~£70

Balvenie 21 year old Port Wood
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40%. ~£80

Glenisla 1977 Cask #19959
Experimental Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 50.7%. ~£140

The King’s Ginger
Bespoke Royal Liqueur, 41%. ~£18 for 50cl

Anyways, the second tasting of November was deliberately pushed towards the end of the month as it was in honour of Movember, and the extra couple of weeks meant that there were some moustaches on display, unlike during the Smoking Section tasting where MoSista Charly‘s stick on lip warmer was the only thing worthy of the name ‘Mo’. Anyways, we gathered upstairs at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society with bottles donated from a variety of sponsors and all the proceeds going straight to the Whisky4Movember fund raising efforts. Unfortunately we had some generous sponsors and even excluding the emergency bottle I had in my bag, just in case any of the whiskies didn’t arrive, we had eight drams to get through. It’s a hard life…

First up, tasted blind as usual, was a mid-golden dram. On the nose it had sour apple skins, butter, cream, light spice, and milky butter icing. To taste it was creamy up front, with fruit and woody spice down the middle. It was quite light in body and very easily drinkable, with a finish of spiced creme brulee. An excellent start to the evening and not particularly surprising when the paper was pulled off and it turned out to be the Great King Street Artist’s Blend from Compass Box. I’ve written about this before, both here in a post about the Compass Box twitter tasting and in a work post around release time, and my opinion stays the same – a versatile, tasty and easy drinking whisky, and a great place to push people who assume that all blends are rubbish. Thanks to Compass Box for donating the bottle.

Next on the list was the first of two drams donated by our hosts – the SMWS. On the nose it had spiced vinegar, pungent fruit, sweet and sour sauce, treacle toffee, Love Hearts and a touch of minty menthol. To taste it was big and meaty, with some drying tannic wood, spiced apples, sour grapes, apple wood and a hint of woody smoke. It finished very differently, with strawberries, coconut and tropical fruit, as well as some drying wood. A rather complex and interesting dram that turned out to be 123.6 – Rhubarb and Custard, matured for 10 years in a refill port pipe. While the society don’t officially give out what distillery each number goes with, 123 is Glengoyne, a distillery that until recently I’d almost entirely avoided but have become quite fond of in the last couple of weeks. They claim to be the only distillery to dry their barley with no peat whatsoever, using hot air instead, and have been running since 1833. They were taken over by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2003, as the company’s first only and currently only distillery, and since then have been making a lot of headway in the market. I need to try more of their whiskies…

Number three had a young and fruity nose, with some spirity alcohol, toffee, grapefruit and passion fruit – the last two flavours that I’ve been increasingly looking for in whisky. To taste there was fizzy sherbert, sweet lemons, cream and the caraway graininess of less mature whisky. It finished well, with lingering spiced wood, Tangfastic Haribo and more tropical fruit. A bit of a hit around the room and an annoyance when the label came of as it was Cask Strength and Carry On, a whisky from Arran bottled by the chaps at Caskstrength.net which sold out within a couple of days of release. I’ve still got a bit of the sample that Joel and Neil gave me when they released it, but annoyingly I didn’t try it until after they’d run out of bottles and didn’t get any myself. Luckily, Darren did acquire a few bottles (although whether that was by way of tax for his house being used as a staging point after the bottles were driven down from Arran is between Darren and the Caskstrength boys) and he donated one to the evening. There was even a Movember link with the Neil half of Caskstrength having been featured on one of the first Movember bottles. Well, his excellent moustache (now departed) was, at least.

Next up was one that I was fairly sure I’d guessed – a really dark and sticky dram. On the nose it was big and sherried – sugared raisins, the burnt edges from a beef joint, dark wood and rich fruit. To taste that continued, with lots of fruit – plums and stewed mixed winter berries – and some sticky liquorice at the back. The flavours hung around for a while with fruit and buttered wood. The label came off to show that I was right for once – it was the Movember 2011 bottling, a vatting of a couple of casks of 9 year old whisky from Glenfarclas. The barrels were chosen by Chris Hoban of the Edinburgh Whisky Blog and naturally there’s a post up over there about his visit to the distillery. It was sold exclusively by the chaps at Master of Malt (boo, hiss, etc) who donated all the profits to the Whisky4Movember fundraising effort (woo, yay, etc), picking up £6000 by the end of November. They are now sold out, but MoM do still have some samples left to buy.

