Tastes

Hyde number four in my series is No. 7. Following from yesterdays lacklustre No. 6 Presidents reserve, which was an olorosso sherry finished blend of 18 year old malt and 8 year old grain, I now have in front of me a pour of the fully Oloroso sherry hogsheads matured No. 7 ‘1893 Presidents Cask’. No age statement here (apparently six years) but Hyde does declare this liquid to be a Irish single malt and non chill filtered. N: A flat, but welcoming, nose with a chocolate softness and malty presence. Honey, apple and peaches and a hint of nutmeg. With a little time in the glass everything wakes up and becomes, well; less flat. There may even be a bit of orange peel here. The sherry cask is working hard thats for sure. P: Somewhere in-between oily and creamy, a thick mouth coating texture delivers plenty of malt forward character, orange peel, plain chocolate, lots of plum character, and cinnamon spice. Subsequent sips adds some leatheriness. A prominent spirit heat stays high and forward throughout. F: Short-medium. Toffee and oaky-vanilla with a peppery heat. OK. This is the best of the bunch so far. Although that isn’t really a compliment when you look at the playing field. There is a lot going on in here, the nose is a slow starter but has plenty of notes to tease out from an initially flat open. The palate is awash with rich sherry cask flavours and the finish adds some depth of character with vanillin and toffee laden wood. But, there in lies the problem. There is so little of the spirit character other than as an intrusive heat presence and a generic malt forward flavour. The sherry casking isn’t so good as to work on its own. So, whilst the best Hyde yet in my books, it is the cask that wins and seems to be masking an average or worse spirit rather than complimenting or developing it in its own right. Distiller whisky taste #171 [Pictured here with another Western Australian LCT-Pegmatite, this time from Spargoville near the Kalgoorlie Goldfields. This giant hunk of rock features mostly coarsely crystalline quartz, but also perfect tabular crystals of white microcline with albite dissolution seams and a perfect pale green beryl. The pegmatite its from is ~330 m and up to 45 m wide dipping down at 30-50 degrees. A long history of mining of this pegmatite for gem quality mineral specimens drew to a close in 2012 when the open pit and mine shaft were filled in.] Hyde running scores No. 3 Aras Cask Bourbon: 2/5 No. 4 Rum Cask Finish: 1.75/5 No. 6 Presidents Reserve: 2.75/5 No. 7 Sherry Matured 1893: 3/5

Number three in my Hyde exploration series is No. 6, the Presidents Reserve Irish Malt Whisky. In this pour we have a blend, a mix of 18 year old single malt and 8 year old grain whisky married together and finished in an Olorosso Sherry cask. Hyde seem to rest heavily on their awards and accolades, a quick visit to their home page shows this. I am always wary these days of distilleries that chase awards as if that will mask poor substance. With this reserve there is an award of ‘winner’ for the 2018 World Whisky Awards Irish blend category. Given the performance of No. 3 and No. 4 I am not holding my breath… N: A little thin with an immediate malt forward profile that is undercut by a slightly intrusive spirit presence that I am certain will be the grain contribution. Shy, some light vanilla and biscuit character and maybe some fresh blossoms melded with some chocolate that suggests the age of the malt component. A little caramel does develop after about 10 minutes of gentle swirling but more spirit also comes out and I struggle to find the direct fruit character of sherry. P: Good texture with a creamy-milk chocolate feel. Sweetness from the grain component is not overwhelming and whilst very sugar forward there is a deeper red fruit, stewed apple, and cinnamon-clove presence to stop it running rampant. The age becomes evident here in the tannic oak presence which is a little aggressive, not for being too big, but rather from seeming to exist separately from the other flavour profiles. Occasionally there is a floral touch or perfumed quality which lifts the palate nicely. F: Medium. Tannic, plump raisin, milk chocolate. Maybe I’m already biased by a somewhat negative response to No. 3 and No. 4, but this does not seem like a world beating whisky to me. There are some interesting flavours in here. A floral lift on the palate and a quite pleasant and rich soft finish are enjoyable, yes. But, there is not enough going on to excuse the lack of nose and the distinctly unbalanced palate. Rather than a world beater, this seems like a poorly conceived way to stretch some dwindling aged stock out and I am left wondering what this could have been if it was just the 18 year old malt on its own. Or perhaps this really was the best Irish blend around in 2018, which seems like a damning indictment to me. Distiller whisky taste #170 [Pictured here with another Western Australian LCT-Pegmatite. These little pegmatite slices are from Mt Ida in the Western Australian goldfields and are comprised primarily of white spodumene and pink lepidolite, both important lithium minerals. This now emergent lithium deposit was found by an exploration company whilst reviewing historical drill core from a ceased gold mine; and set to me to define and characterise.] Hyde running scores No. 3 Aras Cask Bourbon: 2/5 No. 4 Rum Cask Finish: 1.75/5 No. 6 Presidents Reserve: 2.75/5

