Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 [Road to #1000, Review #992]

Hi everyone,

Welcome.

Take a deep breath in. Let it go, out…

There is a scent of pine needles underfoot, the wind is rustling cherry blossoms nearby. Above you a vast volcano looms with some form of inner darkness that you cannot comprehend fully.

Karuizawa

The name is but a breath upon the gentlest wind.

Karuizawa

More forceful now. Impatient. Impossible to ignore.

Karuizawa

Volcanic. Muscular. Now supple and teasing, now devastating.

Karuizawaaaa…

Karuizawa 1990 for Whisky Live Japan 2009 60%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Beautiful nose, fresh wild strawberries, orange and raisin, ethereal juiciness and cherry, malt, leather and cologne. Its all pretty muscular and salivating. Mead and old wood and browning red apple and golden raisin and brandy and perfumed wood. Yeah, complex.

Water: Darker, more cherry, black coffee, and very dark chocolate.

Taste: Sweet start, raisin, great oils and dryness, some brandy and leather, plenty of oak, some chilli chocolate, black pepper, orange peel, cherry into the finish.

Water: Still some spices but finds a nice sweet balance, less oak.

Finish: Medium length. More oils, more cherry, some oak, leather and chocolate.

Bottled 2009 at 19yo from a Sherry cask. Incredible nose, taste is a little dry. My second experience with Karuizawa and I was not disappointed in any way. This stuff is amazing. Not quite as amazing as the 1983 I tired but if the taste was on par with the nose, it would be well on its way.

85/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #24

Whisky Network Review #992

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Bowmore 12 (1980's), 1990 Wemyss & 1992 Red Wine [Review #800]

Hi everyone,

What better way to go into 800 Scotch reviews than Bowmore, the supremely hate-able distillery that made some of the best whiskies ever created, then some of the worst and now some of the most mediocre.

The 80’s was a hard time for Bowmore, made worse by the denial of an obvious problem. But thankfully they managed to make some better whiskies into the 90’s.

The problem was dubbed ‘French Whore Perfume’ or FWP by one creative whisky blogger and the name has stuck.

Today I’ve got three from the 80’s and early 90’s.

Bowmore 12 (1980's) 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Full

Nose: Woah! Very odd, metallic and floral, soapy in the extreme, complex though in its own way, slightly meaty, parma violets (of course), watery perfume, some floral soft smoke.

Taste: Weird, strange mouthfeel I've never had from a whisky before, floral and super FWP, parma violets, bath bombs, lavender and violet, metallic mouthfeel and thin, very thin. No Smoke.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Some floral smoke and spice, weird. Ugh.

Unscoreable! Haha No, it’s just very very odd. Very much the ugly side of FWP.

61/100

 

Bowmore 1990 ‘Earth, Wind, Fire!’ 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Tropical, salty with ozone and v Bowmore, quite complexly floral w/ some violet, daffodil and sunflower, darker oakiness but mostly quite bright, lemon peel, aged ham maybe?

Taste: Soft arrival, lemon cake, salty with smoked fish and then amazing chocolate, malt and peat, dark earthiness with some heather, growing oils with more peat.

Finish: Medium length. Very soft finish, mostly about the mouthfeel and oils.

Bottled late 2018 from Wemyss. A little out of balance early/middle of the palate. I’ve tried a few of these older Bowmore’s from Wemyss now and none have lived up to the incredible 1987 ‘Sweet, Peat Posy.’ They just haven’t been as peaty it seems, and therefore haven’t aged as powerfully or as complex.

80/100

 

Bowmore 1992 Red Wine Matured 53.5%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Meaty, muscular and bold. Red wine put out fire, coals and ash and soot, quite powerful, blood orange, cigar, leather, very dark chocolate and espresso. A few florals hidden underneath. Chocolate mousse. Really great meld of red wine and spirit. Dirty in a good way too.

Taste: Soft and sweet, blood orange, chocolate, peaty malt, coals and ash, black pepper, orange liqueur, pretty peaty and intense for Bowmore actually, brown sugar, molasses.

Finish: Short/Medium length. A bust of fruit, then burnt heather and malt and chocolate.

