by Evan

I am behind in posting this, so lets get down to it! Here are my thoughts on the October Outturn for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Canada;

• 82.22 – On the nose: mint, sage, lemons, chamomile. On the palate: Juicy with a spicy zing to it. Nutty notes like pistachios and macadamias along with pear puree and a peppercorn-like heat.. The herbaceousness on the nose gives way to to the fruitiness and spice on the palate.
• 59.59 – Ahh, Teaninich. I have been really enjoying any Teaninich I have tasted over the past few years. SPOCK’S EARWAX does have some wax notes to it -  but at least it doesn’t smell Vulcanized. It is also missing the green and grassy notes I get a lot of the Teaninich’s I have had. Illogical! The nose evokes creme brulee, tapioca, creamy mango bubble tea plus a dash of citrus and mint. The palate shows starts soft but builds up to a wonderful juiciness. Mango, pineapple and fruit cup syrup all jump to the fore. I cannot tell a lie: The whisky is soft and doesn’t have a very long finish, but man is it delicious.
• A5.2 - Now, we shift gears, going from distilled grain to distilled grapes with this Armagnac. MUSK-COATED CANDYFLOSS is full of maraschino cherries, maple candies, and fennel along with a touch of leather jacket and shoe polish on the nose. To taste it has plenty of cherries again, plus molasses, earl grey tea, cloves, and orange slices. It is a shame we cannot do in-store tastings right now because this would have been fun to see people react to blind. I feel like there are a decent amount of rum notes in this Armagnac. The duality makes it a fun sipper.
• 37.131 – Back to Scotch – this time from Cragganmore Distillery. I had to look up the first word in the name for TARANTELLA TONGUE DANCING. Tarantella apparently is a rapid southern Italian dance or piece of music for said dance that is written in a quick 6/8 time. Sounds like this should be an interesting strike to the palate then! Firstly, the nose evokes a lot of the STR cask the whisky was finished in with plenty of polished wood and fruit notes such as mandarin oranges, cherries, and ripe bananas. On the palate I don’t personally get the dance, but I do get the intermingling of cask char, fruity wine notes and orange marmalade. It is sweet up front with some nice wood spice notes. I can’t really pick it apart more than that at the moment so I will just say if you are a fan of STR casks, you should check this one out.
• 29.257 – I am almost afraid to talk about this one. It is a 21-year-old single cask Laphroaig, so it be two things at the very least: expensive and good whisky. The SMWS Canada put this bottle in front of the tasting panel for the Alberta Beverage Awards and what do you know! It tied for Best in Class in the Whisky Category. How good is it though? Is OUT OF LEFT FIELD worth the money? I have a mortgage and three young kids, so my mind says no. My nose however wants to be stuck in a glass containing this whisky 24/7. Soft coastal peat, cooked pineapple, dates, cherries, Fisherman’s Friend lozenges, railroad ties, lemon meringue pie, and parma violets. The palate liquid smoke, char-grilled pineapple, fresh blackberries, chamomile tea, lemon honey ginger tea, black liquorice tea, and a dash of salt. To me, it is surprising that this was finished for more than a year in a first fill Oloroso cask. The clean sherry is there but it never manages to overpower the whisky within. This is a great bottle because of that.
• Battle Axe – This is a peat and Islay-driven blended malt bottled at 50% ABV. The youngest whisky in the blend is 8 years old. The nose is oily, salty and smoky with citrus notes. It makes me think of Caol Ila of the hop. On the palate I get the same, but with plenty more going on such as sweet coconut water, honey, banana chips, vanilla ice cream, and dark chocolate on the finish. This is another very well-but together blend from the SMWS
• 16.41 – This is the second peated Glenturret that we have seen from the SMWS Canada. The first surprised many with the style of peat this Highland distillery evokes; It definitely is not coastal. For me, the nose is full of dense chocolate fudge, fresh coffee grounds, and black forest cake. The palate spins out more fruit and sweet notes than the nose with marshmallows melting in hot chocolate, or perhaps between the sandwich of graham cracker and chocolate in a s’more. Apple pie, and the savoury and sweet notes of sauteed mushrooms on steak. The combination of dark earthiness and sweet notes work very, very well.

You can more information on these as well as other SMWS bottles by visiting our website.

Cheers,
Evan
[email protected]
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool
Instagram: one part of @kwmwhisky

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by Evan

Kung Fu Hustle is the best combination of a Martial Arts movie and Looney Tunes Cartoon that has ever been made.

In my teens and twenties, I was a bit of a kung fu movie junkie. I loved Jackie Chan flicks, with their slapstick vibe. I would grab any movie I could from Blockbuster that featured the actor. That era of my life has three movies that still stick in my mind as classics of the genre. Those are the Matrix (the first one. They didn’t make any more after that. There was no trilogy,), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Kung Fu Hustle itself. The first two are just about all serious in their style and story despite the respective sci-fi and mythical motifs they hang their martial arts scenes on, and that is fine. Kung Fu Hustle though? It has the thinnest historical veneer and the barest of stories that still manages to have enough meat on the bone to get you smoothly from one action and comedic set piece to the next.

