Whisky: Campbeltown - we're back in scotch world!

 With our levels getting a more amber hue, Regional's tasting were back on. First up, Campbeltown - the location for Springbank and a number of it's side project labels. Huzzah ! Six known whiskies and 2 mysteries to follow ...

Ledaig Old Particular 1998 21yo 51.5%

Nose: oak, complex, sherry, hint of salt, woody, med old, varnish

Palate: honey, oaky, caramel, salt, dry but sherry, 'bold', complex

Finish: medium, peppery, salty

8 - 8.5 /10. Really liked this one interesting, complex and definitely shows the added age.

Hazelburn 13yo 2021 48.6% 

Nose: sweet, violets, lighter, hint of citrus

Palate: huge, bourbon, boiled sweets, blackballs, lemon, 

Finish: medium

7/10 interesting and good, I generally like Hazelburn, but wonder if would have benefited from more ageing?

Kilkerran 12yo 46%

Nose: vanilla icecream, light, pavlova mixture

Palate: salty, dry, soft, bourbon, light, breakfast whisky

Finish: salty, short

6.5 - 7/10 nice enough, but not hugely interesting

Springbank 10yo 46%

Nose: sweet, vanilla, oaky, citrus

Palate: sweet, perfumed, violet/lavendar, very light, citrus (lemonade)

Finish: short-med, builds with a pepper/salt spritzic taste

7.5/10 again nice enough, but I think I prefer cask strength Springbanks. 

Springbank 12yo 55.4%

Nose: oranges, vanilla

Palate: concentrated orange, complex, manuka honey, sweet, dry

Finish: med-long, dry

7/10 having said I like cask strength Springbanks, I might have to admit I preferred the 46% :)

Kilkerran 8yo Cask Strength

Nose: light, hint of sherry, old leather

Palate: warm, sherry, xmas, PX?, dry, raisins, salty

Finish: sharp, salty, long

9/10 yup loved this one. Interesting, complex and tasted much older than it actually was !

Kilkerran Heavily Peated

Nose: light, citrus, kaffir lime, oak

Palate: lime (lots of lime!!), salt, spicy, sweet on end

Finish: med dry on finish

8/10 interesting, the lime is really strong on the palate, but you wouldn't guess it's hte Heavily Peated version

Adelphi NZ Exclusive 14yo 58.1% 'Breath of the Isles'

Nose: old furniture, citrus, sherry,light coastal influence, complex

Palate: salt, bacon, sherry, citrus

Finish: sherry, long, dry

8.5-9 /10 really nice, interesting, coastal and complex. all win for me.

Overall, interesting tasting and lots of good whisky. the Kilkerran's are coming along very nicely! and I maybe moving away from Springbank (bring back the rundlets and kilderkins bottling). There's a common theme of slight coastal (salt), and more unexpected a citrus flavour on many of the whiskies. Is that from the casks? Maybe. 

Whisky: we move outside the highlands.....

 Our tastings have been few and far between, for some reason. So when Whisky Galore announced a virtual tasting of Dingle Distillery (Ireland) it seemed rude to say no. Samples arrived in a nice box, including a tasting glass. 

I haven't been won over by irish whisk(e)y in the past, but hey, ya gotta keep trying...

Sample A : Bourbon 

Nose: oaky, chardonnay, marshmallows, parma violets, pears, sweet

Palate: chilli / peppers, oaky, no complex

Finish: medium, chilli / pepper.

very drinkable, 6.5 or 7/10

Sample B : Madeira

Nose: red wine, bourbon, marshmallows, candy floss, toffee, citrus, liquorice

Palate: not whisky, pepper, chilly, light watery.

Finish: pepper / chilli, medium

5/10 pretty bland

Sample C : PX

Nose: old leather, parmesan, fortified wine, xmas mince pie, sherry

Palate: sharper sherry pepper, bottled too young?

Finish: medium, sharp 

6.5/10 not great but some flavour.

Sample D : 

Nose: sweet, candyfloss, bourbon, white wine, marshmallow, vanilla, raspberry

Palate: fruity, tingly, spicy, dry, salty

Finish: long, complex

7.5/10 quite good.

Not enough to convince me that Irish Whiskey is worth exploring, but also, enough to keep me trying it. 

What I has been listening to ... 2021

 Thanks to last.fm and scrobbling from my phone, laptop, and my OCD (why, yes, I do play the digital version when I'm playing vinyl too...) here's the list of stuff I've been playing.

How much listening did I do this year compared with last year?

And not a huge surprise Thursday has the most tracks...

Artist:

Album:

I quite liked the new Lord of the Lost album....