Last night was a weak start to a six strong series of Irish Whiskeys from Hyde. Tonight we have a liquid that after maturation in ex-bourbon barrels was transferred into first fill ex-rum casks to mature. Importantly we move from a grain whisky in No. 3 to a single malt with this, No. 4. N: Very light and shy. A vaguely juicy fruit salad mixes with a gingery spice and a little toffee. I’m really reaching though, there is almost nothing here. The more I work at this the less I get. P: Plenty of prickle to an otherwise soft and crisp mouthfeel. Apple, lime (interesting), brown sugar (very much a dark rum molasses sugar), is there a malty biscuit crunch here? Maybe, I’m struggling battling a very sharp and building prickle as if I’m biting on raw root ginger. F: Short-medium. Surprising richness of brown sugar, buttery vanilla, and more ginger burn. I do not care for this. This is a conflicted malt, an all but absent nose leads to more ginger burn than I hope to experience ever again whilst never getting much past a brown sugar richness. Sure some of the juicy fruit notes are fine but it fails to get going, just an over bearing sugar presence presumably from the rum cask. The limey citrus note in the palate, thats super interesting but way to fleeting to redeem this lacklustre poorly conceived and delivered dram. Distiller whisky taste #169 [Pictured here with another Western Australian LCT-Pegmatite, apparently thats the theme for the Hyde series. This pegmatite is from Ravensthorpe in the south of WA and has some rather lovely big green spodumene crystals with white albite and quartz and silvery books of muscovite. Spodumene is the dominant ore mineral for Lithium outside of salt lakes and brines] Hyde running scores No. 3 Aras Cask Bourbon: 2/5 No. 4 Rum Cask Finish 1.75

I tend to steer away from Irish whiskey, I’m not sure why. Even after a visit to the Whisky Museum in Dublin early into my first year of whisky nothing really took me. The opportunity to try six different offerings from a single distillery though seemed like a good opportunity to explore what was possible with a more mature palate and outlook. Enter Hyde. Triple distilled via a traditional ‘Coffey Still’ from pure corn and barley followed by maturation for over 6 years in charred, first fill ex-bourbon casks from Kentucky in the USA. N: Wow, initially I am smacked in the face by a wall of sickly candy sweetness followed by a stiff acetone. This is sitting out for ten minutes before I put it anywhere near my face again. Now the acetone has dissipated the sweet candy corn has also subsided to reveal a sweet vanilla, lightly toasty biscuit, rum and raisin ice cream, and a soft woodiness. Call me crazy but I am convinced I smell roast parsnip too. According to the Hyde website and other reviews there are ‘middle easter spices’ and ‘cinnamon’; I disagree, not a single hint of spice here for me. P: Slightly cloying stickiness with a mouth filling peppercorn vibrancy. Sweetness is main characteristic here, vanilla heavy fructose syrup laden caramel; the kind you would add a squirt to in a caramel latte. Maybe a slight confectioners custard type quality here also. But, honestly, I get nothing else. F: Shot-medium. Slightly malty, but the combination of pepper and sticky sweetness carry over from the palate to mask any kind of finish development. Oh dear. What a disappointing start. Overwhelmingly sweet with no character, progression, or really any redeeming qualities other than the fact it isn’t outright offensive. Grain whisky, done right, I think is great (Nikka Coffeey Grain; hello!). This may as well have been a measure of corn syrup with vanilla extract in it. I don’t actually know how to accurately score this, but it’s definitely not for me. Distiller whisky taste #168 [Wasting one of my favourite rocks on this measure: a fantastic LCT-Pegmatite. This chonky-boi is an igneous rock formed from highly evolved magmas rich in volatiles, fluids and incompatible elements and is a major source of Lithium (the L in LCT). This particular pegmatite features bluish clevlandite, white albite, red tourmaline, dark purple lepidolite, light purple cookite and glassy pollucite. Pollucite is the main ore mineral of caesium (the C in LCT). There is no T (tantalum) in this example. Rock comes from Sinclair in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia] Hyde running scores No. 3 Aras Cask Bourbon: 2/5

