Dewar’s White Label (Vintage)

Acquired 3rd October 2013

Word has spread about my interest in collecting whiskies but it was still a surprise when an acquaintance presented me with 15 miniature bottles of whisky to add to my growing ranks. My benefactor had worked for Customs & Excise at a UK airport from the 1960s-90s and one of the perks was getting free miniatures that the 1^st class passengers left behind. First up in my ‘Customs & Excise Collection’ are these 3 bottles of Dewar’s White Label. One has a label on the back saying it was for use on flights to/from Portugal. Another says “Specially bottled for S.A.A.” which is South African Airlines. As I’ve never been to Portugal or South Africa it seems that these bottles are better travelled than I am!

Unfortunately I can’t tell what year any of these bottles come from, so it’s impossible for me to find a review that matches up. The Whisky Bible 2013 gives the latest incarnation of the White Label a lowly 78.5/100 but Jim Murray says it’s not as good as it was. Hopefully my versions are from an era when this blend was at its best!

Woodford Reserve ‘Distiller’s Select’

Bought – ASDA, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
85/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
91/100 – Whisky Bitch – Her review on YouTube

My first bourbon whisky in my collection and it’s taught me a valuable lesson – always check the seal on a bottle before you pay for it. It was only when I got this bottle home and was taking a picture of it to post on this blog that I spotted that the paper seal was broken on both sides of the cork (visible in the picture below). I took the bottle back today and got a replacement but the employee at ASDA’s customer service refused to return the box. The replacement didn’t have a box, and they no longer had any bottles that did, so I’ve raised a complaint with ASDA’s head office. Since I paid for the bottle AND box (which is a very solid one) it seems only fair that a replacement comes with everything I originally paid for. I regret not calling for the manager when I was in the store but I was in a rush and had to leave.

BenRiach ‘Curiositas’ 10-year-old

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
90.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
81.53/100 – Whiskybase (average from 60 member votes)
8.5/10 – Jo of Whisky Wednesday (his video review below)

This BenRiach went onto my wishlist when I read about it in Ian Buxton’s book “101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die”. With a hint of latin in its name you feel the BenRiach distillery should be located closer to the Roman remains of Hadrian’s Wall, rather then up north near Elgin. But what makes this whisky a curiosity is that it’s an experimental ‘heavily peated’ Speysider. Jim Murray likes it with 90.5/100 but I was disappointed to read in his comments that, when the Curiositas first appeared, it was 46% which has now been ‘watered down’ to 40%. Nevertheless, a worthy one for the collection!

Here is Jo from Whisky Wednesday giving us his thoughts about the new 40% Curiositas on You Tube (May 2013):

Speyside – Cu Dhub

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
88/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
53.54/100 – Whiskybase (average from 88 member votes)

Of all the whiskies I’ve acquires so far, this is probably the most controversial among the critics. My confusion lies over what year of release reviews relate to. The bottling first appeared in 2003. Malt Madness give Cu Dhub 50/100 but don’t say when the review was performed. The average mark from 7 reviewers on Malt Maniacs is 46/100 but again there is no way of telling when the drinking of the whisky was done. With such damning scores the one grain of hope I have for the Cu Dhub is Jim Murray’s comment in the 2013 bible of “a malt which has improved beyond recognition in recent years”. Whatever the outcome, at £4 for a miniature I think it was worth the gamble!

53.5/100 on Whiskybase is one of, if not the worst score I’ve seen on there. Comments include “probably the worst whisky that I have tasted” , “very close to undrinkable” and “this is not whisky”.

Expert whisky reviewer Mark Dermul scores the Cu Dhub 52/100 and here are his thoughts on You Tube (December 2013):

Strathmill 1990 (Carn Mor c.19-year-old)

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
79/100 – Whiskybase (average from 2 member votes)

This Strathmill is part of the 24 x 20cl bottles that make up the Carn Mor Vintage Collection. Distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2009, it’s from a limited edition of 1260, Cask No: 2400. Non-chill filtered,  no added colour and 46%, so the makings of something very delightful! 79/100 on Whiskybase is a reasonable score but I would have hoped for something higher from a 19yo.