Tracks:

Whisky Tasting : Best of the Best

 Best of the best whisky tasting, it's been an unusual year with a limited number of tastings, compounded by a limited selection of whisky coming into the country. 

So for the tasting we had 7 whiskies, and a welcome dram (Adelphi blend)

Macallan 15yo 43% [March winner]

• N: aniseed, fruit, earthy, oak, marmalade, sweet caramelised sugar
• P: egg and cream lollies, sweet, dry, lemon, short, watery
• F: short-med, not spicy

7/10. I didn't think much of the Macallan's at the tasting, and this was adequate at best. Came 8th (even the intro dram beat it) on 7.58

GlenAllachie 10yo Batch #4 02/09/20 56.1%

• N: parma violets, sweet, banana, candied cherries
• P: warm, honey, lovely mouthfeel, cough medicine, incr. alc., sweet
• F: med-long

9/10 I loved it at the tasting, and loved it at BotB. Came 2= with 8.82

Mystery: Benromach Port Pipe 26yo d.1992 49.3%

• N: musty, ozone, damp, peat, iodine, sweet, aged?
• P: warm honey, stops quickly, brine
• F: short

6/10 very disappointing whisky, boring and flavour fell away very quickly. 6th, 7.72

Bunnahabhain 18yo 46.3%

• N: caramel, burnt sugar, sweet, rubber, salty, sulphur
• P: nothing, watery, salty, bland
• F: nothing but hint of sulphur

5/10 very disappointing. 5th, 8.22

Lagavulin 12yo Special Release 2019 refill USA cask strength 

• N: peaty, iodine, bacon, salt, rubber, campfire, oak, dry
• P: sweet, supporating wound, medicinal, complex, lemon
• F: long, bacon, warm

9/10 Fantastic whisky. Came 4th with 8.34

Caol Ila Signatory 10yo 2010 60.3%

• N: bacon, iodine, peat, burnt red wine, sweet, rubber, sulphur
• P: strong salt, bacon, sweet smoke, honey, sherry
• F: long, bg

8/10 nice whisky. came 1st with 9.24

Longrow Red 10yo 52.5%i

• N: salt, sweet, caramel, toffee, banana, hokey pokey
• P: delicate, honey, lemon, sweet, oily, salt
• F: med-long, tasty

8/10 nice whisky, came 2= 8.82

Overall, not great. And I think that reflects the lack of whiskies that are making it to NZ at the moment. You'd expect for a BotB that the lowest rating would be an 8. Not the case here, although if you are going to have a Macallan tasting we learnt that will increase cost of a tasting without increasing quality of the whisky...

B

Pumptatus : The Restoration Pt III

I've been pottering with the organ periodically, just got to the point where all the reeds are fixed, they all make noises, although there's still two which are sticking. From my rough notes, I think i've worked on about 20-25 keys which were sticking or leaking air. 

I've reassembled a few bits, which included finding an old vaseline lid (metal) in the bellows (look, i've got no idea either). And cleaned the keyboard. More pics below.

the excitement of working out how many screws I needed to replace

Reeds, and soundboard cleaning

Under the board, the longer bits are for the sub-bass couplers

Cleaning the keyboard

whisky Tasting: Slightly out of lockdown

 Our Regional Wines tasting was cancelled until we hit Level 1 again, so half of the cabal assembled to practice drinking.

Signatory Deanston 2007 13yo 1st fill Sherry butt, 63.9%

• N: caramel, sherry, leather, sea salt, astringent
• P: warm honey, sea salt, spicy - cardamon, cumin
• F: long warm finish

8/10 

addition of water, N-more caramel, sweet; P-mild, salty; F-longer 7.5/10

Aberlour A'bundh Batch 67 59.8% Spanish Oloroso Sherry Butt

• N: sweet, baby sick, candyfloss
• P: sherry, big, spicy, manuka honey
• F: med-long 

7.5/10

Glenallachie 10yo Cask Strength Batch4

• N: smoky, sherry, leather, caramel, hint salt
• P: light, dry, oranges, leather, spice
• F: medium-long; very dry

9/10 (Bruce) 8/10 (Nabila)

Rare Old Super Nikka 43%

• N: acetoaldehyde, sweet, ash, toffee
• P: light, caramel, salt
• F: med

6/10 bit light after the first three monsters :D

Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2020 46%

• N: salt, bacon, sherry, wallpaper stripper
• Bacon, salt, sherry, spiky, salt, peaty
• F: massive, woodfires

9/10 Bruce; 8/10 Nabila.

