Strathmill 10 Year - Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon & MacPhail)

A rare mid-week tasting of an independent bottling whisky provided by @Telex for our tasting group. These later rounds of sample are scraping the rare and uncommon. A faint nose that makes it difficult to extract any aromas. What can be discerned are paint thinner, vanilla, straw with a hint of nutmeg and oak. Unlike the nose, the palate is lightly saccharine with ginger, ground cinnamon spice. This is all enveloped in a thin, watery body. What remains in the palate for a medium length of time is oak, ginger root and orange rind. The whisky lacks any depth across the nose, palate and finish. The redeeming quality is it’s sweetness. Otherwise it is a flat, lacking a true character and provides an unmemorable experience. It’s another indistinct whisky in an arena of many. [82/100][Tasted: 6/13/18]

One more sample as part of our SDT tour, this one provided by @Telex , my celebrity internet friend with a unique penchant for knowing the most number of music titles. I envy that. Since I was 13, I only listened to NPR and Bloomberg. Sure...I can rattle off A bipartisan argument on why North Korean nuclear disarmament will not happen because of regional destabilizing impacts, or I can make a case for why higher interest rates is a due reason to buy short to inter-mediate bonds, but damn if I know a title from any billboard top 50. Made for a rather unpopular high school years. Anyway...I digress. So...this sample: in the words of Thoreau...why does this even exist? No reason for it’s existence taking up shelf space. Acknowledge and move on.

Since “Oh Lord!!” are the first two words that come to mind doing the nose of this, the theme of the dram is definitely “Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin. Anyway, the nose brought sauerkraut, of all things, along with some rotten pears, unripened apples, and sawdust. Not a good way to start. Even at a mere 46% ABV, it’s a hot mess, and suffers from just feeling rushed. Thin mouthfeel, subtle lemony pledge finish, but I guess it’s thankfully dry. Just a “no go” from start to finish. The only saving grace is that it’s not waxy as well. 1.75.

Continuing on with our penultimate round of samples, we find ourselves at the Strathmill distillery, in Speyside. This distillery was originally called Glenisla-Glenlivet, but was renamed Strathmill based on a combination of Strath (meaning “shallow valley”) and Mill (in honor of the location’s previous use as a corn mill). It was founded in 1891 and is currently owned by Diageo. It’s primary use is as a blend contributor to J&B and Dunhill blends. This sample is from Gordon & MacPhail and is light gold in color and makes oily, fat legs in the glass. It’s bottled at 46% ABV. The nose was very light and restrained at first: alcohol notes, cornmeal and, as Paul noticed, latex paint. I let it sit open in a copita nosing glass for 10 minutes or so and I got a little sweetness, but not enough to save the nose from it’s big fail. The palate reminded me of cheap bourbon: peppers, corn and ultra-harsh oak. Strike two. The finish was medium length, warming and oily with a heavy oak presence. Not a full strike three, but nothing redeeming, either. Thanks to @Telex for sacrificing his hard-earned money for this one so we could tick Strathmill off the list. It’s a shame it just wasn’t much good. I’ll follow Paul’s generosity and award it two stars, but not a penny more. It’s not worth seeking this one out. Keep on truckin’.

Stop number 80 on the SDT is Strathmill. This Speyside distillery is Diageo owned and the vast majority of their whisky goes into J&B blends. This 10 year old comes by way of the independent bottlers of Gordon and MacPhail and is part of their Connoisseurs Choice line. Bottled at 46% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of pale gold. I gave this whisky a good 10 minutes rest in the glass before nosing, but still I was met with a blast of alcohol. Not a good start. A very light nose, almost nonexistent. Latex paint, alcohol and a faint lemony citrus. Pine resin, faint oak and furniture polish. After a while some decent notes came in. Vanilla, buttercream, custard, orange rinds and floral notes. A little water brought out a soapy/detergent note and an old ashtray. Neither one was good. The palate was honestly worse. Metallic, weak oak and harsh. Pepper and faint vanilla. I might have been able to get more but I didn’t want to subject my tongue to any more so I added in about 35% water. This took away most of the harshness and added a little orange oil. Nothing more than that though. The mouthfeel was light to medium bodied, a bit thin but creamy. The finish was medium short, vanilla and weak oak. This was bad. Another example of a terrible independent bottling. They seem to be much more prevalent than the good ones. At $84 this was money wasted. The only redeeming quality is that you can get a buzz if you can drink enough. Drown it in Coke or with a bunch of ice and water, but avoid it neat. Glad I only had 2oz to suffer through. 2 stars and I think that’s generous. Thanks for the sample @Telex, and I’m sorry that you have to deal with the remainder of your bottle. Cheers