Number five, the beginning of the second half, was a bit of a surprise at first, as after a run of three cask strength drams it was back to a normal 40%. On the nose it had Fry’s Turkish Delight, honey, red fruit and a touch of menthol. To taste it was creamy, with woody spic, some delicate polished wood flavours, and a lingering finish of wood and spice. A lot less powerful in alcohol than the last couple of drams but a nice contrast and very drinkable. A ripple of surprise spread around the room when the bottle turned out to be Balvenie Signature. I was rather pleased that my tasting notes match up with my usual take on Balvenie and it was impressive that it held up despite coming after some palate killing whiskies. Many thanks to Dr Andrew Forrester, Balvenie’s UK Brand Ambassador, for donating the bottle.

The next one was much lighter in colour and the first peaty whisky of the night – a nose of meaty smoke, dirty peat and mulched leaves all undercut by a young sweet spiritiness. To taste it had gritty smoke, sweet fruit and a metallic hint, finishing with tinned smoky fish and a lingering note of pineapple. A strange combination of flavours that made some sense when the whisky was revealed – Birnie Moss. This is a young peaty whisky from Benriach on Speyside, made with an eye towards the European market, especially Spain, Italy and France who love young fiery whisky and don’t mind a touch of smoke. Benriach don’t stop with Birnie Moss though, as their Curiositas is the same spirit left in the cask for a few extra years – an excellent peaty dram with some nice fruitiness underneath that the Birnie Moss shows some of the elegance of. This was a bit of a hit in the room, with at least a couple of bottles going on Christmas lists. Thanks to the Royal Mile Whiskies for the donation.

The penultimate whisky of the night was a step away from peat again, with a nose of spiced cream, sour fruit and a hint of balsamic vinegar. To taste it had fruity toffee, bananas, sweet apples and pears, and a burst of spicy cinnamon. It finished bitter, with green wood and some woody spice. Another slightly random whisky, this time from Jason’s collection, it was Glenmorangie Astar. I’ve written about it before, back in the olden days of this blog, and it’s a concentration of Glenmorangie’s experiments with interesting casks, using barrels made from wood from a forest that they specially selected, before the usual filling with bourbon, emptying, and shipping over to Scotland to be used to mature the whisky.

Finally we reached whisky number eight, another donation from the SWMS and one that was definitely an evening ender. On the nose the first note, that dominated almost everything else, was pickled onions, both real ones and the overpowering (and very tasty) smell of pickled onion Monster Munch. Underneath that there was sour fruit, some gravelly smoke, soured sherry, shoe polish and tomato ketchup. To taste it was full of coal, ash and coal smoke, with a back-end of sweet and sour sauce, baked beans and damp seaweed. The flavours lingered, with the smoke giving way to ash, ketchup, and spicy sweet and sour sauce. A strange and divisive whisky that I really wasn’t sure about, although I happily sat and sniffed at my glass for ages. It was revealed to be 29.104 – Not For Wee Boys, from Laphroaig, matured for 20 years in a refill sherry butt. A beast of a dram and one that had lost a lot of the typical Laphroaig medicinal nature due to the influence of the sherry wood – interesting and one that I hope to be able to grab a dram of next time I visit.

