BenRiach 1991 Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - Speyside

Brand: BenRiach 1991 (Mo Or Collection)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age:  19 Years

ABV:  46 %

Colour: Light Gold

Nose: Quite Floral, Mineral, Herbal, Earthy and Grassy with hints of Heather and cooked Endive. I also find Malt, Butter, Vanilla, Oak, Sugared Pear Drops, light Spices, Honey, Apple Vinegar and a pinch of Salt. The Alcohol is very nicely incorporated. Still, it's not quite what I had expected from a BenRiach given the fact that the 16 Year OB is one of my favourites so far on the Journey. This 1991 is not bad but just a little bit disappointing. Do give it some time (30-40 minutes) to open up.  

Palate: Creamy and slightly Bitter-Sweet delivery with Grapefruit, Honey, Oak, Heather, Vanilla, Spices, Licorice, Mint, Toffee, Malt and Wax.

Finish: Quite Sweet and Creamy with Buttered Toast and Honey, light Spices, Fresh Cut Grass, Mint and Heather.

With a little bit of Water, the Nose gets more Malt, Buttered Toast and Honey and loses some of the Grassy and Herbal notes. On the Palate and in the Finish you get more Wood, Licorice and Spices (Pepper). As usual I prefer it neat but you can certainly experiment with a couple of drops of Water at the time. 

Rating: 84.5

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

General Remarks:  The BenRiach distillery is located in the heart of the Speyside between Elgin and Rothes. It was founded in 1898 by John Duff, the owner of the nearby Longmorn distillery. The BenRiach 1991 from The Whisky Talker/Mo Or (Gaelic for My Gold) that we're tasting today was distilled on the 24th of September, 1991 and bottled on the 9th of March, 2011. The whisky matured in a Bourbon Hogshead (Cask # 110681). A total of 300 bottles was reserved for the Mo Or Collection. It's priced at around 125 US Dollars per 50 Cl bottle. The Whisky Talker is an Independent Bottler from the Netherlands. 

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: A well-crafted and interesting whisky but very difficult to recognise as a BenRiach. It's unusually Floral and Herbal and the Honey is all over the place. I could do without the Wax and the Grapefruit on the Palate as they seem out of place somewhat as is the Apple Vinegar on the Nose. But those are minor points really. Certainly a whisky you could look for if the above flavour and aroma profile fits you. However, I think I'll stick to the BenRiach 16 as long as my bottle lasts!

Jan van den Ende                                                           September 11, 2013

Roger Waters The Wall Concert Review

Hello everybody and Welcome to Best Shot Whisky Reviews where a shot of good old Classic Rock is always welcome as well. Today my dutch pall Terry Mace Hardyman gives us a short review of the Roger Water concert in Amsterdam last Sunday. Some pictures are included as well. Thanks a lot Terry, it's clear you had a great night despite some problems with the sound.

Cheers!

Jan

Roger Waters - The Wall - Amsterdam - September 8, 2013 

By special request a short review of Roger Waters performance of "The Wall" in the Amsterdam Arena, Sunday evening, 8th September 2013. The Amsterdam Arena can hold up to 45.000 spectators and was sold out to capacity. Although the Dutch press was very impressed by the performance, I myself was not too happy. The Amsterdam Arena has a bad reputation with regard to its acoustics. Apparently it depends where you are sitting. In my position the stage was to the right of me and from time to time, especially at maximum volume, the sound became "blurred" especially during "Comfortably Numb" during which number the solo guitar was completely drowned by the accompanying sound effects. 

Very impressive was the use of the so called "quadro" technique. For instance you experienced the sound of an aeroplane as if it were flying just above your head. As a visual experience "The Wall" was overpowering. The wall itself - consisting of white blocks - was built up from one end of the stage to the other and used as a huge projection screen on which all kinds of videos were projected including "live" close ups of the band. 

During the performance of the hit single "Another Brick in the Wall", Roger Waters was assisted by young children from a local Amsterdam school who performed magnificently. Roger thanked them for their cooperation in a "Pidgin Dutch" speech. All in all it has been an unforgettable evening. A pity that the sound (at least where I was sitting) was such a meddle (!). 

Driving home I played the CD in the car which sounded a lot better.

Terry Mace Hardyman                                            September 2013

The Writer (Left)

Clynelish 1997 Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland - North

Brand: Clynelish 1997 (Archives Inaugural Release)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 14 Years

ABV: 53.9 %

Date: 09/09/2013

Colour: Pale Straw/Light Gold

Nose: Lots of Citrus, mainly Mandarin, Orange Peel and Lemon. I also get Grassy/Herbal/Floral Tones, Straw, Malt, Oak, Vanilla, Buttered Toast, Marzipan, Bourbon, Spices and something reminiscent of Shoe Polish. Hints of Almonds and Nuts in general. The Alcohol is still a bit on the rough side. 

Palate: Again Citrus and lots of Spices like Pepper, Cinnamon and Ginger. I also find Oak, Vanilla, Bourbon, Grapes, Cereals, light Licorice and some Floral tones. It reminds me of Ginger-Ale or Lemon-Tonic from time to time. The Alcohol stings somewhat.

Finish: Middle-Long, Bitter Sweet and a bit Sharp with Citrus such as Mandarin and Grapefruit, Oak, Cinnamon, Ginger and Wax  

I added a bit of Water and the Nose becomes quite Malty, Floral and Mineral. On the Palate the Alcohol is toned down but the Finish gets too Waxy for my taste.

