Master of Malt 50 Year Old Speyside (3rd Edition)

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Speyside Single Malt, 50 Years, 43% ABV, $596

That is not a misprint! You read it right, “50 Year Old Speyside” whisky for just under $600! It’s the grande finale of The Advent Calendar from Master of Malt. Just a 30ml sample will set you back $33! I just hope that its the best of the bunch, which is a pretty tall order. Here I go!

The color is amber and the nose is lightly smokey, peaty and grassy. There’s definitely a new aroma here that I’m having trouble putting a label on. In the meantime, I sense toffee, honey and the most distinct grapefruit I’ve ever sniffed in a whisky. The other aroma is a feint menthol mixing with the smoke and peat. The last smell that I detect is old cigar box. It smells great!

The taste leads off with grapefruit and orange paired with vanilla and toffee. This transitions to wood, mild smoke and peat with a brief bold bitterness that fades into the aftertaste very nicely. During that bitter interlude, a note of ginger arrives and fades to mild white pepper. The aftertaste is mildly woody with a white pepper taste, but very little heat. It’s so soft and lingers a good while. During the transition to the finish, I detect that menthol like flavor for just an instant and its subtle, yet distinct. Wow! This is impressive stuff! I wish I could spend some more time with it, but it’ll be gone in very soon, only to live on in these tasting notes… at least for me. The truth is that I really didn’t want to like this whisky because it’s too far out of reach, but I’m glad I was able to sample something like this for future reference.

In their bottling notes, Master of Malt announces:

Here it is – the third edition of our astounding, palate seducing, sensation that is our fifty year old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky! This bottling from our Secret Bottlings Series is packaged in a redesigned bottle and label. This is quite literally whisky heaven in a bottle – the flavour is intense with perfect structure and the finish is astonishingly long.

The MacAllan 10 Year Old Fine Oak

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Speyside Single Malt, 10 Years, 40% ABV, $34

The nose is lightly peated toffee, grass, orange and ginger. The grass is feint and the ginger arrives last. After being allowed to breath, a mild smoke aroma appears. This is one of the easiest to pick out distinct aromas so far… very nice. The taste is immediately and consistently a balance of sweetness, bitterness and spice. Orange and ginger with apple and vanilla with mild oak and just a bit of peat. There’s also bitter honey and white pepper. The aftertaste is long wit the spicy pepper lingering long after the sweetness dissipates. In the end, there is only a mild oak, but without the leathery feel. Anyone looking for a heavy wood influence will be left unsatisfied. For me, this is a nice young Scotch whisky and only the second MacAllan I’ve had… both 10 year old and this is the better of the two.

According to the bottling notes:

This 10 year old from Macallan was matured in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks.

Stetson Bourbon

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Bourbon, No Age Statement, 42% ABV, $49

This whiskey is a light amber with the smell of corn, toffee, lemon, ginger and vanilla. The taste is sweet corn, vanilla, lemon, orange and pepper. There’s a slight bit of woody aftertaste, but not much. This must be a fairly young bourbon. The pepper is light and long; the aftertaste brief and light. I also detect a bit of butterscotch up front after a while.

Master of Malt says:

Named for John B Stetson and originally launched for the German market, this bourbon honours the chap who invented a stalwart in my “top 7 hats” list, recently knocked off the number 3 spot by the classic “Homburg”. Fact hunt: Stetson’s hat was known as the “Boss of the Plains”, thanks to its lightweight, all-weather design and durability. I was once known as the boss of the planes, but I was fired because no one likes a draconian air steward.

Longmorn 1997 Cask 163310 (Berry Brothers and Rudd)

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Speyside Single Malt, 14 Years, 56.7%, $73

This whisky is a pale yellow with an equally subtle nose of honey, corn, grassy peat and feint smoke; however, the alcohol is not so subtle on the nose. A couple of splashes of water reveal toffee and a hint of vanilla. The taste is peppery, tangy and woody. There are hints of vanilla and honey, but mostly the bitterness of wood and a peppery burn that remains as a bit of dull smoke arrive. There is a brief taste of ginger up front as well. I’m not impressed with this one.

Here are the bottling notes from BBR:

This was distilled in 1997 at Longmorn and aged in cask 163309 before bottling in 2011 by Berry Brothers and Rudd. This is a complex, full-bodied and aromatic whisky, with honeyed, malty flavour.

Glenfarclas 105

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Speyside Single Malt, 10 Years, 60% ABV, $92

The first characteristic I notice is the color, which is dark amber. Its a richer color than any of the previous whiskys, excepting the bourbon. Even through the alcohol burn of the high proof, I can tell that the nose is rich with a sweet and mildly smoky aroma. I’m going for the water right away.

Now, that’s better! The nose is rich with smoke and peat, but its not strong. The toffee, honey and vanilla blend to add a sweetness that adds to the richness and a gentle ginger element completes the story. The taste is immediately fruity and tangy along with the candy sweetness. The ginger is in perfect balance with the sweetness, while the flavors of orange, vanilla, toffee and the bitter woods dance around in my mouth. This is fantastic stuff. A mild peppery and woody aftertaste is complemented by a slightly salty tanginess. I do believe that this is the best whisky I’ve had since the Glenfarclas Family Cask Release on the first night. I might have to get a bottle of this one.

Here are the Glenfarclas 105 bottling notes:

Glenfarclas 105 is a superb cask strength whisky, really bold and punchy. In 2004, the Malt Maniacs rated this the best “Bang for your buck” whisky.