Bottled at 16yo. Good to remind ourselves that they make some of the best whisky in the world occasionally! This whisky not only surprised me but really amazed. I’m not normally a big fan of red wine and peat (or red wine finishes on whisky at all really) because balance is hard to reach, but this one makes it seem easy.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #798-#800

Whisky Network Reviews #950-#952

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Benriach Birnie Moss & 1990 Carn Mor Reviews

Hi everyone,

Two Benriach’s for today. The distillery has gone from being closed in 2002, to being a Billy Walker star to now being bought by Brown-Forman. The prices are consistently going up, especially of the single casks but it seems people are still buying for the moment, so, long may it continue.

I actually can’t remember where or when I tasted this first one, perhaps in a bar in Bristol on my birthday last year now that I think about it (BrewDog is the best).

The second I tasted recently, as an older version from a Hogshead which funnily enough isn’t something we see from the officials. It seems they only have wine casks…

Benriach Birnie Moss 48%

Colour: Straw

Body: Full

Nose: Buttery and oily from the off, intense peat of course, burnt grass clippings, young Ardmore-esque actually. Lemon, smoked pear and banana, green apple, a little smoked fish too.

Taste: Very soft arrival, smoky pear, green apple, a little sour, some salt, then lots of peat and minerally stoniness.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Goes suddenly buttery, a little smoke stays.

Does what it says on the tin but young and lacking in the complexity department. Doesn't taste more peaty than the Curiositas, just younger.

69/100

Benriach 1990 Carn Mor 48.9%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Leathery and old but still some fruit too, candied lemon peel, malt and chocolate, wet leaves and tobacco, candied orange peel, vanilla coming out with Victoria sponge cake, musky dunnage.

Taste: Intense with these old leathery notes, damp tobacco, old dunnage wood then fresher with apple and malt, lemon peel, hessian, dry oak.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Much fresher here with lovely orange and old furniture. Really good finish just a tad short.

Bottled 2018 at 27yo, almost 28. A really good one. Carn Mor have been releasing a lot of older whiskies with lower strengths and I think the little higher strength on this one saves it from another high 70's score.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #693-#694

Whisky Network Reviews #827-#828

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Carn Mor x4: Glen Keith 1988, Mannochmore 1990, Invergordon 1987 & Glen Garioch 1990 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Four whiskies today, all from the recently repackaged range Carn Mor from Morrison & Mackay. I quite liked the old packaging too, with the sideways labels that you couldn’t really read but oh well. I’ve tried a few of these now and they are always very good-great with the standout being the Chariman’s Legacy Bowmore.

These samples were very generously poured for me by all round legend Graeme Mackay at Limburg whisky fair.

Glen Keith 1988 Carn Mor 40.1%

Colour: Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Fruity and musky, aromatic, very fresh fruit, melon and pineapple, fruit salad, lots of 'super' pear, green apple, old wood.

Taste: Very soft and a little weak at first then builds with tonnes of oak, dry, dry chalk, dried apple, dried pear, then old wood.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Dried pear, some green apple, then soft milk chocolate.

Very good whisky but a little over the hill IMO. Don’t know if the original spirit character just wasn’t strong enough to stand up to that long a maturation. And then the strength was a little low, giving it less body.

76/100

 

Mannochmore 1990 Carn Mor 42.5%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Really very freshly fruity and tropical, melon, watermelon, green apple, pear, white pepper, lightly floral.

Taste: Very fresh and very tropical then spicy ginger, dry oak, spice box, slightly grassy, melon, some hot cinnamon.

Finish: Short length. A little tropical but dies off, a bit mouthwatering with green apple.

Bottled 2018 at 27yo. Much the same story again, very fresh old whisky but just lost a little too much.
EDIT: Tried again more recently and liked it a little better. Got more perfumed and floral notes which I think would bump the score up. (Original score: 75)

77/100

 

Invergordon 1987 Carn Mor 43.4%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Lovely old grain! Banana! Creamy, vanilla, double cream, yellow apple. No trace of ethanol, or clean alcohol.

Taste: Very soft then banana, very creamy mouthfeel, some oak but not too much at all, some white chocolate, white grape and white florals like Lily.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More double cream, banana, some very soft oak.

