Malt Mission 2009 #364

Mackmyra Special '01
'Eminent Sherry'
Swedish SIngle Malt Whisky
51.6% abv
£80 (plus)

Not only a pioneer in Swedish whisky making but in whisky making across Europe, and indeed the world, the first Swedish whisky distillery spawned another in Spirit of Hven (2007) and inspired a look-alike bottle from Stauning in Denmark. But there are malt distilleries across mainland Europe, in France, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany...

And outside of Scotland, the best named distillery has got to be Gold Cock Distillery in Czech Republic. Become a friend of the Gold Cock today! Seriously.

In description of this 2008 limited release matured in ex-sherry barrels, the clean and easy to navigate Mackmyra website reads, "a cold winter's evening, crackling fire and good company to share the moment with. It is for moments this such as this that we have created Eminent Sherry. A taste that lasts a long time." As we all know, a long-lasting taste is only a positive feature so long as the taste is good.

For more distillery info and to see all Mackmyra had on the malt mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Cocoa, vanilla beans, chocolate brownies, celery salt, figs, and butterscotch. Gala apples emerge with teh addition of water, raisins, and a nice oaky creaminess throughout.

Raisin fruitiness, oak, and extremely drinkable at this higher strength. Water increases the fruity sweetness and the finish is woody and mineral-y.

SUMMARY:

Impressive, and although showing signs of youth there is nothing immature about it. A very tasty, interesting, and satisfying drop. Mackmyra continues to impress, but your pay for the privilege of proof.

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Malt Mission 2009 #363

Mackmyra 1st Edition
Swedish Single Malt Whisky
46.1% abv
£50
$85 (USD)

Mackmyra is a small success story from an adorable wee distillery 2 hours north of Stockholm and this is their "first edition", an expression that followed the experimental, popular, and critically acclaimed Preludium series.

Released in June 2008, Mackmyra First Edition is matured in a variety of casks: about 50% first-fill bourbon, 45% smaller 100-litre oak casks, and about 5% Swedish oak casks, all matured in a mine 50 metres underground.

For more distillery info or to see all Mackmyra had on Dr. Whisky's Malt Mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Light estery fruitiness with dense vanilla overtones. Creamy, oaky, but youthful. Lemony labne. Some rose water, floral notes, and a persistent vanilla/custardy sweetness that is deeply appealing.

Sweet and light, peaches, watermelon rind, and lychee fruit. Some parsley and basil. Creamy on the palate as well, yogurty. Grainy with notes of granola or other cereals. Vanilla again, like waffle cones, in the finish.

SUMMARY:

A deLIGHTful treat. Sweet, light, aperitif style whisky with a solid oak backbone. Water reveals new make-y notes that implicates the whisky's age, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Spritely, estery, and exciting whisky from an increasingly exciting distillery.

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Malt Mission 2009 #362

Antiquity Rare
Premium Indian Whisky
42.8% abv
$20 (USD)

From the spirits stable of Vijay Mallya's United Spirts Ltd (UB Group), Antiquity is a high end Indian whisky and is among the most expensive domestic spirits on the market.

Now, I should probably be putting "whisky" in quotation marks as the SWA, EU and WTO consider whisky "an alcoholic beverage distilled from a fermented grain mash" and 90% of all Indian whisky (this one included) is made with molasses-based spirit, thus not really "whisky" at all. Nonetheless, all over this label one finds the words "malt" and "whisky", among other authenticating descriptors like "finest", "royal lineage", "matured oak casks" and "traditional copper stills." However, although there are no clues on the box, it does clearly state on the bottle "Distilled from Sugar Cane Molasses. 19% matured malt and vatted malt spirit, 3 years old."

Antique, indeed.

In May, 2007 Mallya bought Whyte & Mackay thus securing a supply of Scotch whisky for his 'whiskies' and, in combination with his substantial press draw as the showy, jewellery-laden Indian billionaire playboy, the acquisition afforded him some lobbying power within the whisky world. So far, he has promoted no great ideas and has cut 100 Scotland-based jobs within Whyte & Mackay.

For an SWA-approved Indian whisky had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet, with and industrial core. Grape juice and apple juice, vodka, balsa wood, glue, corn syrup, metal, motor oil, and white wine can all be detected. Strange brew.

Smoky, plastic, brasso. Pistachio and oil paints, glue, apple sauce and something reminiscent of a smoker's car. Dandelion bitterness. Oak. Starts much better than it ends.

SUMMARY:

Odd stuff, no surpise there, but actually tasted much better than expected. I chose to sip it more than a few times and although the initial taste was actually quite pleasant, I grew to regret the decision every time.

Crazy, and inexplicable abv%. Any explanations or hypothoses welcome.

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Malt Mission 2009 #361

Old Weller Antique
"The Original 107 Brand"
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
53.5% abv
£25
$23

Fuck Scotch. There, I said it.

And you have ALL been thinking it. And typing it all over the world wide interweave. You know you have.

Fuck Scotch.
Say it!
Doesn't that feel good?

Money grubbing capitalists colouring their computer-produced imported barley spirit shit brown, pumping it into bell-shaped/square/triangular/crystal bottles (that POISON us!) and then increasing their carbon footprints by shipping it all over this blessed, otherwise perfect world, and selling it at a premium to noveau riche wankers from India to Indiana. Disgusting. How dare they?

Fuck fucking Scotch.
Yup.
THAT JUST HAPPENED.