My final mooched malt from the great @cascode. Thanks again good Sir, a varied and interesting batch this time around. Amber Lane is based in the Yarramalong Valley on NSW's Central Coast. Founded in 2017 by two amateur astronomers and friends, Rod Berry and Phil Townsend. Liquid Amber is one of Amber Lane's sherried expressions that features whisky matured in ex-Fernando de Castilla sherry casks; one of only two distilleries on Earth who are granted access to do so. I wonder if that is actually important though? They took their time with maturation, waiting four years for bottling rather than the minimum two years which is common for the Australian market. N: rich and dark, there is an earthy and leathery quality thats age beyond the four years. Thick with dark jam and vanilla extract. A big bold and rich nose. But thats it, thats all I get, time in glass has let me find a little oatmeal gristiness. P: Full bodied and with a velvety thickness. There is an immediately apparent chocolate and candied ginger tingle. Packed with dark rich sugar flavours of golden syrup and caramel there is maybe a zesty apple carrier but its not pronounced. As for the nose this is a bold arrival that seems to just stop. F: Medium-short. The juicy apple fruit note that was hidden in the palate seems to come forward in the finish, the ginger subsides to a more bakery spice sensation. Amber Lane claim to be simple, down to earth and focused on flavour. I can agree with them, that they have achieved that here. Liquid Amber is a simple, bold and punchy young spirit that delivers few flavours very well. They have a pot still designed to maximise copper contact in order to produce a more complex flavour chain. I must disagree there. The local barely is all but lost to the powerful choice of casking and relatively long contact time with the wood. Whilst enjoyable, I would have liked more from the underlying spirit rather than hiding behind a wall of sherry cask. Distiller whisky taste #167 [Pictured here with, unfortunately, not a lump of amber. I don’t have any and I am mad. Instead, this is bismuth, also referred to as unicorn poo. This is man made but shows a very cool crystal growth habit called ‘hoppers’. Molten bismuth cools down and crystal start nucleating, growing so fast only the edges build and the faces get abandoned. Oxidation provides the wonderful colours You can buy bismuth cheap online and make these in a saucepan. Fun stuff.]

@cascode has pulled something extra weird out of his stocks and sent me this most curious offereing. Distilled in 2011 at the Mt Uncle Distillery (Arnold Holstein pot still) from Queensland barley and matured for seven years in purpose-built hybrid casks with staves of French oak ex-red wine casks and heads taken from ex-Bourbon casks and bottled 2018. The oddness here is found in: (1) this is aged in Queensland, tropical north Australia and (2) this is, as I understand it, the first and only run of whisky they have produced. @cascode has the only other tasting for this stuff, and if you want to know more about it, go read his notes they’ll be far better than mine. N: thick and powerful, reminiscent of the lush opulence of a well made port cask whisky. Thick with darkest toffee and caramel, dusty leather bound books, mashed banana and honey. A delicate floral note comes through if you are patient lavender or maybe just generic potpourris? Remarkably, no hint of overtaking that one might expect from seven years of tropical ageing, instead perhaps just the slightest spice note. P: Rich and dense. Spicy oak and perfume (literally like a perfume spritz on the tongue). More oak spice as heavy all spice. Toffee and juicy banana milkshake. Red fruits of plume and red grape. This is interesting and packed with flavour, but i find it unbalanced or at least not well integrated. An early thickness and richness of flavour gives way rapidly to a thin and watery very perfume heavy late palate; is it possible for a whisky to split? F: Medium. Refreshing with some lingering jasmine perfume and bakery spice backed by supple leather. I honestly don’t know what to make of this. A challenging and curious whisky with some supremely delicate notes and rich depths. The balance and integration is off to me though, and that interrupts my enjoyment. The nose is great, the finish is lack lustre and the palate is like Mr Hyde dragging you deep down into the darkness where you then meet Dr Jeckyll for some light merriment. Thanks again @cascode, you’ve challenged me more than I expected. Distiller whisky taste #166 [Pictured here with a rock with tropical origins to match this tropical origin whisky. This rock is a picrite, a magnesium-rich olivine basalt coming from Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. These rocks are formed as the result of rising melts passing through existing magma chambers that are filled with a slurry of olivine crystal mush. This particular picrite is up to half a million years old.]

