SMWS 2003 9.289 Break The Mould Artist #13 SMWS 40th Anniversary 20 yo

 

 

 

53,9°

Distillery : The Glen Grant - Speyside  

1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead

Independent Bottling 

By Scotch Malt Whisky Society 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

We're still working our way through the 5 bottlings specially distributed by La Maison du Whisky in France to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Unfortunately, I wasn't served the last two, so this will be the last. It's a Glen Grant aged 20 years in an Oloroso Sherry Hogshead. Only 174 bottles were filled, with a label featuring an artwork by Claire Barclay, entitled Unearthing 1.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Gourmand red fruits, blueberries and blackcurrants, with a mineral and balsamic touch. It's woody, with cinnamon and ginger, very liquoriced, but quite airy. Quince jam, fruit jelly, a few earthy notes. Still very fruity on the palate, with muscat grapes, ripe damsons, velvety cherries, soft caramel and lively spices, cloves and pepper. The finish is long, chocolatey and full-bodied, with hints of arabica, crushed figs and chocolate fondant. Nutmeg, pine needles, heather, brown sugar, sweet pears.

 

In Short, 

I found the whole thing very successful, a fine Sherry perfectly mastered, I was especially delighted by the finish, which is magnificently done, with light floral touches, spices and cocoa. Really, I'd be delighted to buy it, but it's only for the die-hard fans, as the value for money is unbalanced.

Score : 90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           The Fyoogs - You Stole the Dark

SMWS 2007 85.89 Worm Tub Magic Artist #13 SMWS 40th Anniversary 15 yo

 

 

 

58,9° 

Distillery : Glen Elgin - Speyside

1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead

Independent Bottling 

By Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

It's still the birthday party for Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the trading company founded by Pip Hills in 1983. And the second bottling in the series of 5 commemorating this event in the Artist #13 range launched by La Maison du Whisky is this 15-year-old Glen Elgin, aged in an Oloroso Sherry Hogshead. 234 bottles were produced, all featuring Claire Barclay's artwork entitled New View 2.

Let's Taste It : 

Nose with a certain minerality, and well done, with beeswax and maple syrup, fine oak, some vinous notes, yellow fruit, apricots, quinces, caramel and liquorice. Tightly wound strings, sharp leather. On the palate, as woody as ever, oak bark set with a little moss, dried figs and dates, toffee, cooked butter, harmonious spices, pepper, cinnamon. The finish is long and well-crafted, with hints of chocolate and liquorice, sandalwood, ginger, blood orange and Chasselas grapes.

 

In Short, 

Magnificently well-crafted, some of the distillery's hallmarks can be found despite the pervasive influence of Oloroso. It just lacks a little explosiveness in the finish to make it great. Here, it's just very good, but it will delight enthusiasts. The price, however, is outrageous, which is a shame.

Score : 89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           The Five Dollar Sugar - Bad Bad Girl

SMWS 2013 13.106 Stag Wine Artist #13 SMWS 40th Anniversary 10 yo

 

 

 

60,1°

Distillery : The Dalmore - Highlands

1st Fill Cosecha Wine Cask

Independent Bottling 

By Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Limited Edition 

Single Cask

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

For 40 years now, Pip Hills, through his trading company Scotch Malt Whisky Society, has been having fun putting codes on the bottles he sells. To celebrate this anniversary, La Maison du Whisky has offered to distribute some of the Society's finest bottles via its Artist range. Here we have a Dalmore aged in a cask of a sweet Andalusian wine called Cosecha, made from the Pedro Ximénez grape variety. 237 bottles are on sale, and the label features an artwork by Claire Barclay entitled New View I.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

The nose is full of sweet wine with vegetal notes. Grass cut in the morning, still beaded with dew, linden and birch bark, young trees. Stewed red fruits, damsons, muscat grapes, brandied cherries. Sandalwood, cinnamon, blood orange, minty freshness, slightly mineral. On the palate, spicy wood with a touch of vanilla and lots of red fruit, cloves, thyme and rosemary, some cereals, toasted wheat, crispy barley. The finish is long and chocolaty, quite explosive, powerful, liquorice and caramel, grapefruit coulis, braised peel, crushed nuts.

 

In Short, 

It's very well made, very close to excellence. The influence of the wine cask gives it something more frank and vigorous than the previous Dalmore I've tasted. And there's the same subtlety, the same depth. It's a complete success. I'd highly recommend it to fans of the distillery, except that it's completely sold out despite the sky-high price. Incidentally, I'd point out that SMWS bottling 13.105 was apparently already aged in a Cosecha cask, possibly the first part of the cask, and it was sold for more than half the price.

