The Winter Queen (Adelphi)

The the heat wave of 2019 is biting down on the Northeast, I figured the Winter Queen is a suitable dram for the sultry summer evening. Curtesy of @PBMichiganWolverine The color is an ambered-copper with a full and rich nose that welcomingly greets you. Layers of baking spices, sweetness, and fruits. All this conjures up images of Thanksgiving Day desserts lined up across the table. In no particular order in a stream on conscience: cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, apples, chocolate covered cherries, candied pecans, maple syrup, walnuts, vanilla, honey, sherry, raisins, apricots, rye and musty books. The palate embodies the aromas in a dense full body. The counter-play between spice and sweetness is at work here. The volley swirls within the palate: rye, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon serving toffee, vanilla, dates, dark chocolate. As volley fades to a finish, an oaky dryness begins to develop. The palate turns slightly woody and is left with flavors of black licorice, maple syrup, Concord grapes and cinnamon. A solid flavorful, complex whisky. As. @LeeEvolved mentions, akin to A Midwinters Night Dram with the rye notes toned down. The spice is not over dominant and the sweetness is not overly saccharine. I am grateful for the opportunity to have sampled this thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine It’s unfortunate that this is not an accessible whisky for all to enjoy. [90/100][Tasted: 7/19/19]

This sample from @PBMichiganWolverine has a delightfully complex nose that keeps revealing new dimensions: chestnuts (reminiscent of Few Malt Whisky, of all things), cream, cocoa, cinnamon, cloves, a rye-like hint of mint, polished wood. The palate is rich in sherry notes, moist chocolate cake, bittersweet dark chocolate. The finish is long. Delicious.

I’m one of those oddballs whose favorite season is winter...I mean, I didn’t end up moving from Texas to the Upper Midwest by accident, ya know. This dram, generously shared with me by @PBMichiganWolverine, is a fitting homage to the beauties of the invernal world. Spicy, with notes of creme brûlée and cocoa, this winter queen is complex, but as welcoming as a toasty fire on a cold day...and just like those embers in the hearth, the finish is long and warming. There’s not much negative to say, other than that I wish it were readily available in small town Wisconsin.

This reminds me of a good batch of Aberlour A’bunadh right away even from the nose. Thanks so much for the chance to try this @PBMichiganWolverine. Nutmeg, cinnamon, gingerbread, and ruby fruits jump out at you. The palate is a great Christmas fruitcake. Really, the only thing I think I would “ding” it for would be some slight bitterness from the walnut finish in the end, but that’s such a “first world problem” lol. You get some other nutty notes and cloves too that balance it, so I think it deserves a 4.5. I really nice ABV, and I wish it wasn’t so damn rare.

With the official samples for round 6 in the books, it’s time to delve into the extras- and boy do we have a rare one here. It was provided by my brother from another mother, @PBMichiganWolverine, from NJ. He picked this bottle up on his business travels while over in the EU. I don’t believe any of this stuff made it to the USA, because the primary component is a Dutch whisky. The Winter Queen is from blending house Adelphi. It’s a blend comprised of 2 scotch single malts and the aforementioned Dutch whisky. There were less than 900 bottles available and it was bottled at 52.7% ABV. I believe the youngest whisky used was 9 years old, but they chose to leave it as a NAS bottling. It’s a beautiful, deep amber and mahogany in the glass. It’s NCF’d and made lots of long, silky legs in the Glencairn. The nose immediately reminded me of a sherry finished, rye whiskey. Sweet with hints of dill and pepper floating around the glass before they receded into fresh baked bread and syrupy, liquified toffee. Some amazing espresso notes remained hidden unless you got a little violent with the spins, but then they popped. The palate brought forward a lot of the nosing elements with maple syrup and peppery rye battling to be the center of attention. I immediately thought of the earlier vintages of High West’s Midwinter Nights Dram- except this one is sweeter, but not as well rounded. The latest MWND batches haven’t been able to hold a candle to the older ones, and this one walks that line a bit too. There’s just a feeling like the flavors don’t want to mix and fold into each other. It’s like a square dance where each ingredient steps forward in time, dances a bit and then backs up against the wall awaiting another turn. It’s not bad, by a long shot, I just wish it commingled a little better. Maybe it’s the youth of the juice, I’m not sure. The finish is long and highlighted by sweet sherry and a tree sap-like thickness. That was also very interesting. It takes mouthfeel/mouthcoat to a whole new level. Very satisfying. Overall, she’s a beautiful queen. Flavor packed from start to finish. I just can’t stress how I wanted it to meld a little better on the palate. It’s nit-picking, I know, but that’s what I do when I find something dancing this close to perfection. A big thanks to Pranay for pouring this one for the group. At $130 it’s right there on that fine line as to whether I think it’s worth that price, but then again if there was a bottle sitting in front of me on the shelf, I’d feel like a fool if I didn’t scoop it up. 4.25 stars, maybe 4.5. Cheers.