Another mooching malt, thanks again to the great @cascode for something I am very excited to try. This liquid is the brain child of Cape Byron Distillery Co-founder and distiller Eddie Brook and Jim McEwan (Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Ardnahoe). N: Soft, gentle, and creamy. Plenty of cereal presence as shortbread and barely, with strawberries and peaches. Vanilla, a zing of citrus and an almost sweet saltiness. At 47% this isn’t shy, but there are no rough edges for what is a young spirit. P: Medium body with a ginger vibrancy and creamy texture. Fleshy fruits, mango, pineapple, honeydew melon. The creaminess comes from coconut, vanilla, and brown sugar, maybe even macadamia. At the back end, a little warmth with a silky saltiness. A touch of water adds an exquisite sour touch to the tropicals that is very enjoyable. F: Medium. Ginger, creamy vanilla, and something not too unlike malibu rum with pineapple. Australian whisky has blown up in recent years, and in a saturated young market there are a lot of experimenters and rogue hipsters that have forgotten or are ignorant to the basics. Not here it seems. A balanced and blissfully simple approach to working with the Byron Bay climate. Brook and McEwan have forgone the use of smaller barrels to ‘accelerate’ the ageing process in an almost polar swing to the approach of so many Australian distillers. 200-300 litre ex-Buffalo Trace barrels, specially designed warehouses to account for climatic extremes, and patience with exposure to coastal moisture. The result is a wonderfully delivered profile of tropical fruits, gentle textures and presence of the coast. Nothing complex, nothing overbearing, just a clean and confident presence. I am reminded of the Arran 10 and Arran Bothy releases as well as the Classic Laddie in this, and I am pleased to say I am impressed and will be looking for a bottle, as well as its counterpart Chardonnay release. Undoubtedly an Aussie future classic. Distiller whisky taste #165 [Pictured with a biotite-kyanite schist from the Harts Range of central Australia. This excellent metamorphic rock started out as a muddy sediment around 1.78 billion years ago. Later heating and deformation of these sediments resulting from compression of the crust ending at around 1730 million years ago. Much later intrusions of pegmatites represent the conclusion of a tectonothermal phenomenon 520 million years ago that provided the right conditions for the formation of large, high-quality mineral specimens such as these lovely blue beauties - a little known Aussie classic]

Opening a gratefully received pour of this French liquid I was obtrusively met by an aggressive spirit presence. Fifteen minutes to the side whilst clearing up after the finest roast chicken I’ve eaten in years and I am pleased to find a much more inviting dram ready to be sampled. I very much want to enjoy this, I think cognac casks are a highly interesting option for whiskies, so @cascode thank you kindly for this one. N: beautifully sweet pears, toasty grainy cereal, marzipan (unexpectedly delightful), really ripe banana, a dry leaf (tobacco?), and a suggestion of dried fruit. Big, bold, and complex. P: Moderate richness with a hint of oily presence. Nothing to write home about though. An abundantly youthful arrival marked by grainy cereals and quite a vegetal-leafy presence. Quite a lot of sweetness is present, like a thick syrupy fruit reduction with cherries and orange. There is a also a gristiness that built up with successive sips, like the dusty remnants of a bag of oats. F: Short. Latent spirit, nuttiness, and a gnats fart of smoke. Grist is what lingers the longest. An interesting entry from the French with plenty of room for growth and improvement. The nose is an aggressively complex opening. Not complex in the way of an erudite intellectual that has spent a life time adventuring to far flung corners of the earth. No. Complex, like someone just let a lion out in the middle of playground. I do not doubt that given time to mature this nose will be absolutely excellent. Thats where the enjoyment factor ends for me though. The palate is aggressively young with a grist driven profile that at times verges on acrid with a strong vegetal to spirit presence. It actually reminds me of a flavour note I was confused by in Loch Lomond Original (I cannot escape the grasp of the LL nightmare). The nose lies, thats my take away for this generously supplied highly interesting young whisky. Distiller whisky taste #164 [Pictured here with a hunk of lapis-lazuli from Sar-e-sang, Afghanistan. Not a mineral, but a rock, lapis-lazuli is an aggregate of minerals. The blue from the mineral lazurite, with additional brassy yellow pyrtie. These rocks have formed from limestones hydrothermally altered by circulating metamorphic fluids.]⁣