Score : 89  

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Bonnie Medicine - Crack Me Open

Secret Orkney 2006 M. Wigman & The Malt Affair 16 yo

 

 

 

52,9°

Distillery Officially Unknown - Islands

Bourbon Cask 

Independent Bottling 

By Michiel Wigman 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2022

Cask Strength

Peated around 20 ppm

Michiel Wigman is a little-known but highly reputed bottler on the market. He has only made around thirty bottlings in the last 5 years, but all of them are sought-after, particularly his They Inspired range. Here we have a cask from an unknown distillery based on the island of Orkney, but everyone knows it's Highland Park. For the occasion, Michiel Wigman has teamed up with The Malt Affair, a Singapore-based distributor. Officially, the nature of the cask is not known, but I can safely say that it is a Bourbon cask, probably a 2nd fill. I haven't been able to confirm anywhere that it's not cold-filtered or coloured, but I'd be very surprised if it were. 130 bottles are on sale, and the label was designed by Hans Dill.

Let's Taste It : 

A rough nose of dusty, medicinal peat, freshly ploughed earth, modelling clay, opening up to a lovely woody patina, royal jelly, brioche, vanilla and lemon crystals. Slightly floral, heather, thyme and rosemary. Rose Loukoum, icing sugar. Velvety on the palate, clove-like, heavy with vanilla and peat, the spices are virulent, lychee juice. Long finish, with a beautiful explosiveness, hazelnuts and chestnuts, shortbread biscuits, tiny touch of bitterness, intense wood, smokiness. Resin.

In Short, 

A totally typical Highland Park, you can recognise the distillery's profile without hesitation, more Highland Park than that, I don't know. On the nose, the peat is quite strong, but it evaporates after a while. It's a very good product, and if you're a fan of the distillery, I'd advise you to look for it, it's still available on certain websites. Please note that the price varies considerably.

Score : 89

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Robert Jon & The Wreck - Ballad of a Broken Hearted Man

Karuizawa 1999 Artist #13 19 yo

 

 

 

60°

Distillery : Karuizawa - Japan

Sherry Butt 

Independent Bottling 

By La Maison du Whisky 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2018

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Slightly Peated

 

 

 

The Karuizawa distillery is now more of a myth than a real distillery. It was mothballed in 2000, closed 11 years later, and definitively dismantled in 2012. But rumours suggest that it will be back in operation in a few years' time, with different stills and different know-how, but on the same site. Since the closure, speculation has been rife about the few casks still in circulation. This one, which I was lucky enough to taste, is undoubtedly one of the last. It's true that this distillery has its particularities. The distillate came exclusively from Golden Promise barley, reputed to be the best variety, the production method was deliberately artisanal, with wooden Mash Tuns, and most of the casks used were Sherry casks from Spain. Hua Yang now has exclusive rights to the remaining Karuizawa casks, and they have entrusted this one to La Maison du Whisky. This whisky raises questions because it came out of the cask in 2018, but was not released for sale until 5 years later. There is certainly a problem of traceability here, but that does not detract from the fact that this is a rare and exceptional bottling - only 180 bottles came out of the cask, which was a premium Sherry Butt. It seems that the Karuizawa from the last period, just before closure, were slightly peaty, like this one, around 10-15 ppm I'd say, but that's still very approximate. Artist Wang Yung Chiu has adorned the label with his work Moon Jar Serenade IV.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

It's pure Karuizawa, an inimitable style, dates and dried figs, smoked leather, beetroot, artichoke heart, all matched by a slight minerality, but without iodine, rather basalt, burnt wood, quartz and slate. Dried meat, smoked Aosta ham, and a drop of blood orange, dark chocolate filled with liquorice, woodwax and forest berries. Oily earth, just ploughed. Almost as intense on the palate, the beetroot gives way to candied citrus fruits, Ratte potato du Touquet, butternut, blueberries and other red fruits, measured spices, cloves and nutmeg. A few wisps of salt. Long finish, not explosive but constant, long crescendo of coffee, dark chocolate, quinces, cherries in brandy, macerated almonds, with a very slight bitterness. A drop of tar with a cloud of milk.

 

In Short, 

I found it completely original, and monstrously well made, of course. This is my first Karuizawa, but it's so unlike anything I've tasted before that I'm sure it's totally typical of the distillery. It's a product of another dimension, of brilliant radicalism, to be explored without moderation. The price is far more dangerous than the bottle itself.

Score : 91  

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Arvo Pärt - My Heart's in the Highlands

Ardbeg 1991 Artist #13 Over 30 yo

 

 

 

47,7°

Distillery : Ardbeg - Islay 

Bourbon Hogshead 

Independent Bottling 

By La Maison du Whisky 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Peated around 54 ppm

The Artist range was launched in 2011, and is now in its 13th batch. For this one, La Maison du Whisky has teamed up with Hua Yang, the Taiwanese trading company founded by Eric Huang in 2008. Hua Yang has entrusted some of its rarest for the occasion, including this one, which has held Ardbeg for at least 31 years. Conceived at a time when Ardbeg only distilled for two months of the year, this whisky has an elegant, venerable, even austere profile, compared to its younger siblings, made later, after the distillery's renovation. It is aged in a Bourbon Hogshead, which does not detract from the character of the juice. Only 158 bottles came out of this slow process. The label features a painting by Wang Yung Chiu entitled Geometry of Music.

