NdW 22|17: Akashi, Togouchi, Timorous Beastie, Rock Oyster, Glenfarclas, SMWS

Es ist schon wieder Freitag. Das Bremer Spirituosen Contor hat drei neue Japaner angekündigt. Douglas Laing bringt einen 18-jährigen Timorous Beastie und Rock Oyster. Und die SMWS bringt ihr Juni Outturn.

• Akashi, Meïsei, Special Edition, Blended Whisky, 45%
• Akashi, 8yo, 55%, ncf, nca, Single Malt Whisky
• Togouchi, Kiwami, Blended Whisky, 40%
• Timorous Beastie, 18yo, Blended Malt, ncf, nca, 46.8%
• Rock Oyster, 18yo, Blended Malt, ncf, nca, 46.8%
• Glenfarclas, Christmas Edition, 1988, ncf, nca, 46%, ca. 136.- EUR
• Glenfarclas, Christmas Edition, 1991, ncf, nca, 46%, ca. 120.- EUR
• SMWS, 15 neue Abfüllungen

ncf = no chill-filtration (keine Kältefiltration), nca = no color added (ohne Zusatz von Zuckerkulör)

Weitere Informationen und Tasting Notes

Akashi

Aus der Pressemitteilung:

• Der Akashi Meïsei enthält 45% Malt Whisky und zählt zu den Special Editions der White Oak Distillery. Golden strahlt er im Glas und besticht mit eleganten Noten von Vanille, Eichenholz und süßen Gewürzen. Passend nicht nur für elegante Cocktails, sondern auch pur und zu Süßgebäck ein großartiger Genuss.
• Die Einzelfassabfüllung Akashi 8 Years Old Single Malt Whisky wurde mit kräftigen 55% vol., ohne Kältefiltration sowie ohne die Zugabe von Farbstoff abgefüllt. Dank der Reifung in einem handverlesenen First-Fill Sherryfass entsteht in nur acht Jahren ein Single Malt voller Tiefe, Eleganz und intensiver Aromen. Samtig opulent mit Noten von Vanille, Holz, getrockneten Früchten, Nüssen und erstaunlich viel Frucht und floralen Tönen im Nachklang.

Über Akashi

Die Lizenz der White Oak Destillerie in der Stadt Akashi Whisky zu brennen geht bereits auf das Jahr 1919 zurück. Die moderne Ära des Whiskys begann 1984, als man in der Nähe des Hafens Kobe eine moderne Destilliere baute. Ganz nach schottischem Vorbild werden seitdem in Handarbeit und kleinen Batches preisgekrönte Single Malt und Blended Whiskys hergestellt. Leidenschaft, Talent und die typisch japanische Präzision sind das Geheimnis von Akashi. Die Whiskys aus dieser Brennerei werden vor allem für den Akashi Blended Whisky verwendet, was Akashi Single Malts zu einer Rarität macht.

Togouchi

Aus der Pressemitteilung:

Der Togouchi Kiwami wird im Süden Japans vermählt und zeigt seine „wahre Größe“ mittels herber Noten von dunkler Schokolade, Walnuss, süßem Honig und Pfeffer. Im Nachklang ist er überaus würzig-intensiv und passt perfekt zu Sushi oder modernen Cocktails.

Über Togouchi

Die Chugoku Jozo Brennerei stellt seit 1918 traditionelle japanische Produkte her und verfolgt seit 1990 auch für ihre Togouchi Whiskys dieselbe Philosophie von bester Qualität und höchstem handwerklichen Anspruch. Alle Whiskys werden in einem unterirdischen ehemaligen Eisenbahntunnel gereift und danach miteinander vermählt. Aus handverlesenen Rohstoffen und der japanischen Kunst des Reifens und Blendings entsteht hier ein „Nektar aus dem Land der aufgehenden Sonne“.

Timorous Beastie

Timorous Beastie 18 Years Old, a Highland “Vatted” Malt, is offered without colouring or chill-filtration, and at 46.8% alcohol strength. Packaged in a premium gift tube with copper foil detail, the eye-catching packaging honours the refined, golden liquid within, whose tasting notes include “gentle spices”, complemented by “honey, vanilla and juicy barley”. The third release under the brand to carry an age statement, Timorous Beastie 18 Years Old follows 2016’s globally acclaimed 40 Years Old and 21 Years Old bottlings.

Rock Oyster

From the Highlands to the Islands, Rock Oyster 18 Years Old is a maritime marriage of Malts distilled on Arran, Islay, Jura and Orkney. Said to be “rich with flavours of the sea”, the tasting notes for Rock Oyster’s new limited edition feature “a blast of sea air, tobacco and sweet peat”, brought to life on the packaging by a detailed illustration of a sailboat battling stormy seas off Scotland’s West Coast. In line with the Douglas Laing family philosophy, it too is offered without colouring or chill-filtration, at alcohol strength of 46.8%.

