WhiskyNotes is 15 years old today!
We’ve reviewed well over 5000 whiskies, cognacs and rums since that first Balvenie 30 Year Old, what would fit this occasion? I decided to celebrate with an Islay trio, in crescendo. It starts with a 21 year old Ardbeg, distilled in 1974 and bottled for Sestante. This Italian importer was founded by Ernesto Mainardi at the end of the 1970s, and around the mid 1980s he also started as an independent bottler. Most of his whisky was sourced from Gordon & MacPhail, including this one.
Ardbeg 21 yo 1974 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail for Sestante 1995, 1387 btl.)
Nose: a rather gentle peaty profile. Old waxed papers, hints of mineral oils (or maybe argan) and whiffs of freshly printed newspapers. Hay, vague hints of rye bread, walnut skins and lightly toasted almond. Light hints of vanilla, sugar bread and sweet lemon. Acacia honey in the background. Very subtle, all very nice but also really mellow, in fact a bit underpowered even.
Mouth: still sweet and subtle. Diluted ashtray juice mixed with pear, waxy notes and old resins. More papery elements, with subtle smoke and seaweed. Then herbal tea comes forward, alongside old cardboard and mild citrus. Very subtle mocha towards the end.
Finish: still a little longer than expected. Maritime notes with only traces of smoke now.
Typical, with all the characteristic old Islay elements, just more diluted than we hoped. Not as stunning as some other Ardbegs from that era, but interesting and and *ahum* a nice aperitif for this session.
Next: Laphroaig. Back in 2007 La Maison du Whisky presented its yearly collection. It also included this Laphroaig 1987 bottled from six ex-bourbon hogsheads, which was supposed to contrast against the sherried Laphroaig 1974 from the year before.
Needless to say the 1987 was never able to match the legendary quality of that 1974. Nonetheless it should be an interesting bottle to try after all these years. After all this is the vintage that gave us tropical fruits in the Ian Hunter Story #3 for instance.
Laphroaig 1987 (53,4%, OB for LMdW 50th Anniversary 2006, six first fill hogsheads, 1387 btl.)
Nose: starts on cigarette ashes and thin smoke, alongside mineral notes like iodine, cement and sea spray. Then lemon balm and citrus blossom, grapefruit and grassy notes come out. Light hints of pineapple. One of the milder and fruitier Laphroaigs.
Mouth: still quite bright, with some lemon juice and powder sugar, becoming slightly creamier after a while. Light vanilla, with white pepper and citrus zest. Then green tea and unripe gooseberries. There’s a nice acidity mixed with salty notes. Peaty but not very smoky. In the end it gets really medicinal, showing herbal tea, aniseed, mint oil and a mild bitterness.
Finish: long, quite sweet, now slightly more smoky. Still lemons and herbs.
Actually, I remember this one being announced. I hadn’t started blogging yet, but I had become seriously interested in single malts for a few years already. I also remember it was way too expensive for my wallet. Trying it now is great, especially since we can draw a straight line to recent bottlings with exactly this profile, further polished by time. Still available from LMdW. Score: 90/100
We all know the Port Ellen annual releases of course, the first of which arrived in 2001. Before this series, Diageo selected two 1978 expressions as part of the Rare Malts collection. Today we’re having the youngest of them. Actually this is also the youngest official Port Ellen ever, if I’m not mistaken. I once had the chance to try Port Ellen at the age of 13, but that’s quite rare.
I tried the older Port Ellen 22 Years 1978 Rare Malts some time ago for my (personal) birthday.
Port Ellen 20 yo 1978 (60,9%, OB Rare Malts 1998)
Mouth: massive power. Totally briney, alongside bursts of lemon juice, grapefruits and lime. Seaweed, more brine, with hints of black peppercorns and black tea. Dried herbs. It shows a mineral, racy kind of peat that reminds me of old Caol Ila, more than some of the more medicinal Islay distilleries. Light sourness too – passion fruit? It moves to salted caramel, tarry notes and grease in the end. Frankly spicy too.
Finish: really long, and very saline. Hints of mint, brine and eery smoke.
An absolutely wonderful Port Ellen. In terms of complexity and balance some of the Special Releases go beyond this bottle, but it’s an honour to try such a pure Port Ellen at a relatively young age. Not an easy drinker, but a real experience. The other two may not have been totally convincing, but it is definitely a fitting birthday dram. Score: 92/100