That was it for another month, although despite there being eight whiskies on the mat there was a trip to the bar downstairs for some more drinks, and a few more people left as members of the SMWS than arrived. December also has two meetups, the Christmas dinner later this week and the ‘everyone brings a bottle’ Whisky Surprise night (still some spaces left), which didn’t get a blog post last year due to the horrific drunkenness I managed to inflict on myself. Keep an eye on the Whisky Squad website for the announcement of January’s sessions, one of which I may have something to do with…

Compass Box Great King Street – The Artists’ Blend
Blended Scotch Whisky, 43%. ~£25 for a 50cl bottle

SMWS 123.6 – Rhubarb and Custard
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 59.5%. ~£60

Cask Strength and Carry On
Island Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 49.9%. ~£50

Movember 2011
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 53%. ~£40

Balvenie Signature
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40%. ~£35

Birnie Moss
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 48%. ~£30

Glenmorangie Astar
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 57.1%. ~£55

SMWS 29.104 – Not For Wee Boys
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 58.2%. ~£70

The weekend took place at an old Cub Scout lodge in Nijmegen, near the German border, and the plan was simple – turn up, bring whisky, put the whisky on one of the tables provided, share, talk toot and maybe sleep. A few companies had organised tastings, including my employers who had commented “do you want to do a tasting?” when I tried to blag some whiskies from our tasting cupboard to take along for the table, and I ended up showcasing some upcoming releases in the Elements of Islay range. There was also the promise of music and a BBQ, but mainly it was focused around sitting down with a bunch of new friends and drinking, talking and generally contemplating whisky.

I didn’t take all that many notes, as I was too busy talking, being tired and generally bewildered by the sheer amount of interesting whisky on offer, but on Saturday afternoon I decided to be ‘professional’ and get something down on paper. Here’s what I tried:

King’s Court Choice Tamdhu – A bottling done for the Dutch King’s Court Whisky Society at 53.5% and pushed in my general direction by a few of their members. On the nose it was big, with diesel, baked beans, heavy caramel, treacle, lime skins and cheese rind. To taste it was full of spiced orchard fruit, refresher chews and and a rich baked bean savouriness. It lingered long on the finish with a tasty chunk of spicy apple pie. Maybe a bit too much for me, but one that I’d like to try again with a bit of water.

Wasmund’s New Make - A new make spirit also pushed at me by the KCWS folks, along with the following aged version, this is a malted barley American new make rather than the usual unmalted grain based fare. On the nose it was very gluey, with wood polish, cinnamon and heavy varnish. To taste it was simpler, with orchard fruit, a meaty richness and some hammy smoke. The fruity flavour becomes less surprising when you realise that the malt was smoked over apple and cherry wood.

Wasmund’s Single Malt Whisky - The aged version of the previous whisky, this is only 14 months old so not really whisky yet in the eyes of the SWA. However, it’s from the USA where you can call anything made in the correct manner whisky, with the rule being that it’s not ‘straight’ until 2 years old and you have to list the age if it’s under 4. I think. They have lots of rules. Anyways, on the nose it was a woodier version of the new make – glue, spice, wood polish and a whole heap of freshly cut timber. To taste it was big and spicy, with lots of wood, more varnish and, strangely, no vanilla. Too much wood for me, but very interesting to see the development.

Laphroaig Cairdeas Ileach 2011 – The one whisky that I tried all weekend that I own, although I haven’t opened it yet. Cairdeas is the name Laphroaig give to their yearly Islay Festival bottlings and while I haven’t yet made it to the island they offer a few bottles of it to the Friends of Laphroaig through their website – I’ve fortunately managed to grab a bottle for the last 4 years. I’ve not opened last year’s yet either, but the other two were rather good and from what I’ve heard this year’s is the best of the lot. A nose of smoked fish, Dr Pepper fruit, dry grass and cracked mud. To taste it had sweet smoke, a hint of empty sardine tins and lime pith leading into a sweet wood and wet smoke finish. It’s got some of the fruit that I’ve found in the older bottlings of younger Laphroaig that I’ve tasted recently through work (the mid-90s 10 year old tasted like lightly smoked passion fruit – a bit of a revelation compared to today’s version) but didn’t have that much of that on the palate, replacing it with metallic smoked fish and citrus, which is fine by me. These bottles do seem to command silly prices so this one will sit in my collection for a bit, at least until I’ve opened and finished the 2010 Cairdeas ‘Master Edition’…

