McClelland's Islay Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: McClelland’s

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Islay

Age: Not specified but most likely around 5 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Date: 19/04/2012

Colour: Pale Gold/Amber

Nose: Peat, Dirt, Light Smoke, Leather and Tobacco. Young Oak, Brine and harsh Alcohol are there as well. A faint hint of Chocolate, Lemon and Dried Fruits. As so often, the Nose is the (slightly) better part of this Whisky. The smell reminds you of a young Bowmore but without the sweet tones that make most Islay whiskies such delicious spirits.

Taste: Medicinal, Metallic, Hot Pepper, Alcohol, Rough Green Wood, Earth, bit of Sugar. Misses Fruit and sweet Malt. Unbalanced and not overly pleasant.

Finish: Hot bite on the tongue, Bitter and Dry. Bitter Dirt/Earth and Wet Leather remain for quite a while. Not very pleasant.

I added a few drops of water and the Nose becomes milder. The Smoke and Leather retreat. The Peat remains with hints of white Chocolate. The palate also benefits somewhat because the Pepper and Alcohol are watered down. The Finish is less hot. This Malt accepts some water but the overall impression on the Palate remains rather unpleasant.

Rating: 72

Nose: 19 – Taste: 18 – Finish: 17– Overall: 18

General Remarks: A McClelland’s Distillery does not exist. It’s a series of 5 Single Malt Whiskies from the main Scottish production areas. Four of them, the Highland, the Lowland, the Speyside and the Islay are NAS or Non-Age Specified. In 2008, a Speyside 12 Years was added. McClelland’s Parent company is Morrison Bowmore Distilleries (Suntory Group). They are the owners of Auchentoshan (Lowland), Bowmore (Islay) and Glen Garioch (Highland), so it is safe to say that this expression was distilled at Bowmore. McClelland’s main markets are the USA, Canada, Japan and France.

Drinking Experience Neat: Average

Conclusion: I think the makers of this Blend have focused too much on the Peat, Dirt and Ashes part of the Islay characteristics. There are no sweet Fruity and/or Sherry tones to be found and because of that this Single Malt is not well balanced. The young Alcohol gives an unwanted bite on the Finish. This Single Malt is really cheap at around US$ 25. Unfortunately, half the price means that you also get only half of an Islay. And that’s not good enough for me!

Jan van den Ende                                               April 2012

John Lennon -Plastic Ono Band- 1970 - Review

John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band - 1970

Songs: Mother, Hold On, I Found Out, Working Class Hero, Isolation, Remember, Love, Well Well Well, Look at Me, God, My Mummy’s Dead. 

Type of Music: Rock/Folk

Comments:

In 1970, John Lennon wanted the world to know that he was displeased and frustrated. About his childhood, his parents, his fans, politics, social inequality, Elvis, Bob Dylan and even the Beatles. Only Yoko Ono escaped from his anger, probably because she had ordered him to do so!

Or maybe because he thought he really loved her or…really loved her or…

Now John could have told us all about that but apparently that was not good enough. Therefore John Lennon’s first and unique solo album became one big frustrated scream. Let it all hang out man as they said back in the seventies.

The danger existed of course that John’s scream would have been hard to listen to. Fortunately that's not the case because he was still able to write mighty good rockers and tender piano ballads, all stylistically close to the songs on Let it Be. And he invited Ringo to play drums! His drumming is an important part of this Album and confirms that he is  one of the great Rock Drummers.      

Sometimes, like in Well Well Well , John´s therapy starts to be a bit annoying. And I’m really sorry about John’s Mum but that does not make My Mummy’s Dead a great song even considering it was taped in the kitchen of Yoko´s Sushi Restaurant. And I’m not too keen on Remember. It reminds me too much of Bring it on Home to Me and even copies part of the lyrics of that song.

But in general, I have few complaints about this album. The Re-Mastered Sound Quality is excellent and most of the songs are quite strong. I have to warn you that it’s not an easy album to listen to. The church bells that open the album are an indication of the doom that follows. But Rock Songs like Mother, I Found Out and Isolation are well written and produced. And Hold On, Love and Look at Me are gentle ballads. When listening to Love I can hear the idea of Imagine being formed.

My favorite tune on the Album however is the Dylan pastiche Working Class Hero, a very realistic picture of some of the characteristics of our social structure.

The Re-Mastered version offers a booklet with some photos of John & Yoko, all the lyrics, apparently in John’s Handwriting and two bonus songs. One is the strong revolutionary single Power to the People. The other one is an invitation to Do the Oz. Unfortunately I have to gracefully decline this invitation.

I don’t recall having ever heard such a personal record. It’s really unique in that sense. John never repeated the procedure so apparently he was cured. And that, I’m sorry to say, proved to be a loss for Classic Rock Music.  

Bonus Tracks: Power to the People, Do the Oz.

Who should buy this Record: This is Essential John Lennon! It is also a unique album. As such it should be part of every Classic Rock Collection.

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better

Sheep Dip Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Sheep Dip

Bottled by Spencerfield Spirit Company, Inverkeithing

Type: Blended Malt Whisky

Age: 8-12 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Date: 14-04-2012

Colour:  Gold/Copper

Nose: Combination of light Peat with Fresh Fruit (Melon, Orange, Pear maybe) and Dried Fruits (Apple, Sultanas). I also find Grains, Malt, Hay, some Oak and lightly salted Almonds.

Taste: Sweet delivery with lots of Brown Sugar, Honey, Toffee, Oak and Light Spices.

Finish: Sweet with Honey, Vanilla, light Spices, Cocoa and a touch of Orange liquor lingering for a minute or two.

When adding a couple of drops of water you get a little bit additional fresh fruit on the nose. Taste wise you just water it down and it gets slightly bitter so my advice is to drink this Vatted Blend straight.