Glenfarclas

• 1988 – offizielle Tasting Notes
  Date of distillation: 23.12.1988 Cask Numbers: 7145, 7146, 7306
  Ein hell bernsteinfarbener Single Malt Whisky. In der Nase Aprikose und eine feine Sherry-Note. Elegante, intensive Frucht-Aromen, würzig, süße Kräuter. Langer, cremiger Abgang mit einem Hauch von dunkler Schokolade.
• 1991 – offizielle Tasting Notes
  Date of distillation: 20.12.1991 Cask Numbers: 10859, 10956, 10861, 10955
  Ein bernsteinfarbener Single Malt Whisky. Im Geschmack feine fruchtige Sherry-Aromen mit würzigen Noten von Eichenholz, Mandeln und getrockneten Früchten.

SMWS

• 9.120 Stout, Sweet and Spirited, 20yo, 243 Flaschen, 57,7%, 80,90 GBP – Glen Grant
  The nose neat was initially all over the place with freshly washed woolly jumpers, pine needles, tree bark and spray lacquer before it settled and turned into a combination of pineapple cream cake and spiced peach pie. On the palate, sweet, creamy and spicy; Scottish cranachan with cardamom honey or a ginger banoffee pie followed by a slightly bitter dry finish. With water we imagined walking through an autumn wood eating custard creams as well as apple and cinnamon marshmallows. Twenty years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a virgin oak hogshead with a heavy toast and a medium char.
  Virgin oak hogshead, heavy toast/medium char, Jahrgang: 1996 | Region: Speyside
• 63.37 Coconut-Cherry-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, 9yo, 220 Flaschen, 60%, 49,00 GBP – Glentauchers The nose neat managed to transport us to very different places. Some of us entered a laundry collecting freshly starched shirts, others wandered the streets of Grasse in the south of France but eventually we all ended up in greenhouse full of lilies. A little harsh on the palate at first with an astringency like grapefruit pith or quince jelly but then quickly turning sweeter; wine gums, fruit jellies and chewy lemon & lime bonbons. With water it turned ‘sunnier’; aromas of tropical fruits – mango and papaya followed on the palate by refreshing cheery coconut-cherry-chocolate chip ice cream.
  Refill barrel, Jahrgang: 2007 | Region: Speyside
• 4.225 A Crunchy Brunch, 15yo, 580 Flaschen, 60,6%, 74,00 GBP – Highland Park
  The nose neat felt like a hearty brunch; smoked mackerels on rye bread with horseradish cream, parsnip and beetroot crisps sprinkled with sea salt, maple-smoked bacon and blueberry pancakes. The taste neat surprised us all, ‘like a dragon breathing fire’ or ‘walking barefoot over hot coals’. After the initial heat, rich dark burnt caramel, toasted malt and molasses with a hint of sweet peppermint mints in the finish. Diluted we dowsed a beach bonfire made out of old fish boxes with sea water whilst on the palate, sherry soaked sultanas and now a warming sweet smoke, chilli pepper pearls marinated in natural sugar cane brine, which added a spicy crunch finish to our brunch.
  Refill butt, Jahrgang: 2001 | Region: Highland
• 5.56 Apples and pears on the bough, 16yo, 142 Flaschen, 54,8%, 69,00 GBP – Auchentoshan The fruity nose (peaches, strawberries, orange syrup, Jolly Ranchers, wine gums) also had Battenberg and Turkish Delight sweetness and tiny traces of star anise. The palate was spicier and woodier – spiced fruits, clove and sauna wood, but also had honey, marzipan and boiled sweets – mouth-drawing, but full interesting. The reduced nose became more inviting – pineapple, coconut and travel sweets, apple and pear orchards and hints of mulled wine and Fisherman’s Friends. The palate now had dry pencil shavings, cigar leaf and peppercorns balancing three-fruit marmalade juiciness. After 15 years in ex-bourbon wood we transferred this to a first-fill Spanish oak Oloroso hogshead.
  1st fill Spanish oak Oloroso hogshead, Jahrgang: 2000 | Region: Lowland
• 29.218 Charred fruit on an open fire, 18yo, 288 Flaschen, 58,1%, 124,00 GBP – Laphroaig With the soothing warmth of toasting our toes by a log fire the panellists relaxed into a world of smoke and spice. Closer to the fire roasted sweet chestnuts and marshmallows with slightly singed edges, the smoke itself carried the fragrance of applewood and hickory with a lifted freshness of eucalyptus and tea tree oil. Fruity notes appeared with charred pineapple chunks, lemon verbena and canned fruit syrup with the greenness of fresh asparagus before more sweetness in the form of salted caramel and vanilla ice cream. The finish was refreshing with the clean woodiness of a varnished garden fence with medicinal undertones. Refill hogshead, Jahrgang: 1998 | Region: Islay