Aberlour 8 year old, bottled 1970s – One of the things we have at work is a lot of old bottles of whisky. And I mean a lot. One of the first that I noticed while wandering the shelves was the 1970s Aberlour bottlings, packaged in a dumpy square bottle, and having tasted their more recent versions I’ve been wondering what they were like. This one was one of the 50% releases for the Italian market and according to our site they go for a fairly reasonable £175. I was quite lucky to get a taste of this as it was left out by the guys from Full Proof, who had brought along some of their whiskies to buy by the dram. They wandered to the tasting table and quietly put this and the following whisky down and then wandered off. A few of us saw the arrival and descended on the bottle immediately and as quietly as it appeared it was taken back inside and hidden away. On the nose it had honey & lemon, cinnamon & cloves. To taste there was a light caramel, gentle sherry wood, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. The finish was long with sugar, spice, white grapes and perfumed wood. Not a dram to set the world alight but just one that tasted really nice…

Glen Grant 21 year old, bottled 1970s (maybe 1980s) – This one was left on the table for longer than the Aberlour and picked up mixed reactions. I’m not sure if it’s a 70s or 80s bottle because by this time the booze was starting to kick in and I didn’t check the back label, which would have told me a bit more (the way that ABV and volume are reported are two of the easiest ways to start dating a bottle, especially between 70s and 80s). While not everyone was keen I rather liked it. The nose had rose Turkish delight, general floral notes, chocolate, cream and star anis. To taste it had butter, more cream, cinnamon, cake batter and a hint of green leaves (drunkenly written down as ‘Greensleeves’…).

Burn of Speyside – An interesting dram with an interesting story. Wm Grant’s don’t like selling their casks in such a way that people can independently bottle it and as such they ‘spoon’ their whisky – pouring a teaspoon of one of their other malts into each cask that they sell on for blending so that they can’t be bottled as single malt, legally having become a blended malt. Each of the combinations from their various distilleries has a different internal name, of which Burnside describes Balvenie spooned with Glenfiddich. So, back in the early 2000s a shipment of casks of Balvenie sunk in the New Waterway and then sat underwater for a bit, with the insurance company writing them off and noone really wanting the expense of getting them back. A Dutch company eventually stepped up to the plate and retrieved them, bottling them and then releasing at a ridiculously low price (~€15). However they made one mistake – they labelled it as being Balvenie with a spoon of Glenfiddich in. Grant’s fiercely protect their brands and demanded that the company change their labels immediately. As you can see from the picture (click it to embiggen), they did. With a biro…

On the nose this one was quite fiery, with lots of malt and spice and not a lot of complexity. To taste it was sweet with butter, fruit shortcake and a touch of wax. The finish was spicy with cinnamon, drying woodiness, cream and vanilla. A rather nice little dram going to show that young Balvenie can be nice, although the chance of seeing any appearing from the distillery is probably far fetched.

Gold Cock 12 year old – I rather liked the Hammer Head from the Czech Republic so when I saw that there was another brand from the country I jumped at the chance to try some. The fact that we got about 30 minutes of ‘Grab the cock’, ‘How does the cock taste’, ‘Have you seen the cock?’ and other such ‘jokes’ out of the name was a drunken bonus. I first picked up their 3 year old blend and was surprised to find it entirely full but with the seal broken. One quick sniff showed me why it hadn’t been touched – really not good. This wasn’t an auspicious start to my Gold Cock experience but I soldiered on to the 12 year old. On the nose there was oak leaf, caramel, butter and honey. To taste there was cream, syrup, minty menthol, corn flakes, fake butter and sour wood. My overall assessment was ‘not quite as bad as you might have initially through, but still pretty awful’. I’ll stick with the Hammer Head for now.

Schwarzer Pirat – One distillery I’ve been trying to find something from for a while is Germany’s Blaue Maus. You don’t see (m)any of their bottlings in the UK and I’ve not been so interested as to try importing one, so it was good to be able to try this one from their stable. On the nose there was hot melting plastic, fake butter and sickly caramel. To taste there was plastic, bitter burning plastic fumes, more nasty fake butter and just generally nothing of merit – actively vile. I won’t be importing any of Blaue Maus’s stuff for now, but I might give another one of their expressions a chance. If someone else tries it first…

Glen Scotia 12 year old, 1980s – Another older bottling that I’ve been eyeing up at work. Glen Scotia is a distillery that I’m never entirely sure about – I like Springbank’s fare in general but Glen Scotia’s similar but different style is one that I’m up and down about. On the nose this one had a hint of the farmyard with mulchy grain and smoke, as well as a touch of wax. To taste it had minty menthol, sweet grain, ground granite, sweet apples and custard. The finish was bitter wood overlayed with a bit of cakey pastry. Not bad at all.