The Glenlivet 12 Year Old

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Speyside Single Malt, 12 Years, 40% ABV, $32

The aroma mildly peated corn (might be barley, but it smells like roasted corn to me), caramel and honey. After a while, I detect a feint bit of smoke and citrus. This is great aroma for a $32 whisky. The taste is mildly salty and woody, with notes of citrus and ginger. The ginger builds with the peppery spice and fades away nicely to a mildly bitter wood finish with a bit of salt and peaty smoke. Sipping more reveals notes of vanilla and hazelnut. The sweetness and acidity take a back seat to the spice until the latter begins to fade. By the time it does, the sweetness is nearly gone. This is good stuff and a great value for sure.

The story behind this whisky is included below. Read more here.

Two centuries ago, the illicit whisky from the remote and wild region of Glenlivet was sought after for its smooth and characterful qualities. The defining fruity ‘pineapple’ note from the sma’ stills lives on to this day in George Smith’s definitive legacy of The Glenlivet. The Single Malt That Started It All.

My Collection of Chocolate

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Christmas 2012 Chocolate Collection

My youngest daughter, Natalie (8 years old), researched and located the highest rated chocolates that are available in the area,then purchased this collection as a Christmas gift for me. It was obviously an early one. I’ll start tasting these soon and post my findings here. Stay tuned!

BenRiach 16 Year Old

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Speyside Single Malt, 16 Years, 40%, $59

Speyside Single Malt, 16 Years, 40% ABV, $60[/caption]

Grass, mild peat and toffee greet the nose along with just a whiff of smoke. The smell has a chewy sweetness to it that is quite nice. As it breathes, the aroma opens up with corn syrup, grapefruit and a touch of brine. The taste is initially salty and sweet with notes of grapefruit, vanilla and white pepper. The salt and pepper linger and give way to a woody aftertaste. The white pepper is the strongest flavor often the sweetness subsides and, unfortunately I’m not a big fan of this flavor. The salty heat is welcome, although a bit overdone without any other interesting spices. The initial flavor is quite good, but it degrades quickly from there to a grassy bitterness. The pepper doesn’t go away for minutes and I’m hesitant to dilute it with such muted flavors. Amazingly, a bit of water helps out greatly. The tangy vanilla up front improves and the pepper is quickly brought under control. Now it’s quite nice! I’m beginning to take a great interest in Speyside whisky.

According to Master of Malt:

A Gold Medal winner at the 2006 International Wine and Spirits Competition, this 16 year old BenRiach was also a 2006 Silver Medal winner at the International Spirits Challenge.

Poit Dhubh 8 Year Old (Un-Chilfiltered)

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Islands Single Malt, 8 Years, 43% ABV, $52

The nose is a rich blend of caramel, vanilla, orange and sweet pepper. There’s only a hint of smoke in the background and it took me a while to notice it along with a bit of salty air. The aroma is very nice and young, with little evidence of wood. The taste is slow coming with an initial saltiness followed by a lull before salty vanilla and orange mixture arrives. The finish is mildly sweet, noticeably salty then mildly leathery and peppery. The salty vanilla flavor persists for a while… long after the peppery finish transitions to a salty, buttery leather. Upon further tasting, I notice a buttery fir taste midway through and the leathery flavor becomes more of juniper. The sweetness is very pleasant and the salty, peppery, botanical quality complements it very well while the slight woody bitterness is nicely balanced. Also, I can’t forget to mention the bright citrus aspect. This is a nice whisky!

Here’s what Master of Malt has to say about this one:

A blended malt, Poit Dhubh is a mellow, lightly peated whisky that comprises mostly of Talisker, which reflects the fact its parent company, Pràban, is based on the Isle of Skye. The remainder of the blend is composed of various Speyside malts which imparts [?] and matured partly in sherry casks which lends it [the] typically rich flavours you would expect. Poit Dhubh [is] pronounced “potch ghoo” and means “black pot”, which is the gaelic term for an “illicit still”.

Saint Isidore

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Blended, No Age Statement, 41.4% ABV, $81

I’m now 4 days behind schedule and feeling the pressure. My goal is to complete on time (i.e. the 24th)… that’s 9 drams in 5 days!

St. Isidore has a sweet seaside aroma with just a puff of smoke. The salty sea air is sweetened by butterscotch and vanilla while smoky grass moves in the soft breeze (I can’t believe I just wrote that!). In any case, it smells great! I sense an Island influence for sure. The taste is quite nice and matches the aroma. It’s salty with a mild peated smoke component. The smoke lingers while the sweetness gently fades and leaves a salty woody flavor. There’s a bit of grass early on that builds a bit and slowly fades with the sweetness. Back to the sweet flavors, they come back after a bit of a peppery interlude and taste like honey, vanilla and toffee. After several sips, I note a slight bit of clove and the peppery finish takes on a definite ginger flavor. The bitterness of the finish is a bit strong with a leathery quality; otherwise, this is quite nice and easily the best blend I’ve had yet.

This whisky has a unique story behind it:

The story of St Isidore and the bloggers blend all started one day when we were thinking about how to create our next whisky, when it suddenly hit us: ask the bloggers! These guys and gals are amongst the most knowledgeable, expert and, let’s face it, geekiest whisky lovers in the world! We called upon this incredible resource, and here’s how we did it…

Read more here.