The Old & Rare Show 2020: Part 2/3

Following on from Part 1:

Now sat down, tOMoH passes me a glass. Inside, as expected, is sublime whisky. It smells very Brora/Clynelish-like. Sometimes it seems that all the brilliant stuff that isn’t heavily peated is Clynelish-Brora. This whisky however was distilled a long way from the Eastern Highlands. The Old Man re-introduces me to Patrick who I first met on this epic day over a year and a half ago [as tOMoH kindly reminds me]. He [Patrick], pours me a more-than-generous glug of the whisky in question from a bottle in his backpack. Looking through WB reviews, it seems I’m not the only one.

[Tobermory] Ledaig 1973/1996 22yo Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection 44.2% [750ml] WB92[3] tOMoH9/10

Distilled in my birth year and month, I initially taste this blind.

• N: A jammy/gooey Brora-esque delight with a fresh smoky peatiness. We are talking here of the ultimate heaven-sent Jammy Dodgers, in stark contrast to the real branded ones that are not ultimate in any way. I keep going back for the fruits.
• T: Without getting all deep & meaningful, this whisky is a beauty! Brora surely? Whilst the journey reveals more smoky peatiness than Brora or Clynelish would/did generally produce, I keep returning again to the nose for the fruits, and the same for the arrival. With balance personified come sublime oak-matured malt sugars. This is joyous juice.
• F: Whilst it still remains Brora/Clynelish-esque for a time, the blackened tar-like charcoal finish tells of another distillery, unless there was a heavy peat week up at Inverbrora in 1973. It’s only really Ledaig, as I know it, at the tail.
• C: A quasi-Brora/Clynelish-esque single malt for a fraction of the cost. I will have to look into getting myself a bottle [now on the wishlist].

Scores 92 points

 

That’s got me in the mood for more high-calibre gems. I go back to Fiddler’s as I’d spotted a few [reasonably priced] Port Ellen’s there. I plumb for a First Cask 1983 vintage [not yet listed on WB]. They also have an unlisted 1977/1996 First Cask Port Ellen at 54.9% [at time of writing].

Port Ellen 1983/1998 Scott’s 58.9%

• N: There she is. it’s Port Ellen I tells ya, through & through – one of my happy places. No other distillery produces this profile, though occasional Ben Nevis bottlings verge closest. Descriptors then, as if you need them: light yet condensed summer fruits and vanilla, neat. Add the necessary water to coax the obligatory [light] saltiness, a [light] minerality, a [light] farminess and modest [lemon] citrus. Expression-wise it’s certainly on the lighter side compared to some other similarly aged PE’s, but it’s by no means lacking.
• T: A lovely start with an abv pinch. This was bottled at nearly 59% after all. With water, we’ve a perfectly sweet doughy arrival that confidently moves along on a barley-led path. Initially, with a shorter travel than desired, it opens up well with the arrival & subsequent travel improving sip by small sip. After that, one could create a shopping list from the descriptors that lie between the transition into the finish alone.
• F: Quite short after such a colourful display, concluding with pleasing remnants that reiterate the well-considered sweetness and overall subtleness. Smoked chocolate malt concludes.
• C: A lovely, relatively more affordable example of this distillery’s unique profile.

Scores 90 points

 

I find myself back at the Whisky Auctioneer stand who, I’m told, have a decent Brora for only £5. They did! All gone by day 2. I did manage to bag a few other beauties however:

• Ardbeg 1974/1996 22yo G&M for Taverna Degli Artisti ’Mellow Matured’ 40% WB90.34[45] WF94 WM94[1]
• Glen Grant 1938 45yo G&M Licensed bottling 40% [750ml]
• Macallan 1962/1987 25yo Ob. Anniversary Malt 43% [75cl] WB93[5]
• Baltimore Pride 1935 7yo rye Ob. 100 proof WB86[1]
• Trois Riverieres 1953 – said to be ‘truly legendary spirit,… the finest drinks known to mankind‘ [TWE]

For my glass, I take a 1979 Lagavulin. Priced at £10, it offers great value for highly reputed malt.

Lagavulin 1979/1997 18yo Ob. Distillers Edition lgv.4/463 [PX finish] 43% WB91.04[83] WF&WF:92 WM90[12]

• N: Sugary smoky deliciousness is all I noted.
• T: With a relaxed entrance, this one delivers more crystallised smoky-oaky sugary deliciousness.
• F: Sweet smoke.
• C: I needed more time with this one, and simply, more! With what I could muster from a fairly precise 1cl pour, it’s cracking juice! I’m told this is Lagavulin’s first Distillery Edition. What a way to start a series!

Provisionally scores 90+

 

Since all my shopping has been completed I can go off-piste. I chat with Geoff who has decided [with my consent], to call me ‘Clint‘. “You feeling lucky?” Let’s try my luck with a 1979 Talisker for a mere £5.

Talisker 1979/1995 16yo Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection 63.2% WB90.67[6]

• N: Distillate-led as the abv may indicate. Yeasty, cereal-y and milky are the only descriptors I jotted down.
• T: A strong & sweet-sour astringent honeyed malty citrusy barley number.
• F: Finishes true, concluding with silky mash.
• C: Boy would this wake you up in the morning! A ‘hairs on your chest’ kind of malt.

Scores 89 points

 

I wander back over to the whisky-online stand. Having previously bagged:

• Balblair 1975 22yo First Cask #7282 [btl #598] 46% WB89.80[5]
• Imperial 1976/1989 12yo SMWS 65.1 66.2% WB91[1]

,… I ask Harrison and co. for their recommendations – something decent, something affordable, something that has been overlooked. Dufftown it is! As far as I can tell, there was only one Dufftown at the show and this is it.

Dufftown 1979/1992 12yo Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection 59.7% WB88[7] WM69[1]

• N: This one rides the sulphury-sherry edge, doing well not to fall in face-first. It’s also got a molasses rum-ness about it.
• T: More of the same. It travels thin but the wood & barley sugars remain sustained.
• F: Molasses-bitter sherry malt with dusty barley sugar to end proceedings.
• C: The fairly bold cask activity helps drive the spirit towards a bitter-sweet molasses-like profile. Thankfully the spirit held on.

Scores 88 points

 

 

Part 3/3 coming soon

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