Let's Taste It : 

Fine and very herbaceous nose, lettuce and cabbage leaf, laurel, reeds, grainy peat, quite powerful but very elegant, almost ethereal, set with iodine. Salt crystals, candied seaweed. Floral ash, vetiver, damp gypsum, and a gentle medicinal touch, as if in the corridor of a disused hospital. Dried prunes and raisins. On the palate, the peat is as if concentrated, notes of charcoal and soot, from which citrus fruit, candied lemon and crunchy grapes emerge. Shavings of clove, gentian and nutmeg. Candied ginger, cooked fruit, courgette blossom. Long finish, very expressive without being explosive, hints of cereal, malt and peat, shards of granite and slate. Vegetal once again, alfalfa, tobacco, cola seed, dried flowers, Indian spices.

 

In Short, 

It's obviously an event to taste this. Every Ardbeg lover should cherish this kind of dram. It's not the Ardbeg we know today, it's less explosive, less ostentatious, more elegant and even discreet rather than violent. But there are some constants: the herbal touch, which is very present, and the clearly recognisable citrus notes. This is a deep, cavernous whisky, whose peat does not mask the variety of flavours and its expressiveness. Taste it at least once in your life if you like this profile. As for the price of a bottle, bearing in mind that it's the price of a second-hand car or a month's travel, it's up to you to consider what your priorities are.

Score : 90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

                                           Cinema Strange - Moundshroud

Kilchoman 2011 100% Islay Single Cask 12 yo

 

 

 

53,5°

Distillery : Kilchoman - Islay 

Bourbon Barrel

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Slightly Peated

 

 

 

This one is the result of a highly original experiment: first distilled with unpeated malted barley, the juice was distilled a second time after being mixed with the foreshots and feints, in other words the liquid resulting from the beginning and end of distillation, of this time well-peated juices, at 50 ppm I suppose, since Kilchoman peats its barley at 50 ppm. The result is a lightly peated whisky, at around 20 ppm, which was kept for 12 years, to the day, in a Bourbon single barrel. It is a limited edition of 240 bottles, sold exclusively in France as part of the New Vibrations Collection launched by La Maison du Whisky.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

The nose is well balanced. On the one hand, the peat is very present, mineral, with notes of quartz and silica. On the other, it gives way to velvety white fruits, plums, mirabelles, bananas, and creamy vanilla. The smoke is dusty, set with charcoal and iodine. Some shellfish in the background. On the palate, the fruit is more present, banana purée, juicy pear, yellow apple, but there's still a rather thick peat, somewhat maritime, and lively spices, clove, pepper, cumin. The finish is respectable, quite long, charcoal, gas oil, oily, encaustic, industrial glue.

 

In Short, 

I thought the peat was quite noticeable, and so much the better. There was something abrasive, cottony and tarry about it, unusual for Kilchoman. Otherwise, the rest is pretty well done, but it's still a 12 year old, nothing particularly exceptional, and yet the price is, I find that incongruous.

Score : 89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           In Letter Form - Edison's Medicine

Glenfarclas 2013 Single Cask Collection New Vibrations 10 yo

 

 

 

61°

Distillery : Glenfarclas - Speyside

Sherry Hogshead 

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

The gentlemen from Glenfarclas also wanted to take part in the great Whisky Live festival in Paris, and they entrusted the contents of this cask to the organisers, La Maison du Whisky, for exclusive sale in France as part of the Collection New Vibrations. Like all the casks that have contained Glenfarclas, this is a Sherry cask, a Hogshead to be precise, and 303 bottles have been filled with its contents.

Let's Taste It : 

This is a very fruity Sherry, very expressive on red fruits, raspberries, cherries, cranberries, gooseberries, with a slightly earthy note, damp leather, waxed wood, soft caramel, blond tobacco, apricot stone, a drop of lemon and mango. On the palate, same combination, fruit tart, fruit salad, with those previously mentioned, plus kiwis, lychees, clementines, bananas, vanilla pastry cream, intense spices, cloves, thyme, black pepper. The finish is well-crafted, long and powerful, with sandalwood, speculoos, vergeoise, brown sugar, damp earth, praline chocolate, pine needles, saffron and sultanas marinated in liqueur.

In Short, 

Glenfarclas often has particularly distinctive casks, which add fruit and spice to the juice. This is particularly the case here, and the result is an expression capable of competing with the best, despite its young age. The price is commensurate with the quality of the cask - in fact, I find it disproportionate.

Score : 89

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Elsa - John Henry