Bottled 2017 at 30yo. Definitely one of the best grains I've tried. It is starting to become my official standpoint that Grain whisky is best at around 30 years… More research needed…

79/100

 

Glen Garioch 1990 Carn Mor 50.6%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Nice balance of buttery tropical fruit, creamy, dried mango, dried banana, whipped cream, very lightly smoky, green grape, banana split.

Taste: Soft, natural, green grape, banana split, lemon peel, soft smoke, quite dry, some leather then creamy with banana, some soot.

Finish: Long length. A burst of banana then dry oak, green grape.

Bottled 2017 at 27yo. Very nice style to this you wouldn't find with many other whiskies, and with a bit more heft than the other three here. Best GG I've tried so far.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #639-#642

Whisky Network Reviews #759-#762

Updated Distillery Rankings

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Strathmill 1991 C&S Dram & 1990 Dimensions Reviews

Hi everyone,

I had met Andrea Caminneci when I was in Frankfurt late last year for another festival. Little did I know, he had his own independent bottler: C&S Drams. You aren’t likely to see them outside of Germany but I was recommended to try this one and I’m always interested by Strathmill. Definitely not a distillery you see often and quite and interesting and undervalued one too.

 

Strathmill 1991 C&S Dram 46.4%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: A very nice musky barrel, soft vanilla, dry oak, a little clean ethanol (the purifiers talking I think), crystallised honey, light florals and wax. A little Clynelish-like.

Taste: Soft, vanilla, juicy golden raisin and green apple, then nice earthy heathery malt and chocolate, dry oak and a little spice into the finish.

Finish: Long length. Very nice soft finish, heather, malt, milk chocolate.

26yo from a Bourbon barrel. Very fresh for 26 years but with complexity.

80/100

Hold on a minute… I’ve found an old review of a Strathmill that I’d totally forgotten! This was the one that tipped me off to Strathmill being a distillery making some great whisky.

Strathmill 1990 Dimensions Duncan Taylor 55%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Sweet complex honey- Honeycomb and honeysuckle, caramelised brown sugar, huge sherry sweetness. Strongly brewed tea, clove, menthol, melted butter, oily, spice and fruit- Red apple, raisin, date, fig, molasses, spiced rum, beeswax.

Taste: Well behaved for 55%. Sweet and smooth. Lots of honey, brown sugar, waxy, very waxy actually, lots of spice- Cinnamon, ginger and pepper, clove, butter, olive oil, orange and dark chocolate.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Waxy with spice and an ash hit.

Distilled 1990, bottled 2011. 21yo from a Sherry butt. Heavy and rich. Lovely with a drop of water too, more creamy and chocolatey. Great stuff, wish I’d bought a bottle at the time but I was fairly new to whisky then.

83/100

Distillery: Strathmill

Average Score: 78.8

Distillery Ranking: 14th/ 63 places

Up/Down: N/a

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #637-#638

Whisky Network Review #757-#758

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Bowmore 1990 Adelphi Review

Hi everyone,

I am of the opinion that there is no better age for Bowmore than 26 years, especially from a barrel or Hogshead. One of the best whiskies I’ve ever tried was a 26yo Bowmore and whenever I see them, I make an effort to try and try them.

That rule tends to only apply to the IB’s, there’s nothing exciting in the OB’s at the moment (as far as I’ve tried, yes yes, not that many).

Also Adelphi is known for great quality whisky, and I did hear from an industry insider that they source their casks from a different source to most, with higher quality than others. No idea if that’s true but that’s the word on the street. Always been a fan of the bottle design too.

 

Bowmore 1990 Adelphi 48.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Carbolic, sooty, burnt down building, old style soap block, tropical fruit behind, BBQ char, mango, clean laundry, love hearts. More tropical as it opens up.

Taste: Soft, nice arrival, fruit then more spice and lots of dry oak, tropical mango and soot, unripe mango, some orange, lemon juice and peel, ginger cake, ginger beer.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Good stuff, waves of leather, some cocoa, slightly earthy, some lemon still and ginger/white pepper. Best part of this whisky right here.

Bottled 2017 at 26yo. Great whisky but I was expecting more from this, being a 26yo Bowmore and all. Very expensive whisky again too.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #539

Whisky Network Review #634

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?