1000 whisky jobs lost in Scotland last month, $16,000 dollar new releases, $18,000 bottles at auction, and mutually masterbatory awards and festivals where these whisky makers (read "venture capitalists") congratulate themselves to the point of orgasm, then bottle it and call their new make "the spirit drink that dare not speak its name." Well sirs, we do not swallow your lies. We spit.

Fuck Scotch.
Let's have a stretch of non-Scotch whiskies here on the Malt Mission.

Here's a 'wheated' bourbon from the good people at Buffalo Trace. And, as the faux-vintage label so eloquently says, this stuff is "7 summers old".

TASTING NOTES:

Full of vegetables and bitter oak. Parsnip, tomatoes, celery salt. Maraschino cherry. Starchy, brown sugar sweetness and raw corn.

Apple crumble, vanilla, boiled potatoes. Kicks my ass when I swallow it. baBang! Spicy. Cinnamon, some vanilla and maple syrup, but jeebus... Cutting it brings out pecans, more apples, and a warming butterscotch flavour. Oak drives the finish and, believe it or not, I reach for my glass again and again until it is dry.

SUMMARY:

Okay, maybe don't "fuck scotch" so soon.

Seriously, though, this liquid can take an insult and throw it right back in your face. Yes, this bourbon bites back. Alcohol with attitude. Definite bang for buck cuz I been banged up good.

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Malt Mission 2009 #360

Just back from a week of whisky peddling in Florida. Yes, whisky. In Florida. In August. Amazing.

I have done this before (Malt Mission #62, Malt Mission #308, North American Adventure #5) and I am going to do it again. I am going to taste two drams in one malt mission. It just makes sense in this case. And I am on the road again all next week so the doctor has got to see as many patients as possible while in the office.

Both of these puppies are from Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh's Speciality Drinks/The Whisky Exchange and the first thing that must be said is that the packaging is fabulous. Each of these drops are vattings of dozens of casks and are intended to last a full calendar year in market. Released in April 2009, it is reported that these drops will be joined by a 30yo in the coming months. Probably good as the 25yo is already all sold out.

Port Askaig is, well, a port on the Sound of Islay half way up the east coast of the island where one can grab a CalMac ferry to the mainland or over to Jura. While the town itself has no distillery, it is nearest Caol Ila and then Bunnahabhain.

Port Askaig 17yo
Islay Single Malt Whisky
45.8% abv
£50

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet smoke, citrus bubblegum, ginger, vanilla and shortbread.

Coal, grapefruit, more bubblegum, and increasing ashiness. Salmon. Some more citrus, bitter like peels, then Apple sweetness and some pepper add to the ever-present smokiness.

SUMMARY:

Just back from Florida and I find a glass full of citrus. Nice. Loved the nose, maintaining a youthful character among some signs of age. A chewy drop for those that enjoy their peat with plenty of orange, grapefruit, and agave nectar sweetness to keep things interesting. Not overbearingly phenolic, but relentless in its smoky grip.

Port Askaig 25yo
Islay Single Malt Whisky
45.8% abv
£75

TASTING NOTES:

Sour lemon candy, sweet vanilla, roast chicken, very ripe canteloupe, boiled white rice, and a gently smoky, wood driven core.

Sprite, tar, hickory, salmon. Upon swallowing, oak impressions expand and grow increasingly drying. White grapes, magic marker, and raw potato flavours are all found in the long, woody finish.

SUMMARY:

Blind, one would be hard pressed to guess just how old this drop might be and rather than adding rich creamy tannins we often find after 20+ years, this drop remains fruity, tight, and dry.

OVERALL:

To be fair, neither of these are overly complex drams for extensive nosing, tasting and revisiting. These drops are for dramming, and dramming ye shall do. For £75, you really can't beat the price for a 25 year old whisky, but I would probably prefer to spend my money on the 17yo for flavour. But what do I know? The 25yo is already sold out so let the marketplace be the judge.

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Malt Mission 2009 #359

Laphroaig 18yo
Islay Single Malt Whisky
48% abv
£64

$95 (USD)

Replacing the Laphroaig 15yo in April of this year, Laphroaig 18yo has already found avid followers even while attracting the increasingly tired complaint that "whisky is expensive." Probably doesn't help that when this bottle was announced the suggested price was about £10/$20 less than what it currently fetches on shelves around the world. But with only 7500 cases of this stuff produced per year and demand quite high, I imagine the unforseen inflation is simply the market's natural response. A shame it doesn't really work the other way.

See my whisky blogging brothers' reviews at Edinburgh Whisky Blog, TWEBlog, Whisky for Everyone, and WhiskyFun.

Recent Laphroaig releases have been taking the iconic label in slightly new direction and this one St. Patrick's Day feel on the tube, no?

John Hansell has some words on when it will arrive in the USA HERE.

For more distillery info or to see all Laphroaigs had on the mission, click HERE. Big thanks to GS for sharing the drop.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet, creamy, and spicy. Toffee, vanilla, some melon, dried apricots, and a warming smokiness with an extra little whiff of burnt cardboard. Sooty. Fresh overall impression weighted by smoke and a permeating sweetness.

Slap of peat smoke with some grassy characteristics. Honey, Nutella, and toast cooked above a smoldering campfire. Great oily texture as it fades with all the coal and iodine one might expect.

SUMMARY:

No big surprises here. Sweet and smoky, aged and balanced. Quaffable even at 48% abv, and this should be enjoyed in big sips. A great addition to the standard range that will not disappoint the FOL anoraks and might even recruit a few more fans to the iconic distillery .

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