WhiskybarPlaza.nl

Log Entry # 142 - August 18, 2003
Topic: Texel Tasting

It seems I'm becoming a drunk with a reputation...
Because I've been telling tall stories on the web for quite some time now, I receive more and more invitations to show my face at presentations and tasting sessions. You'd be surprised to know how often I respectfully decline, however tempting the chance of free boozing may sound. Undoubtedly you've run across one of my lamentations about my 'Bad Nose Days' by now, so you know I'm often 'nasally handicapped'. That means I never know if I'm going to be able to produce any significant notes on the event.
Most of the time I just sit on the couch waiting for a good nose day to come by...

But every now and then I get the urge to escape my mundane and meaningless existence - if only for a day. And it was during one of those urges that I received an invitation to join the panel for a nosing & tasting session organised by a new Dutch whisky magazine called 'Whisky Etc.' The other people on the panel were Wouter Wapenaar (Publisher of Whisky Etc. and organiser of the The Hague Whisky Festival), Jaap Vissering (Editor of Whisky Etc.), Thom Olink (Travel writer and editor of Whisky Etc.), Maarten Willems (Dutch spirits writer), Ad de Koning (president Dutch SSMW Society), Willem Ham (host of restaurant/whisky-bar 'Het Kompas' on Texel) and Wullie Macmorland (Chef-Patron of restaurant/whisky-bar 'Hielander' in Alkmaar).

Het Kompas, the location for the event, is located on Texel, an island off the North coast of Holland. The only way to get there is by ferry - unless you fancy a brisk swim, of course. Actually, Holland has been suffering from the worst heatwave in decades, so when I was standing on the shore looking over the water that didn't seem like such a bad idea at all. But sensibility took over and I decided to take the boat - after stopping over at a small restaurant in Den Helder for some fish soup and oysters. It wasn't a purely recreational visit, mind you - I had to lay a solid foundation for the upcoming liquid line-up. The oysters were among the best I ever tried, so I ordered myself a second helping. I had lots of fun but as I result of my copious brunch I missed the ferry, which meant I had to wait an hour for the next boat - not as much fun as it sounds amidst the unwashed hordes of tourists traveling to the islands for the summer.

I managed to get on the next ferry and arrived on Texel without further delays. I actually could have made it to the restaurant just in time if I hadn't panicked - but I did. Already running late, I managed to get on the wrong bus on an island with only three busses. Realising my mistake after a few kilometers, I had to get off the bus in the middle of nowhere and make my way to the village 'Den Hoorn' by foot. Ordinarily this would have been no punishment at all - the island is quite beautiful. However, I couldn't afford to maintain a leasurely pace and it was 13:00 PM with temperatures of more than 30 degrees in the shadow.
Hardly ideal walking conditions, I think you'll agree...

Fortunately Texel isn't very large, so I arrived
only 'fashionably' late at restaurant Het Kompas.
Most of the other members of the tasting panel
were already present, but we had to wait for the
photographer before we could open the bottles.
Everybody present showed remarkable restraint,
in this matter, but things were helped a lot by
the wonderful hospitality of Willem Ham and his
wife Els Veeger who served us plenty of the
local specialties of the island. Texel is famous
for its sheep cheeses produced at the local
farms. Even if you're not a 'cheesy' person
you would have loved some of the delicacies
we enjoyed - from creamy and almost sweet
young cheeses to spicy, salty ancient ones.
Lovely, lovely, lovely....

While we waited for the photographer we had
the time to get to know eachoter a little better.
Willem told me Het Kompas is mentioned in the
Guiness Book of Records as the bar with the
largest whisky collection in the world. After
Willem showed me the seperate stock room
I could certainly believe it - literally hundreds
and hundreds of bottles smiled at me, some of
them extremely rare, some of them priceless.

Anyway, when the photographer arrived around 16:00 PM it was time to start the proper tasting session. Because the 'official' report of the session will be published in 'Whisky Etc' later, I won't write about the actual events and conclusions of the entire panel; I will just list my own tasting notes and scores.
We sampled seven different single malts;

Malt #1: Speyside 10yo (40%, OB). This 'Speyside' single malt was introduced recently as an 'upwards' extention to the Drumguish NAS. Well, from Drumguish there's not really any other way than up...
Nose: Malty and grainy. Some sweetness after a minute. Faint hint of orange skin.
I have to say that this is pretty much devoid of character - could have been a blend.
Maybe a fain hint of apple afer adding some water, but it still said 'blend' to me. No depth.
Taste: Flat and bitter. Quite harsh. No body, complexity and/or development. A big bummer.
Score: 53 points. I liked the old Glentromie 12yo better - and I didn't like that one very much...

Malt #2: Glenlivet 18yo (43%, OB). I've sampled a batch of this 18yo Glenlivet that was bottled around 1999. That batch scored 79 points - not bad at all, but its 21yo brother did notacibly better with 83 points.
Nose: Polished. Tangerines and fruit sweets. Fruitier with time. Peppery prickle.
Faint organics. Pleasant, but not quite as 'profound' as I expect from a 18yo single malt.
Taste: Malty, turning slightly astringent towards the center. Not a lot of power at first.
Slightly gritty on the palate - not as smooth as other Glenlivets I've tried. A bit MOTR.
Score: 77 points. I've never tasted a bad Glenlivet and I still haven't. But is this the best they can do after eighteen years in the cask? Is Glenlivet going the way of Glenfiddich? Blander and 'blendier' single malts?