I still enjoy all three of these movies, but Kung Fu Hustle is the one that leaves me with a smile on my face just thinking about it. When I noticed that it was back on Netflix, I had to watch it again. It had been at least a year, so it was time.

And that is why it is nearly 11 PM and I am now just getting to tasting the lineup for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of Canada’s August of 2020 Outturn. This isn’t procrastination, I swear! Just like Kung Fu Hustle, it needs my full and undivided attention when it is put in front of me.

So, what do we have going on this month? Time to dive in!

• 85.59 – I have been digging some other recent Glen Elgins from indie bottlers recently, so I am excited to see where Beer Pong takes me. It is indeed beer-forward in style, with fermenting, floral and yeasty notes coming through along with waxy fruit and candy such as nibs on the nose.  On the palate, there are wine gums and jujubes all over the place – including those black ones that taste like anise/licorice. It even has the tang and texture of black licorice on the tongue. Very enticing whisky, with a nice bit of black pepper on the finish.
• 77.57 – As the name suggests, this one goes waxy on the nose as well, but in a different way. There is citrus, wax, and candy cane on the nose for me along with a touch of grassiness and hay. Wow. very waxy again with plenty of juiciness in the mouth. Like eating a taffy candy with the wax wrapper still on it. But better, obviously. A bit of polished wood on the finish as well. I don’t feel that I have pinned down Aultmore whisky yet when it comes to it’s typical characteristics and DNA, but I quite like this expression.Edit: What was I thinking? This isn’t from Aultmore Distillery – it is a Glen Ord. Mea Culpa. I will stick with the rest of what I said there, though. I know Glen Ord for grassy and citrus-driven notes when young, but not much more personally.
• 7.197 – Ahh, Longmorn. It has been at least a few months since we have had a 7 in an Outturn, and look how sherried this one is! This should be interesting. On the nose: Yup – that is indeed sherry. Lots of black tea and dried fruits to be had. Cherries, strawberries, Cracker Jacks and Bazooka Joe Chewing gum to top it all off. On the palate, I get massive amounts of red fruits. Cherries, raspberries, cranberries and a bit of bitterness from the sherry, though not in an off-putting manner. This is indeed bold and sherried in style – impressively so for only being eight years old.
• 28.43 – Wait – a potential second sherry bomb in the same Outturn? Unheard of! Like the Longmorn just tasted, this Tullibardine is from a first fill butt – this time specifically labelled as being Oloroso sherry in style. Nose: Plenty of dried fruits again, but leaning into butterscotch, buttered toast, pancake syrup, and dates in style. For the palate, it is rich and nutty. It tastes like a Fruit cake that is so laden with fruit, nuts and booze that it weighs more than you do. Dates again, pralines, walnuts, fig newton bars, and maple syrup. This is dark, rich, decadent and desert-like sherry. It is so rich that just nosing it could create cavities.
• 29.252 – Look at that first number before the decimal hits. Twenty-nine. That would be a Laphroaig, so you know it isn’t going to be cheap. Will it live up to the cost? On the nose: Damn. Damn you Laphroaig, with your wonderful tropical fruit notes that come out with enough time in the right cask. It is ashy. It is medicinal. But oh boy it is also mangoes, pineapple, passion fruit, yellow kiwi and more in the glass along with oysters, hay bales, and dunnage. The palate is a touch oilier than I would expect from Laphroaig – not in a bad way though. Salty with hazelnuts and macadamia nuts and plus those tropical fruits coming out again. It goes a bit floral and soapy on the finish, but not in a terrible manner. The palate is good and solid but for me, it is the nose that makes this one.
• GN1.5 - Peppermint or peppercorns is the second gin we have seen from the SMWS in Canada, coming to us more than a year after the first one. On the nose, it is fresh and vibrant with rose hips, jasmine green tea, cucumber slices and capsicum along with well-integrated citrus. The palate shows anise, lavender, grapefruit, and a touch of black pepper. It works on its own quite nicely, but it makes me want to pour in a smidge of good tonic water as well. Very well balanced gin!

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by Evan

For those of you that have been hiding under a rock (a wise choice) during the Covid-19 pandemic, here are a few important links for your perusal to help get you caught up on the past few months Outturn-wise:

• This is a list of all April 2020 Outturn bottles still available.
• This is a list of all May 2020 Outturn bottles still available.
• This is a link to the Dram Association’s awesome and informative video where they run through the June Outturn. It is definitely worth a watch, and they have videos for the April and May Outturns as well if you want to take a deep dive.