Rating:  84,5 

Nose 21– Taste 21– Finish 21– Overall 21,5

General Remarks: Alex Nicol, who used to work for Whyte and Mackay, Laphroaig and Glenmorangie, founded The Spencerfield Spirit Company. The Sheep Dip Blend was prepared by Richard Paterson of Whyte and Mackay fame. British farmers have long referred to whisky as Sheep Dip. There was a time when farmers distilled their own “home-made” whisky and in order to avoid paying taxes they hid the whisky in barrels marked “Sheep Dip”. It contains 16 Single Malts from the main four Scottish production regions (Mostly Highlands and Speyside) that have aged in First Fill Oak Barrels. The sheep on the label looks more like an angry dog by the way!

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: This is a very nice Malt Blend with a Highland nose and Speyside characteristics on the Palate. It’s very well balanced although I would have preferred to get at least a hint of smoke. There’s some Peat on the Nose and a little bit of Salt that suggest that an Islay - and/or Island – and/or coastal Distillery was married into this Blend. This Blend is not for Islay addicts but if you dig Speysiders and Highlanders, this is a safe choice at a reasonable price!

Jan van den Ende                                                                     April 2012

Tomintoul 10 Years Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Tomintoul

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Speyside

Age: 10 Years

Alcohol: 40%

Date: 11/04/2012

Colour: Pale Gold.

Nose: Malt, Oak, Baked Apples, Buttered Toast. There is some Alcohol there so you have to try and get around it. A bit of Custard or Vanilla, Nuts and Light Spices. There are some Floral and Grassy tones but I find it difficult to define them.

Taste: The delivery is smooth but on the light side. Brown Sugar, Toasted Grains, Honey, Malt, Toffee. Light Spices (Cinnamon).

Finish: Middle Long with Almonds, Lemon, Malt and Honey. Spices (Nutmeg and Crave) and Apples hang in there for quite a while. Dry towards the end.

With a couple of drops of water the Nose gains more Floral tones and Toasted Barley. On the Palate it eases down the spices but it becomes a little too watery for my taste. You can experiment with a couple of drops but don’t overdo it!

Rating:  83

Nose: 21 – Taste: 20,5 – Finish: 21 – Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: This distillery only started its operations in 1964 and has been released as a Single Malt since 1973. Its nickname is The Gentle Dram. The distillery is located close to the river Avon, some 13 kilometres outside the village of Tomintoul. Since 2000 the distillery is owned by Angus Dundee Distillers PLC, London.

Drinking Experience Straight: Good

Conclusion: This whisky deserves its nickname although it’s actually quite spicy in the finish. This is certainly not a bad Single Malt but I don’t think it’s balanced enough. The Malt and Toast are too present on the nose and so is the Brown Sugar on the palate. I miss Fruit and Sherry and sweet Vanilla. On the other hand, there are nice Spices to be found in here. No complaints there. The Finish is certainly interesting. So to sum it all up: I’m glad I had the chance to try it out but I won’t go after a full bottle of the Tomintoul 10 Years. I will try to find some other expressions of this Distillery though!

Jan van den Ende                                                                    April 11, 2012

Jethro Tull - Inside - Review

Jethro Tull - Inside - 1970

Songs: With You There to Help Me, Nothing to Say, Alive and Well and Living In, Son, For Michael Collins Jeffrey and Me, To Cry You a Song, A Time for Everything, Inside, Play in Time, Sossity You´re a Woman.  

Type of Music: (Hard) Rock with bits and pieces of Folk and Psychedelic Rock.

Comments:

What a different record when compared to Stand Up. The atmosphere is dark and sometimes somewhat depressing but at the same time very coherent. Part of this surely stems from the fact that John Evan joined the Tull on keyboards. This gave Martin Barre more confidence and Artistic Freedom and he used it to our Benefit. 

Ian Anderson clearly did not like the Commercial Pressure put on the band after the success of Stand Up and reacted by delivering Benefit, a non-conformist Hard Rock Album. Yes, you heard me quite right. It´s mainly Hard Rock and quite good as well. The Tull is vastly underrated as a Hard Rock Band as most of the attention tends to go to Ian and his Flute. Not that Ian minds that by the way. He must be one of the Biggest Egos in Musical History.

His flute of course does make the difference between the Tull and your common Hard Rock Band. A good example is the very strong Album opener With You There to Help Me, a duel between Ian´s Flute and Martin´s Guitar that ends in a draw after a very exciting match.

Benefit suffers a bit from the lack of recognisable Riffs. As a result the songs tend to leave your brains just as quick as they enter. But they also grow on you with time and that’s the main reason that this Album gets regular spins in my CD Player. Other great songs include Play in Time and the single Inside, the only somewhat lighter composition on the album with Ian´s Flute seemingly floating through the song. Great bass from Glenn Cornick as well. 

Inside is mostly forgotten, released as it was between the giants Stand Up and Aqualung. And although it´s gloomy and dark and maybe sometimes a bit pretentious, it contains some great music and certainly deserves more attention than it usually gets. People who enjoy Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath will not be disappointed by this Album.  

At the end of the Sixties and begin Seventies , JT also released many good singles. Two of them, Witch´s Promise and Teacher are included in the Remastered version released in 2001, together with Singing All Day and Just Trying to Be.

The two singles are extremely catchy Prog-Rock songs and those two songs alone already justify buying the Remastered Version of Benefit.

Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better

Who should buy this Record:  This is not the place to start your Tull collection. However if you prefer Tull´s Hard Rock side above the Prog-Rock and/or Folk side, Inside is for you.

Bonus Tracks: Singing All Day, Witch´s Promise, Just Trying To Be, Teacher.