Cragganmore 1991 Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - Speyside

Brand: Cragganmore

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age:  20 Years

ABV:  53.4% 

Date: 09/05/2013

Colour: Pale Straw/White Wine  

Nose: My first impressions were Buttered Toast and Apricot Marmalade, Malt, Vanilla, Hazelnuts and Marzipan. But they fade away quickly and the Cragganmore becomes quite Mineral, Woody and Nutty. There is some Alcohol present which is normal given the high ABV.  I also get Lemon, Honey, Raisins, Apple-Syrup, Cinnamon and maybe a hint of Leather. The Buttered Toast and Apricot Marmalade return after a while.

Palate: Quite Floral with Honey, Lemon-Pepper, Vanilla, Sweet Barley, Oak, Ginger, Cloves, Pineapple and Banana.

Finish: Rather Short and Dry with Lemon-Pepper, Herbs, Pepper, Sweet Barley and Cloves.

I added a bit of Water and I get more Malt, Toast, Apples, Honey and Nuts on the Nose and Lemon-Pepper on the Palate. You can perfectly experiment with a couple of drops here without overdoing it of course.

Rating: 84.5

Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21

General Remarks: The Cragganmore Distillery was founded in 1869 by John Smith and is located in the village of Ballindalloch in Banffshire. It's now part of the Diageo Group and Cragganmore is part of their Classic Malts Selection. This specific Cragganmore was distilled on March 8, 1991 and 80 bottles were bottled at Cask Strength by Whiskybroker Co. UK on October 14, 2011. I believe that Masters of Malt bottled the rest of this cask. The Cragganmore matured in a refill Hogshead with Cask # 1146. This Single Malt is not coloured artificially and is non chill-filtered. It was for sale at around 60 US Dollars but it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get it by now.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good.

Conclusion: The first impressions on the Nose were excellent but they faded away too quickly. On the Palate and in the Finish this Cragganmore is quite Floral with a strong presence of Lemon-Pepper. It's a well-crafted whisky but I had expected much more depth and complexity of a 20 Year old Single Malt bottled at Cask Strength. Wouldn't consider buying a full bottle of this!

Jan van den Ende                                                                            May 2013

Neil Young - Harvest - Review

This is a difficult Album for me to review. Everybody knows most of the songs well and they still get a lot of airplay. They are sort of okay I guess but still... ! Neil and his band the Stray Gators go commercial here. Everything sounds smooth and polished and the public loved it. Both the Album and the single Heart of Gold (with Back-Up vocals from James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt) went to # 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. And Heart of Gold  part II called Old Man also reached the Top 100. So the public loved it and much later Neil even told the press that Harvest was his best Album. But is it and did Neil really mean what he said? And what does a die-hard Neil Young fan like myself makes of this Album?
It´s mainly a country album with tunes like Out in the Country and Harvest. And they are quite nice actually. There are also two songs with the participation of the London Symphony Orchestra, namely A Man Needs a Maid and There´s a World. I´ve always cared for the words of the latter song but the arrangements are sweeter than Brazilian Sugar. Both Alabama with backing vocals from Stills & Crosby and the drugged out jam Words (Between the lines of Age) with backing vocals by Stills & Nash sound like Southern Man rip-offs.

All songs are written by Neil and they deal with a lot of his problems. With women, with drugs, with getting old. Don´t we all? Get old I mean.

Everybody knows The Needle and the Damage Done but listen once more to Till the Morning Comes on the Gold Rush album and tell me it´s not basically the same song. The whole album sounds a bit tired. Neil´s back problems at the time might have influenced that.

To me Harvest is the main stream version of After the Gold Rush. It worked commercially. It failed artistically in my opinion. Neil never recorded an album like this again. Even Harvest Moon, recorded some 25 years later sounds more authentic. But that´s still in the future.

In the present only Are You Ready For the Country holds the promise of Tonight´s the Night.

So yeah, most people will probably like Harvest but it is certainly not Neil's best album and although it's not bad, it ain´t my favourite!    

Songs: Out in the Weekend, Harvest, A Man Needs a Maid, Heart of Gold, Are You Ready for the Country, Old Man, There´s a World, Alabama, The Needle and the Damage Done, Words (Between the Lines of Age)

Type of Music: Mainstream Country(Rock)/Folk/Pop

Rating: ******* (7 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better

Who should buy this Record: Everybody that likes Heart of Gold probably already owns the Album. It´s not really essential though.

Monkey Shoulder Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - Speyside

Brand: Monkey Shoulder

Type: Blended Malt Whisky

Age:  NAS

ABV:  40 %

Colour: Golden

Nose: Nothing special but not unpleasant with Malt, Toast, Orange Marmalade, Oak, Dried Fruit, Plums, Apples, Nectarine, Honey, Vanilla, Grass/Straw, light Butterscotch, Bread Dough, Brown Sugar and light Aniseed. Some Floral Tones as well.

Palate: A bit on the Thin Side with Malt, Toast, Butterscotch, slightly Bitter Oak, Toffee, Lemon, Brown Sugar, Plums, Strawberries, Pepper, Cloves, Olive Oil and Honey.

Finish: Short with Malt, Pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg, light Licorice, Honey, Vanilla and Oak.

The Monkey Shoulder does not accept added Water very well. It becomes too thin really.

Rating: 79

Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 19.5 - Finish: 19.5 - Overall: 19.5

The Balvenie Distillery

General Remarks: Monkey Shoulder is the popular name for a painful but temporary injury that Malt Men suffered on the Malting Floor while turning the Malted Barley with a shovel repetitively. It's also the name of this mix of three Single Malts owned by William Grant & Sons Ltd. They are the Glenfiddich, the Balvenie and Kininvie. The Blend (Batch 27) was distilled and matured in Dufftown by W.Grant. The three Single Malts mature in First Fill Ex-Bourbon Casks before being blended in small batches of 27 casks only. The Monkey Shoulder is certainly affordable at around - or slightly below 40 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good

Conclusion: It's not a bad blend although it tastes rather young and somewhat unfinished. And while the Nose is not unpleasant, I find Monkey Shoulder too Thin on the Palate and not interesting enough to sip neat.  It's okay on the Rocks or in Cocktails. I prefer The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 over this any time.

I tasted this Blend again on December 28, 2015. I have made some small changes in the Tasting Notes but the final Rating remains unchanged. The Nose is okay but Palate and Finish are not really interesting. A Good Blend to drink on the Rocks! 

Jan van den Ende                                   May 6, 2013 and December 28, 2015