SMAC:More New Whiskies

It was time for yet another session of the Single Malt Appreciation Club, sometimes degenerating into So Much Alcohol Consumed. This time, we pretty much kept strictly to whiskies, there wasn’t a beer in sight. We brought along the Connemara and Ardberg Uigeadail, both of which I’d featured earlier. There was so much whiskey that night that I had to take two photos to get them all!

I started with the Aberfeldy 12 year (40%) that was very sweet and full of honey, vanilla and fruitcake on the palate.  It was fairly dark – a pale brown more than the typical honeyed orange of a young whisky. Looks like the makers added caramel colouring. It was a simple straightforward whisky, the kind people at clubs mix with green tea. Mix on, I say, this one’s too much of a baby for it to matter.

Next on the flight was the Glenmorangie 12 year (46%) that came in an impressive looking bottle. Again, it was dark amber and again, a baby. There was plenty of sweet honey on the nose, as well as vanilla and fruitcake. The difference between this and the Aberfeldy? The Glenmorangie smells sweet but doesn’t taste sweet.

Next up on the list of not very interesting whiskies was the Bowmore 12 year (40%). It was such a disappointment, being not much else than smoke, peat and salt. It didn’t have a great deal of body and was pretty forgettable.

I didn’t try the Aberlour A’bunadh that night, will do it another time, but I did try the Old Pulteney. It was a special edition Isabella Fortuna 499 Cask Strength (52%), brought back all the way from London by the J-thing. This was something very special indeed, it was a pale lemon-coloured liquor with a heady grassy nose and a slight whiff of honey. On the palate, there was plenty of sharp citrus and lemon, followed by mellow honey, then finished off very nicely with salty peat and smoke. There was a fleeting bit of fish right at the end, which Mfluder insisted that it was like “sucking on a fish.” If he says so! I think it was a better experience than my Ardberg Uigeadail and it’s my favourite for now.