Tools like this can be crucial in the time we are in since we have not been able to host tastings and we do not have most of the bottles open to sample people on due to that. I deeply feel the absence of hosting the in-store SMWS Outturn tastings, and I miss interacting with all of you that attend dearly. Hopefully, we can figure out a way to run an online version for future Outturns, but we haven’t quite reached that yet. We will possibly get our ducks in a row and be able to offer something of that ilk soon…

Before I get teary of eye and runny of nose thinking about what I cannot do right now, I had better focus on what I can. Since I cannot do it in person, I can at least annoy from afar with my own tasting notes on the June 2020 SMWS Outturn of six fresh new bottles. Here are my thoughts on what you have to look forward to in purchasing one of these fine emerald beauties:

• 66.159 – This is bizarre – not only do we have an Ardmore at the start of the lineup, we also have an Ardmore that is not donning a light or dark green cap colour-wise. The SMWS characterizes this is sweet, fruity, and mellow. Could it be an entirely unpeated 66? Is that even done? Let’s see! On the nose, it is earthy and honeyed with roasted peanuts, Cracker Jack popcorn, plus peaches and cream. The palate gives an oily texture along with a salty and spicy tingle. More of that Cracker Jack note something through along with honey, graham crackers and baked apple crumble. It is a touch drying on the finish like peanut skins and Golden Grahams cereal without milk. The salty, spicy and sweet notes keep your mouth watering. I do not detect any peat, and I am shocked by that. This veers into Old Pulteney territory style-wise for me, though a bit richer on the palate. Very surprising for an Ardmore!

• 95.32 – This is the first time seeing a 95 from the SMWS Canada, so it could be interesting. Beyond the occasional old and overpriced official bottlings and some younger inexpensive bottlings from Cadenhead, you don’t see Auchroisk distillery bottlings every day. How does this one stack up? Well, on the nose shows some of that very high ABV (66%!) as well as lots of cereal and floral notes. Chamomile and vanilla jump out for me. On the tongue it is buttery and a bit hot (not too shocking) with lemon drop candy and tapioca pudding showing through. There are plenty of grain and sweet cereal notes again. It is hot, but not in an off-putting manner.

• 52.29 – Old Pulteney! This looks exciting – 17 years old and from a first-fill barrel. The Society deems this to be Spicy and Sweet, will some of the coastal and salty notes of traditional Old Pulteney show through? The smell of a real Christmas tree jumps out of the glass with fresh pine needles and juniper notes, along with a dash of lime, grapefruit, and gooseberries. Kind of like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc but with oak. The wood and spicy juniper come out on the palate again along with candy cane, salt, cracked pepper, and lemonade. The wood does make it a bit drying on the finish, but not in an over the top way.

• G7.16 – I saw that this Single Grain Scotch Whisky was finished in virgin oak and I was intrigued – The last grain I can recall having in this style was amazing G4.14 – AN ABSOLUTE ENCHANTMENT . That was a long-gone favourite of mine that was finished in a toasted oak hoggy. Will G7.16 fill those big shoes? The nose gives curious notes of rooibos tea, sesame oil, a touch of balsamic vinegar, polished wood, toffee and milk chocolate (think Caramilk bar). The palate is buttered toast, pralines, maple syrup, Amaretto, and cinnamon scones along with juicy apples, pears and peaches all together in a cobbler. Near the end it goes a dash tannic and bitter, but I don’t care. For me, this is love at first taste.

• 93.102 – Allow me to make a bold statement: Glen Scotia is easily one of the top three Campbeltown distilleries around today – don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. The SMWS bottles we have gotten from this distillery recently have all been treats. This is younger than the past few, so let’s see how it holds up. In the glass, it noses as sooty, dirty and coastal upfront, but some nice fruit and malt notes are hiding in there as well. I get dried mango and coconut strips. Woah. The fruit comes out much more on the palate, which is salty and oily with a touch of yellow Listerine mouthwash, but also yellow kiwis, freshly cut mangoes, and ham and pineapple pizza. The sale and fruit and a dash of coastal peat stick around for the finish. Delicious stuff.

• 66.154 – Lastly, we bookend the night with another Ardmore. This one is wearing its more familiar green cap and stripe. Which one will be more exciting between the two? This one shows medicinal peat and a touch of acrid smoke right up front on the nose, along with eucalyptus, tar, and very roasted malt. The palate is sweet, salty and nutty with Nutella, espresso beans, chocolate mousse, cooling spearmint, and apple butter. Is it better than the first Ardmore? Well, it is more like what you would expect from Ardmore. Whether it is better or worse I leave to you!

My two cents aren’t worth a dime, but hopefully you enjoyed reading my thoughts regardless of what they add up to. Read on below for the SMWS official tasting notes on the Outturn. I shall talk at you again in July!

Cheers,
Evan
[email protected]
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool
Instagram: one part of @kwmwhisky

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Here are the six new releases in the June 2020 Outturn

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