Malt #3: Springbank 15yo (46%, OB). Ah, it's time for a more 'high profile malt. Springbank has many avid fans, but most of the bottlings I've tried so far (the Springer 21yo excepted) didn't live up to their reputation.
Nose: Pleasantly candy sweetness with fruits and some of the trademark Springer coconut.
Some sherry, but not a lot. Slightly nutty. It grows spicier over time, but more spirity as well.
Taste: Not very smooth. Sweet and quite fruity. Sherry. I even imagined I found a hint of peat.
Score: 79 points . That's the same score I gave to my big bottle, so this could very well be from the same batch. Not a bad score, but the results of the Springbank JOLT in September 2002 proved that the Springbank 15yo that was around a few years ago was in a different class altogether. (See log entry #124 for more...)

Malt #4: Glen Elgin 12yo (43%, OB). This is a brand new official bottling of Glen Elgin - I'm not sure if it's a replacement for the stocky NAS 'White Horse' bottling or an extention of the range. Let's see how it does...
Nose: Not a lot of character - malty and quite fruity. Opens up a little after 10 minutes.
Taste: Smooth but very restrained. If you like your malts neutral, this is your thing.
Score: 61 points. I may have underscored it a bit because the Glen Elgin followed the relatively expressive Springbank. It's certainly not a bad whisky, but I like my malts to show some personality.

Malt #5: Balvenie 25yo 1974/2000 Single Barrel (46.9%, OB). This bottling was distilled on 12/11/1974, matured in cask #15208 and bottled in 28/11/2000. With the exception of the 17yo 'Islay Cask', all the Balvenies I've tried so far have scored in the eighties. That means this 25yo has a big reputation to live up to.
Nose: Ah, a wonderful perspective - very subtle. Sweet with late fruits and chocolate.
Great composition; balanced without supressing any of the individual elements. A beauty
Taste: Very soft and accessible. Extremely fruity - maybe a tad too much so. Long finish.
Score: 84 points. This is the oldest Balvenie I've tried so far and I wasn't disappointed. Nevertheless, I have to admit I personally prefer the 21yo Port Wood Finish on account of it having slightly more personality.

Malt #6: Glenfiddich 12yo 'Caoran' (40%, OB). Big Fiddich jumps on the Islay bandwagon. I spotted this bottle in the UK two months ago, shortly after it was released. After my experiences with the Balvenie 17yo Islay Cask (Balvenie is also owned by Glenfiddich) I was slightly suspicious, so I kept my money in my pocket.
Nose: Grainy and a bit sweetish - sweeter than the latest 'standard' 12yo I tried. Prickly.
There was a very faint hint of peat, but it didn't seem to fit very well with the other elements.
Taste: Prickly and a little bit flat. Grainy. Doesn't have a lot of body or character. No peat.
Score: 63 points. If peat is what you're looking for, you're better off with the Black Bottle, or...

Malt #7: Connemara NAS (40%, OB, Batch L2177). This Irish whiskey has been one of my favourite 'low budget' malts for years - I'm very curious about the 12yo version that will be launched soon.
Nose: Smoky and fruity (apple and melon). Smoked eel? Potent, but needs a few minutes to open up.
A bit like beer - or maybe cider or calvados? Then more fruits and stronger organics. Sea spray.
Taste: Gritty, bitter start grows smoother and sweeter. Some smoke. Nice, but lacks body.
Score: 77 points . I've sampled four different batches so far and all scored between 75 and 80 points - meaning that none of these bottles rated below average. At a price of +/- 25 Euro's that's not bad. The NAS cask strength version I discovered a while ago is quite a bit pricier, but worth the difference - at least once.

And that pretty much concludes my report for now.
My personal favourite of the afternoon? The Balvenie, obviously.
But did the other members of the panel agree - and how did they rate it?
I won't tell - you should be able to read further details in 'Whisky Etc.' soon.


Dram Diary 18/08/2003 (New discoveries are printed BOLD.)

84 - Balvenie 25yo 1974/2000 Single Barrel (46.9%, OB, Cask #15208)
77 - Connemara NAS (40%, OB, Batch L2177, Bottled +/- 2002)
61 - Glen Elgin 12yo (43%, OB, Bottled 2003)
63 - Glenfiddich 12yo 'Caoran' (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003)
77 - Glenlivet 18yo (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2002, dark label)
53 - Speyside 10yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003)
79 - Springbank 15yo (46%, OB)

Six out of these seven single malts were either unknown bottlings (Balvenie, Glen Elgin, Glenfiddich and Speyside) or new batches of familiar friends (Connemara and Glenlivet). I'm not sure about the Springbank so I'll ignore that bottling.
This puts the number of malts on my Track Record at a nice and round 424. Hurray!