Old and Rare Whiskies - Part I
Hello from sunny Miami! As we all begin to self-isolate to reduce the spread of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, I've decided to return to this blog from a long hiatus and share some tasting notes and thoughts on some exceptional rare or old whiskies that my wife and I have had the pleasure of trying in the last few months.
It's important for whiskey fans to remember that age is not the end-all, be-all as a measure of the quality of a dram. Having now tried several hundred whiskies, I've discovered that there are a few consistently valuable markers for sussing out quality whiskey, and age is at best third or fourth on the list. Number one undoubtedly is the identity of the distillery. If you find someone whose product you love, try more of that maker's products. All distilleries are not created equal. For example, I'd happily drink a 12-year-old sherried Glendronach over an 18-year-old from almost any Speyside distillery, or anything from Lagavulin, Kilchoman, Caol Ila, Laphroaig, or Ardbeg over 25- or 30-year-olds from other Scotch regions simply because I have such a strong preference for peaty flavors.
The type of cask and aging process are also tremendously influential. Ex-bourbon and sherry casks produce radically different flavors, and whiskies that are finished in sherry (i.e., that start in bourbon for several years before spending a final few months in sherry butts) are not the same as those that start out there. In addition, I prefer first-fill barrels whenever possible because those impart flavor far quicker than refill casks. Indeed, a lot of older whiskies that you'll try may be aged in relatively used up refill casks, so the extra aging was necessary just to draw enough flavor out. In those cases, age may be a hint of mediocrity rather than quality, akin to a student who graduates high school at 20 rather than 17. A first-fill dram from an active cask, on the other hand, will explode out of the glass after a decade or so.
If quality does not invariably follow age, price does. The inexorable physical reality of whiskey making and whiskey aging is that each year in the barrel diminishes the volume inside, due to the angel's share, and distilleries dump most their barrels well short of their 20th birthdays. Thus, the consumer purchasing an older whiskey is paying for rarity more than anything else.
With all that being said, it is a treat to try unusual, old, and rare whiskies, and I'm going to spend the next two or three articles covering some of the ones that we've enjoyed over the last three or four months.
Laphroaig 30, The Ian Hunter Story (46.7% ABV) - It pays to be a Friend of Laphroaig. Earlier this month, we attended a tasting sponsored by the free-to-join Friends of Laphroaig society, the distillery-run fan club from my personal favorite distillery in the whole world. I quite frankly could not have afforded to try this rarefied dram otherwise. The Ian Hunter Story is the first in a new series from Laphroaig, which promises to honor notable figures from the distillery's legendary history. It's 30 years old and costs around $1,250 for a bottle (or a staggering $50 an ounce!).
The irony of older Laphroaig is that the features that first attract us to Islay whisky, like its intensity and smokiness, diminish noticeably with age. Like us, it mellows out and loses its sharp edges with every additional decade. Here, three decades have transformed the ashy bonfires of its heavily peated malt into notes of incense and cedar on the nose, which at times resembles a gin in its herbal and citric fruit nature. Dried, candied pineapple and almonds are more prominent than the peat, which confirms something I've noted in other 20-year-plus Laphroaigs: the medicinal notes in younger expressions mature into potent, slightly funky tropical fruit. The palate is medicinal tea twinned with grilled pineapple and retains that juniper-esque, gin flavor. Some smoke reasserts itself on the finish in wisps of black tea and brine.
In my humble view, perhaps driven out of economic necessity, I prefer teenaged Laphroaig to its older siblings and cousins. Laphroaig in the 14- to 18-year-old range is divine whisky perfection. We've had the privilege to try several independent bottlings over 20, and the official 25 and 30; while they reveal some deep undercurrents concealed in younger expressions, they lose as much as they gain. For me, Lore and the 10 Cask Strength are the pinnacle of the current lineup.
To paraphrase the bard, "Nothing of it that doth fade/But doth suffer a sea-change/Into something rich and strange." B+
Glendronach Master Vintage 1993 (48.2%) - I tried this dram at a recent tasting hosted by the distillery at Bachour Bakery (Esquire's pastry chef of the year for 2019). Glendronach is my favorite sherried whisky, but I'm afraid I have to say that this is far from my favorite Glendronach. To be clear, I'm not saying that this is a bad whisky. It's a tremendously accomplished expression and one that highlights different facets of the distillery's deep inventory. Compared to the dessert drams that characterize the standard lineup, such as the cherry compote of the delicious 12-year-old (which blows Macallan out of the water) and the supreme 18-year-old (again, Macallan who?), this whisky is dry and almost savory. Nutty flavors predominate: bitter walnut, almond and amaretto, and creamy cashew. If I'd tasted it blind, I wouldn't have guessed that it was 20+ years old, because some grassy or herbal notes remind me of younger whiskies. There are bitter components that can be quite pleasurable, like cocoa or coffee, but there are a few too many to achieve the ideal balance. C+
Ardbeg 19 Traigh Bhan (46.2%) - Ardbeg and Macallan provoke a lot of intense fan devotion and, as a consequence, have some of the most extreme pricing in the single malt market. The unfortunate reality is that those prices put their virtuoso expressions out of reach for the average consumer, including this humble whisky drinker. Nonetheless, I was lucky enough to try this new, 19-year-old addition to the distillery's permanent lineup at a recent tasting that focused on sister brand Glenmorangie. It costs somewhere around $300-400 at the local liquor store.
In contrast to its Islay neighbors, Laphroaig and Lagavulin, Ardbeg's malt seems characteristically "heavy." It's dense and oily, an effect that doubles when aged in sherry casks that darkens and enrichens the fruit notes already present in the distillate. What it shares in common with those other distilleries is that it reaches peak balance and complexity in its mid to late teens, so Mickey Head and team made a wise choice by fixing this new permanent lineup addition at this age. The smoke has softened up enough that it doesn't aggressively attack the palate, instead blending together flavors of long-steeped tea, cedar woodsmoke, and barbecue char in an intoxicating combination. This whisky has pronounced streaks of brown sugar, caramel, and dark chocolate as well. It's an overelaborated Michelin star restaurant dessert of a dram, and one of my favorite Ardbegs. Although it's hard to find a direct comparison, Lagavulin Distiller's Edition has a similar profile and is close in age (around 17 years), for about $200 less. In light of the stratospheric pricing, I have to deduct a half-star or so for this bottle. A-
Ardbeg Supernova 2019 (53.8%) - Take this with a grain of salt (and there's quite a few of those in this whisky's flavor profile), for I've never tried the older Supernovas, but this is a bruiser of a single malt. I tried this back to back with the Traigh Bhan, and they are incredibly different. Traigh Bhan has a mellower, better integrated profile with more chocolate and coffee notes that come from the union of bitter and sweet notes. In comparison, Supernova is ashy billows of smoke from nose to finish, with a generous dose of salinity. It is fairly similar to, although easier drinking than, Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, and I prefer that bottle due to its superior availability and humbler price point. B+
More reviews to come, and hope everyone is safe and healthy!