Rating: 81

Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 20 - Finish: 20 - Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Clynelish Distillery was opened in 1819 and rebuilt in 1896. In 1968 a new Clynelish Distillery was erected nearby and the old Distillery was renamed Brora (The Bridges River). Brora was closed in May 1983 and part of the buildings are used by Clynelish, now owned by Diageo. Archives is the relatively young own label of Independent Whisky Bottler Whiskybase from the Netherlands. The 1997 Inaugural Release was distilled in July 1997 and bottled for Whiskybase in July 2011. It matured in a Bourbon Hogshead with Cask # 4634 and 160 bottles of 700 ml were sold via Whiskybase. This Whisky is naturally coloured and not Chill-Filtered. It's not available anymore at Whiskybase but was sold at around 85 US Dollars

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion: This is not my favourite style of Whisky. It's more like a Herbal Liqueur or Grappa. The Alcohol is still quite sharp and Citrus and Spices rule but in a rough and almost acid way. To my mind, Wood and Spirit are not fully in harmony. Well, can't like them all!

Jan van den Ende                                                        September 2013

Back to Whisky!

Hello Everybody and Welcome Back to Best Shot Whisky Reviews,

It's good to be back after two weeks in Europe. First of all I went a week to the Netherlands to visit my family and be present at the wedding of my nephew Peter and his wife Nienke on Saturday, August 31, 2013 in Bergschenhoek. It was a Garden Wedding and thankfully the weather was beautiful. It was a great day,  everybody was dressed up beautifully and we had a lot of fun!. Below you see a nice picture of Peter, Nienke and their daughter Bente.

Then I went on to London for a one week course on Financial Valuations and Mergers and Acquisitions. It had been a while since I last visited the city and I was impressed again by the beauty and historical importance of its buildings, bridges and churches. The hotel where we were staying was close to the Tower and Tower Bridge and at night the view is really exceptional.

In itself, this two week trip had no direct relations to Whisky although my brother in law and I spend almost an afternoon planning our visit to Scotland (Speyside, Islay and Jura) in 2014. You can imagine how much I look forward to that! And I did buy some whiskies at the Duty Free and a couple of miniatures in London and Rotterdam. But when I thought about it both my visits to Rotterdam (Wedding) and London (Mergers) could be compared to the Vatting and Marrying of Single Malts or Blends. So it was about Whisky after all!

I'm really looking forward to do another Tasting as I have been dry for a little more than 2 weeks. Later today I will taste the Clynelish 1997 Archives bottled by Whiskybase, Rotterdam. I will post the Tasting Notes tomorrow. It's good to be back and see people from all over the world entering the site and reading about our great spirit. So thanks a lot for that and Dram On!

Jan

Macallan 10 Fine Oak Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Macallan Fine Oak

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Highland 

Age: 10 Years 

Alcohol: 40%

Date: 22/08/2013

Colour: Pale Straw

Nose: Rather young, thin and not very complex. The Alcohol is not yet fully integrated. Nevertheless it's not unpleasant. Fruity and Floral. Buttered Puff Pastry and Orange Marmalade, Vanilla, Grain, Butterscotch, light Sherry, Green Oak, Straw, Honey, Cherries, Pineapple, Heather and Milk Chocolate. 

Taste: Slightly Thin Delivery with Barley Sugar, Bitter Oak, Lemon, Vanilla, Spices, Cocoa Powder, Nuts, Caramel, Orange Peel and Honey. Hints of White Wine. 

Finish: Middle-Long with slightly Bitter Oak, Citrus, Spices, Cherry Flavoured Candies and Honey.

I added a few drops of water and you gain extra Honey, Heather, Vanilla, Butterscotch, Apricot and Milk Chocolate on the Nose. Palate and Finish suffer from the added Water. But it pays off to Nose it after adding half a teaspoon of Water.

Rating: 81.5

Nose: 21 - Taste: 20  – Finish: 20 – Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Macallan Distillery was founded in 1824 and is located in Craigellachie, Moray. It is part of the Edrington Group since 1999. Generally, the Macallan whisky is considered a Sherried Speysider by nature although by law (2009) Craigellachie is considered Highland territory. Most Macallans traditionally matured in Ex- Sherry Casks from Jerez. In 2004 however the Fine Oak Series were introduced. The spirit matures in a mix of Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry Casks. In fact the label states "Triple Cask Matured" as some of the Bourbon White Oak Casks were seasoned with Sherry and others with Bourbon. There are quite a few people that suspect that the lack of availability of Ex-Sherry Casks was at least one of the reasons to launch the Fine Oak. Worldwide, Macallan is one of the biggest selling Single Malts alongside Glenlivet and Glenfiddich. Prices of the 10 Fine Oak vary from place to place but usually it is priced in the range of 40 to 70 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: Many Macallan fans were not very thrilled when the Fine Oak Series were released as the Sherry forms such an important part of the Macallan flavour profile. Judged on a stand-alone basis however the 10 Years Fine Oak is a simple but not unpleasant entry Single Malt. Not unlike a standard Glenlivet for example. It does not score higher because of the Bitter Oak that spoils a lot of the fun. And that's a pity! 

Jan van den Ende                                                             August  2013