Glentauchers 2006 (Carn Mor 3-year-old)

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
76/100 – Whiskybase (average from 3 member votes)
70/100 – Whisky Fun

This Glentauchers is part of the 24 x 20cl bottles that make up the Carn Mor Vintage Collection. Distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2009, at 3 years old whisky doesn’t come younger than this! It’s from a limited edition of 921, Cask No: 9. Non-chill filtered,  no added colour and 46%.

Serge Valentin of Whiskyfun.com tried this young Glentauchers in February 2012 and thought the taste was “not bad, to be honest, quite oily, with some barley water, pear liqueur and touches of liquorice allsorts. Very simple, very sweet, with good body.” He concludes with “quite passable, this baby whisky. Not one to nose but it’s kind of sippable.”

76/100 on Whiskybase is a good-to-average rating. One of the votes, Willie JJ, scores it 81/100 and leaves the following tasting notes:

Nose: Summer fruit pie and custard, gooseberries, pot ale and bran. Very youthful but clearly very well made spirit.
Taste: Custard tart and cream, tinned peaches, icing sugar. Sweet and quite delicious.
Finish: Long, creamy and sweet with the custard theme continuing.
Comments: An astonishing 3 year old. A really good example of the quality of this obscure distillery.

Glenallachie 1992 (Carn Mor c.17-year-old)

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
80.5/100 – Whiskybase (average from 2 member votes)

This Glenallachie is part of the 24 x 20cl bottles that make up the Carn Mor Vintage Collection. Distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2009, it’s from a limited edition of 953, Cask No: 587. Non-chill filtered,  no added colour and 46%, so the makings of something very delightful!

Craigellachie 1999 (Carn Mor c.10-year-old)

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
74/100 – Whiskybase (from 1 member vote)

This Craigellachie is part of the 24 x 20cl bottles that make up the Carn Mor Vintage Collection. Distilled in 1999 and bottled in 2009, it’s from a limited edition of 1041, Cask No: 137. Non-chill filtered,  no added colour and 46%.

Experienced whisky taster and reviewer Mark Dermul gives us these tasting notes and comments:

Nose: The nose is very spirity and grainy. Close to the new make, it would seem. Mostly white fruit like apples and pears, sweet malt and some white sugar. Not much else, though.
Taste: It is oily on the palate and thanks to a mild mix of peppers shows a little more character. But still rather flimsy. Very sweet and again rather spirity.
Finish: The finish is short and sweet.
Comments: This is a little Craigellachie. Nice to have tasted, but nothing to be on the lookout for.

Ben Nevis 1997 (Carn Mor c.12-year-old)

Bought – Single Malts Direct, 3rd October 2013

Ratings:
83.33/100 – Whiskybase (average from 3 member votes)

This Ben Nevis is part of the 24 x 20cl bottles that make up the Carn Mor Vintage Collection. Distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2009, it’s from a limited edition of 1275, Cask No: 252. Non-chill filtered,  no added colour and 46%, so the makings of something very delightful!

Although reviews for the 20cl Carn Mor collection are hard to find, I did stumble across this assessment of the Ben Nevis on Whiskyconnosr by markjedi1, a keen whisky drinker from Belgium with over 1000 reviews. He scores it 79/100, with comments that sound very reasonable. He also has his own blog in Flemish, which proved to me that I don’t understand a word of Flemish! No surprise there. But he also has his own whisky website in English The Toshan Man which I’m delighted to give a plug to.

Tasting notes from Whiskybase:

Nose: Sweet, malty, bananas, caramel, rubbery, some smoke
Taste: Sweet, caramel, fruity (grapefruit, oranges), smoky, aniseed
Finish: Medium long, sweet, aniseed