‘Discover the golden dram’. That is a bold, and actually pretty good bit of marketing. Something they leverage well. The water that Aberfeldy draw for their liquids is from the ‘Pitilie Burn’ a water source known to contain deposits of alluvial gold… “perhaps this is why our Aberfeldy Scotch whisky continues to be awarded Gold Medals for its Golden Dram”. This is my first Aberfeldy, a new bottle generously received at xmas from the inlaws and freshly opened now… N: Soft and creamy to slightly spirity. Ten or fifteen minutes and the spirit abates somewhat. Apple juice towards cider vinegar (sharp), fresh oak tannins and subtler vanilla presence, honied malt and perhaps a touch of coconut and a general red fruit-sherry cask. Simple, lively, fresh. P: A syrupy and slightly peppery arrival with plenty of honied sweetness to a malt dominant profile. Crisp and with a white-melon fruit to red sherry-fruit mouth watering freshness. This is very clean and plump with with additional ice cream like vanilla and peaches. The peppery arrival reveals a good oak character and the start of a whisper of smoke. F: Medium. A gentle melting ice cream texture that becomes a little spirity and warm on the exit but with plenty of malt richness and holding that whisper of smoke. Seriously, a whisper; what is this peated to, 1 ppm? I am of the understanding that this is the core of Dewars blends? I have never had a Dewars, but I am further of the understanding that they are commonly not the best. If that is indeed true, then what an undeserving fate for a really understated winner for a great competitor in the <80 AUD price point. This holds its own against the likes of Glenfiddich 12, offers a different depth of juicy fruit flavour against the likes of HP10, and holds it own distinctive character against the similarly priced blends. I am pleased to be drinking this in a warm evening Sunday afternoon sunshine. This is a great session whisky that whilst simple, and maybe a little spirit aggressive is sure to please just about anyone. I’m pouring another. Sláinte! Distiller whisky taste #163 [Pictured here with a very unimpressive, but fitting, gold bleb on its quartz vein host from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. This gold is probably in the realm of 2.64 billion years old and every bit as bright and creamy looking as this Aberfeldy 12; if you get close enough to look at it.]

Continuing on my masterclass in whisky mooching I have another generously shared dram from the almighty @cascode. This whisky from Campbeltown's Glen Scotia distillery is intended as a nod to the maritime nature of their liquids. Lightly peated and matured exclusively in first fill bourbon casks. N: Straight away I am hit by a heavy hit of toffee before it unfolds cereal and white fruits. A fresh and light aroma morphs into a very gently peated and subtly briny character with a very slight perfume influence. Light, refreshing, delicate. A lovely opening. P: A quit dry and grainy texture. I find this a little ‘cluttered’ at first but with plenty to unpack. There are hints of gristy grains, dry grass/hay fire, vanilla, and a salty fudge. The smoke grows on me, its interesting with a briny maritime essence and summery perfume to it. The texture feels a little young and ‘dirty’ for want of a better word. I think there might be some added depth that is found over time something reminiscent of stout and aniseed/rosemary. Curious. F: Medium-long. Dry grassy smoke, ashy and with a savoury caramel like flapjacks. On the advice of a few reviews I added a dash of water to the only 40% ABV liquid. Whilst water does unlock a much more apparent salty minerality like licking a beach cobble (a plus), I think the overall emergent harsher character is a detriment that I am not onboard with. Overall I think there is lots to like here, but its not immediately approachable; I find this liquid cluttered rather than complex and overall a little unbalanced. I would have liked to have seen some gentle sweetness to combat the drying saltiness and perhaps an amplification of the herbal notes. I think I would like to come back to a larger bottle of this and take some more time to explore it’s depth. Distiller whisky taste #162 [Pictured here with a Madagascan maritime friend. This beautifully preserved fossil nautiloid is Cenoceras and would have been freely swimming around the ocean around 235-163 million years. Like modern nautilus these chaps were active predators hunting for food up to 700 m deep via jet propulsion. Jet propulsion? Yes, imagine instead of swimming you swallowed water and shot it out your arse…]