• 30.97 Dancing on a volcano, 9yo, 627 Flaschen, 64,7%, 53,30 GBP – Glenrothes
  The big sherry-influenced nose carries boozy trifle, rum and raisin, Christmas cake, Hoisin sauce, dark chocolate and hints of cigars. On the palate we got spotted dick*, over-done Christmas cake, very dark chocolate, intense mocha, treacle toffee, and bicycle handlebar grips; one panellist was ‘dancing on the edge of a volcano’. The reduced nose gave us coffee and walnut cake, bread and butter pudding and ‘plastic raincoats walking away from a firework display’. The reduced palate had loads of toffee, raisiny fudge, dried fruits and char-grilled Chinese ribs with a dry oloroso finish – probably challenging for some but unanimously approved by us. (*British pudding made with suet and dried fruit)
  1st fill Spanish oak Sherry butt, Jahrgang: 2007 | Region: Speyside
• 37.91 Big boozy trifle, 15yo, 266 Flaschen, 56%, 61,20 GBP – Cragganmore
  This peach tinted tincture promptly delivered our senses into a realm of apple and rhubarb crumble, tropical fruit salad and mandarin segments soaked in brandy. Banana flavouring directed us to the clean and woody notes of freshly polished school desks with leather bound books and the freshness of eucalyptus leaves. Sweet confectionary followed in the guise of chocolate muffins, caramel wafers and a trifle that had been mercilessly drenched in sweet marsala wine. The palate offered a drier sophistication as banana skins, gooseberries and dried cranberries jostled with the creamy texture of real vanilla custard and gingerbread. Hot-cross buns and minty herbal notes rounded off a superb and balanced finish. After a maturation of 15 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead this was transferred to a 1st fill French oak hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.
  1st fill French oak hogshead (Classic M+), Jahrgang: 2001 | Region: Speyside
• 44.80 Rocking Roller-Coaster Ride, 13yo, 238 Flaschen, 58,9%, 56,10 GBP – Craigellachie
  Plenty of sweetness at first on the nose neat with puff candy meringues and bonfire toffee. With time dried dates and toasted pine nuts appeared as well as uncorking that exceptional old bottle of vintage wine. To try it was like a rollercoaster ride, starting with gentle sweet ripe fruits, followed by the heat of citric herbal notes and then finishing silky smooth with a hint of smoked wood. Careful with water; aromas of marzipan covered fruitcake were followed by moist clementine and gingerbread trifle. Twelve years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a virgin oak hogshead with a heavy toast and a medium char.
  Virgin oak hogshead, heavy toast/medium char, Jahrgang: 2003 | Region: Speyside
• 50.94 Irreverent painter in church, 27yo, 128 Flaschen, 58,3%, 144,30 GBP – Bladnoch
  The nose, with the oiled wood of new church pews, exuded peacefulness and earned reverence – it also had dried papaya and mango, marzipan, lemon curd, sherbet and candied angelica. The palate was chewy and satisfying, with spritzy and zesty elements (orange and lemon jellies, tropical fruits), spiced pear and the sweetness of white chocolate and French Fancies. The reduced nose continued the citric theme – lemon sponge-cake, chocolate limes and a painter with a cigarette in one hand and a margarita in the other. The palate was juicy and rewarding, combining tangy fruits and bitter lemon with cola cubes, pear and chocolate. Refill barrel, Jahrgang: 1990 | Region: Lowland
• 73.84 Tug of war in a meadow, 15yo, 572 Flaschen, 57,4%, 57,70 GBP – Aultmore
  The nose had us frolicking in flowery Spring meadows; then we were rewarded with apple strudel, strawberry jam donuts and mulled cider. Spice dominated the neat palate – spiced oranges in mulled wine, cinnamon apple pie and intense dark fruits; the finish contained drying white pepper and chilli powder. The reduced nose was a tug of war – spiced wood, old bookshops and black bun* pitted against tinned pears, crème Anglaise and apple and elderflower. The palate found its resolution with water – playful nutmeg spice and sherbet, lemon meringue pie, vanilla and Belgian caramel wafer; strangely mouth-watering and drying at the same time. (*a very dark, spicy fruit cake enclosed in pastry, traditionally served in Scotland at Hogmanay**) (**New Year’s Eve)
  Refill butt, Jahrgang: 2001 | Region: Speyside“