Bruichladdich 15 year old, 1970s – Another one from the Full Proof chaps and one that seemed to be left on the table with little notice. I’ve not tried any older Bruichladdich’s and with the imminent (now just passed) 10th anniversary of their reopening of the distillery and release of the Laddie 10 (and hopefully the simplification of their range to manageable levels – it’s hard work stocktaking the Bruichladdich shelf at work…so many almost identical bottlings in identical tins) this was a perfect one to end my notetaking on. On the nose it had a weird but winning combination of ham and Turkish delight. To taste it had sweet & sour fruit, coal dust and stone, with a finish of ham and bitter berries. My notes were getting shorter, but this was a rather nice dram to end my conscious whisky appreciation on.

Tickets for next year’s Maltstock are already available and I’ll certainly be going if I can. I’ll just make sure to sleep before I go…

Many thanks to the organisers for an excellent weekend – I’ve got at least two more posts to write about the weekend when I get some time to sit down and pick over my notebook, and those will barely scratch the surface. Thanks to the lovely people who came to my tasting and didn’t point and laugh too much, and to my excellent quiz team, who somehow managed to come second in the uber-geeky quiz: Jason B Standing, Neil Ridley, Ben Ellefson (who works for some random web development company and makes up stuff about traffic cone thieves…) and Menno and Ras (I think – I am rubbish with names) from WhiskyBase – We Heart Master of Speciality WhiskyBase Squad will return… Ben and Neil have got posts up about the weekend and even Ben’s is worth reading…

To add the actual content that the title promises, here’s something for London people. I’ve heard tales over the last few months of something interesting coming out of the pleasantly mad end of the William Grants PR dept and now it’s distilled into something real – The Balvenie Whisky Den. Hiding in a shop front on Tavistock Street near Covent Garden it’s, simply put, a pop-up bar. However, to build on the idea of craftsmanship that Balvenie are pushing as part of their brand on day one (Monday 9th May, about a week ago) there was nothing there apart from some building supplies and whisky. Since then, with updates through the @BalvenieUK twitter account, the team has been building out two levels of the shop to be a bar and tasting room for the Balvenie range.

I popped by at the end of week one and was confronted with a fairly spartan upstairs and a closed downstairs area. There was a bar, some stave based lampshades, a pair of barrel racks (complete with barrels) and a halved sherry butt being used as a table for tastings. They’re open from 1pm-8pm (although that may change) and offer visitors a free taste of Balvenie Double Wood and, for Warehouse 24 members (the Balvenie club, sign-up forms available on-site) a deconstructed tasting of Balvenie Signature – a try of each of the three types of whisky that go into Balvenie’s master distiller David Stewart’s signature malt.

The downstairs was closed when I went, due to to it still being a proper building site, but by Sunday 15th the upstairs was clad in staves and, all going to plan, downstairs should have had some interesting adornments and ‘activity areas’ added. The press launch is on Wednesday, which I’ll hopefully make it down for, and the London Cocktail Society, including myself again, are visiting on Friday, so there will be a more complete blog post sometime soon. However, in the meantime if you are around the Covent Garden area and feel like a dram – The Whisky Den, 34 Tavistock Street. They made a sign last Wednesday, so it should be easy to find…

The piccies are lifted from the @BalvenieUK yfrog account, where there are a bunch more in progress shots.

Balvenie 12 Years Doublewood – a whisky grabbed as a chaser round the corner from the Sci-Fi-London film festival after a day of packing bags and herding punters. It had a grassy, olive oily nose with hints of sugary spice and a touch of wood. To taste it had a woody sweetness with some cinnamony spiciness with a bitter fruity finish. As it developed in the glass the sweetness increased and turned towards candyfloss.