Another of the bonus samples from the SDT. Today we have a rarity. Adelphi is a company like High West, they are basically a blending house. The Winter Queen is a blended malt from 3 distilleries. 2 are single malt scotches, Longmorn and Glenrothes, and the other is Millstone from the Dutch distillery Zuidam. The youngest whisky is 9 years old, not sure what the ages of the older ones are. Per an article I read, this is made from a bourbon matured cask of Longmorn, a couple liters of sherry matured Glenrothes and two casks of sherry matured Millstone. 1 of 866 bottles. Bottled at 52.7% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of a red mahogany. A fairly big hit of alcohol up front but it settles down fast. Initial thoughts are that this is more of a sherry finished rye or high rye bourbon. Oak, musty cardboard and mint. Lots of sherry, toffee, caramel, mocha and maple. Cherries, marzipan and almonds. The familiar bubblegum note I find in many bourbons is here along with pine resin, herbal notes and pencil erasers. Black pepper, clove and maybe some licorice with a hint of sulphur. After it sits a good long while (I let it sit over an hour because I got sidetracked) there is an aromatic, mineral quality that I assume is the Longmorn coming through. Water brings more of the mineral notes with some sourdough bread. Once it sits long enough that’s all you get and the sherry bomb that once was is all but gone. A surprising transformation. The palate is rich sherry, maple, oak, syrupy and toffee. Very bourbon/rye-like with an unusual taste in the development which I can only attribute to the Zuidam component as I’ve never tasted it in any scotch. Very grainy and malty. Some light fruits beneath the peppery heat in the form of apple skins and plums. Oak and more black pepper. Again, with lots of time and a little water, the Longmorn really comes through and dominates the experience. With water it becomes chalky, mineral and slightly metallic. A full bodied mouthfeel that is oily, mouthwatering and mouth coating. The finish is long with sherry oak, spices and more mineral notes. Very odd for a blended malt, but then again it’s from two different countries so who’s to say what it should taste like. Until water is added and it has time to breathe it really is more like a sherried bourbon. After that the scotch DNA really asserts itself. It’s very good regardless of what it’s made of. At $130 I would say that this is worth the price, and the rarity factor makes it that much more enjoyable. A solid 4.25 and thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample. Cheers

This was my bonus offering for our little tour. What really intrigued me in this blend was the combination of Dutch and Scottish malts. Not something you see often. It’s not readily available either, just a few hundred bottles or so, in northern EU and UK markets. Immediately at pour, I loved the color :mahogany. The nose is more like rye...baking spices, cinnamon, bread. The taste has layers of complexity—-you get a rye like zing from a youthful Dutch, but it balances out against the more robust and elegant two Scottish players. If tasted blind, I’d have guessed this was a well aged rye that’s tempered with a finishing, or it’s a unique Compass Box blend. I think I got this barely over for $100...wish I bought two. @Generously_Paul @LeeEvolved @Telex @Scott_E hopefully you guys will like this one

Look @PBMichiganWolverine, your bottle request turned into a full fledged review :)