We may have then ambled off onto other whiskies in the cupbaord, but didn't record those :) All in all, an excellent tasting as a stop gap measure.

Slainte, B 

Whisky Tasting: Crazy Casks

 Another month, another tasting. I write this the day after we should have been at a tasting. That's been postponed thanks to a pesky virus.

Auchentoshan Bartenders Malt No.2 50% 

• N: dry, fruity, banda reel copy paper, salt, chalky, meth spirits
• P: sherry, incr alc., peppery, manuka, lemons
• F: hot, long, bitter

 7/10 interesting, but not great

Ardnamurchan #2

• N: peat, oaky, sweet, wet wool, dry
• P: smoke hint, fruity, tangy, liquourice 
• F: medium

8/10

Arran Sauternes Cask 50%

• N: watery, coconut, lemon meringue pie, newsprint
• P: coconut ice, oily, sweet
• F: warm, medium tannic

7/10 

Benriach 1992 25yo Port Cask #979 53.9%

• N: sherry, sweet, sticky, dusty, old, dates, port
• P: sherry, very smooth, xmas cake, incr alc, butter
• F: med, long

8/10 yeah bit lower than I'd have expected from an aged benriach. 

Glenallachie 11yo Moscatel Wood Finish 48%

• N: makeup remover, toffee apples, very sweet, cheese 
• P: warm, light bubblegum, disappointing
• F: medium, peppery

6/10 didn't like this, very washed out taste

Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique 54.8%

• N: PVA wood glue, strong, meths, blue cheese, vinegar
• P: hot peppery, sherry, paint stripper
• F: peppery, long

8/10 enjoyed this quite a bit. 

Kilchoman Px Sherry Cask 47.3%

• N: salt, peat, ash, oily, soap, smokey
• P: peat only smoke rubber bacon
• F: long, warming

9/10 oh my. 

Longrow Red 10yo 52.5%

• N: apples, toffee, marmalade, salted caramel
• P: watery, peppery
• F: medium, peppery

7/10 bit dull overall

Interesting tasting, certainly diverse. Normally I'd have picked up a bottle of the Kilchoman, but really I have a large number of them already, do I relaly need another (don't answer that).

Pumptatus : The Restoration, Part II

 Staining of the organ is coming along well, about 75% there. The main body is finished (bar touchups) and the rest all has one coat of three or four complete. 

Few more pictures, and once the staining is finished (next week or two), it'll be cleaning and fixing the innards.

Recipe: Beef Bavette

 Been playing around with a recipe (can't remember where I found it) but this works very well:

Made this last night, a lot of win for very little effort. I downsized spice mix for less meat, but otherwise I almost followed a recipe!

Spice Mix

2T coriander seeds; 1T fennel seeds; 2T sea salt; 2T peppercorns; 1 lemon zested; 3T seaweed; 1t cayenne; 1T thyme; few shakes of tabasco; 200ml vege oil

1 beef bavette or flank - around 1Kg [actually, I just used a steak]

Toast coriander and fennel seeds until fragrant and cool; grind with salt and peppercorns. Add remainder of ingredients, add oil and mix. Rub sensuously into the meat.

Marinate overnight. (you can get away with doing it in the morning and cooking in the evening, but let's give you a relaxed day eh)

Cook on hot bbq or frypan until well coloured surface, cook the other side until well coloured on surface

Remove from heat and let stand for 10mins. (meat will be about medium-rare, or mine was)

Pumptatus, the restoration Part 1

 I recently bought another pump organ. I was pining for the one I sold in the UK and restoring another one over winter was the obvious solution to all my problems. This one is bigger, more gothic, than the last one (which just looked like a mid sized standing coffin when shut). I sense candlesticks and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dmin in my future.

Pumptatus: well it's obvious really, Sphenodon punctatus....

Pickup involved a ute. In Hamilton. I felt very at one with my testosterone. Here's a picture of my newly acquired strops + ratchets, tarp, and rope. A recipe for BDSM success!

First job was to get it into the garage and assess it for woodworm (a little bit, nothing concerning). 

By that point I'd removed the recent-ish addition of a music stand with light. Next came testing keys/reeds, pumps, and stops. Generally good, there's about 10-12 keys or reeds which need work, there's even a spreadsheet...

At that point it's a slow process of deconstructing it, rather than go through every step, here's a few shots to show what's inside a pump organ/harmonium.

Currently state: lying on it's side, very naked. The varnish has been removed, and a medium sandpaper applied, next up is a fine sandpaper and beginning to restain it. Once that's finished, I'll spend some time fixing the reeds - as I'll have the room on my table.

Luv, your organ Pumper.