Thatchers Old Rascal - I popped into the branch of Byron Hamburger that’s now hiding in the building that used to house The Intrepid Fox (I may never have drunk anything but Newcastle Brown or bottled cider when visiting, but RIP anyway. The new location just isn’t the same) and grabbed a quick bottle of cider to accompany my tasty burger. Described on the label as ‘Full bodied medium dry Somerset cider’, I would have stuck it more towards the medium sweet end of things. Anyways, it was quite nice – more mulchy farmyard flavour than you usually get from a mainstream cider as well as a nice tartness contrasting with the underlying sweetness. One to remember.

The SMWS release a new tranche of whiskies every first Friday of the month, so I stopped by to try a couple. Well, more than a couple after I got talking to the bar staff…I am weak:

SMWS 35.38, Fire in the hole! (Glen Moray) – Chosen specifically because of my interest in strange wood maturations, this one was matured for 9 years in a 2nd fill chardonnay cask. Wine finishes are generally badly thought of by whisky connoisseurs, but a few interesting ones do get out into the wild – this one is a bit of a mixture. A strange nose, with a slab of wood as well as a strange chicken and ammonia combination (to be honest there was a hint of the pub bog to it). To taste it was almost meaty, with overripe fruit and a bitter woody finish. With a bit of water it softened out, becoming more wine-like with some vanilla from the wood and an oily sandalwood flavour coming through. One to try, but not one I want a whole bottle of.

SMWS 93.38, Stirs the atavistic soul (Glen Scotia) – The intended final dram of the evening, this was to sate my love of Campbelltown whiskies, although as there are only two remaining distilleries, Glen Scotia and Springbank, this is quite a limited love. Luckily Springbank have a couple of brands they distill giving a slightly wider field for me to taste my way through. Anyways, this reminded me, from my notes, of a damp wood fire in someone else’s garden – smoke at a distance with a touch of damp woodiness. There were sour grapes and cured meat on the nose as well. To taste there was a touch of sweet wine as well as tannic wood, almost like a fruity rioja. A drop of water softened the wood, bringing out more sweetness and hiding the tannins. Overall the main memory I have is of a tingling menthol like finish down the sides of the tongue. Quite definitely from Campbelltown and really quite nice.

SMWS 27.80 (Springbank) – no name for this one as I can’t find it on the website. Continuing the Campbelltown kick I went for a recommended dram of this new (I think) Springbank. It had salt and a light sweetness on the nose, as well as a plimsoll-like rubberiness. To taste it had more salt and rubber as well as a sweetness and a prickly, numbing sensation. Water brought on more sweetness and a slick, buttery mouthfeel, along with more rubber and fisherman’s friends. It reminds me very much of the bottle of single cask Springbank I got from Cadenhead’s while at the Edinburgh Festival last year, although this one is even better. I may have to pick up a bottle on my next visit.

SMWS 53.140, Swelling, crashing, waves of flavour (Caol Ila) – a deliberate evening ending choice, although I was offered an even more peaty Ardbeg by the ever helpful barman. I declined, but made a note for my next visit. On the nose it had a sweet peaty smoke with a hint of disinfectant, mulch and parma violets. To taste it was crisply smoky with candy floss and citrus fruit, but rather complex and overpowering and in need of dilution. Water saves your palate from certain destruction, with the flavours combining to give a sweet wet ash smokiness, a touch of orange and a tingly finish. It’s good I stopped after it as I was still tasting it when I got home an hour later.

And my favourite of the week:

Fuller’s Bengal Lancer – I’ve tried this IPA on tap, but not grabbed a bottle yet, however, I’m glad I did. It’s a bottle conditioned, very heavily hopped IPA which is light on the palate but still wonderfully bitter, with the great taste of citrusy hops dominating in a rather pleasant way. As the hops die back there’s a nice touch of fruity malt and it finishes with the same bitterness that most Fuller’s beers display. Very good and one that I’ll be stocking up on when I find someone to drive me to the shops.