Weekend Briefs 2022.07: Glenlivet, Kilchoman, and Jura
Another round-up of brief reviews from the weekend. This time I have a handful of reviews of bottles from my whisky closet. When the mood strikes and I want to mindfully sit with a whisky and write up some thoughts, 99% of the time, I reach for a sample rather than a bottle. I am ponderously slow at reviewing the bottles I own, to the point where sometimes I finish them without ever writing up anything.
There are many ways to enjoy a whisky, and while I find writing a whisky review is a great way to pause at the end of the day and relax, truthfully, I am not always in the mood. When I want to kick back with something and tune out the world or power down my brain, I grab something off the shelf I own. Some part of me knows I can always return to the bottle and review it later. When I am in the mood to write a review, I tend to focus on those samples from friends or whisky events that I have expressly to review. It is as if my whisky collection has been cleaved into two— on the one side are those whiskies I drink because they taste good and I enjoy them, and on the other are those whiskies that I enjoy picking through and thinking about as I search out unique and interesting flavors.
A shorter format seems ideal for the bottles I own, and I know I will likely never make time to sit and write up a long-form review (that is just not how I typically enjoy them). I would hate to have no record of how I felt about a bottle— I already suffer from that with wine and have bought the same disappointing bottle twice simply because I do not keep records or tasting notes like I once did.
Here are a handful of bottles I have had for a long while— a couple of which I began reviews of but never finished. The first bottle, a Glenlivet, was a travel retail exclusive for several years, though it has since been released through regular retail channels in some markets. It was not a typical purchase for me and probably belongs in the category of “whiskies you buy before you really know what you like and then never get around to drinking.” The other two whiskies were gifts from a friend who moved to Canada and left their open bottles with us. So second on the list is a Kilchoman Loch Gorm from 2015, and to wrap up the Jura Superstition, whose 1-liter format leads me to believe my friend likely picked it up at travel retail as well.
On to the weekend reviews!
Whisky Details: Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve Solera Vatted, 40%
Nose: Sweet malty sugars, honey, apples, pastries, hints of black pepper and vanilla, mild nuttiness, graham crackers.
Palate: Light body, honey, butter, graham cracker, hints of salt and bitter oak, malty pastries, honeycomb toffee.
Finish: Medium to short with honey butter and shortbread.
Score: 4-5
Narrative & Notes: My wife and I first tried this at a duty-free tasting counter in Singapore’s Changi airport several years back and enjoyed it enough to grab two bottles— one for us and one for a friend watching our apartment. The flavor profile was simple and enjoyable— it was a good party whisky when the company was more important than the beverage. Think mood or background music, but whisky. It was perfectly suitable to sip on and mellow enough that it fades to the background of the evening. I admit I have used a significant amount of the bottle for cooking and rarely find that I reach to drink it. We finished off the other bottles we bought during that trip, Port Charlotte CC:01, and the Laphroaig PX cask promptly as they were more to our taste. While I still believe this was a great Duty-Free value at the time, I would not buy it again.
Whisky Details: Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2010), 2015 Edition 46% Oloroso Sherry Butt
Nose: Grill smoke, grilled fruits, marinated pork ribs, smoldering charcoal, pipe tobacco, peaches and strawberry, hints of burning pine.
Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, grilled fruits, hints of salt and cola, pipe tobacco, leather, charcoal grill, char siu marinade, hints of chocolate and brownies at the end.
Finish: Long and lingering with cola brownies and mellow herbal tobacco.
Score: 6
Narrative & Notes: A good friend gifted us the remaining half of this bottle when they relocated to Canada. The logistics behind moving a whisky collection, especially open bottles, across an ocean and national borders is not simple. Though it is always sad saying goodbye to a friend, I admit the gift of a few bottles of whisky made the parting a bit sweeter. I jotted down a review of this bottle when it first arrived, and as I sit to type my thoughts, I am enjoying the final ounce of the bottle. I love how fragrant this whisky has remained over the years, even as the bottle reached its last legs. The flavors softened over time but lost none of their richness. Overall, the Loch Gorm makes for an ideal introduction to the distillery. However, as an annual release with a price often double the Machir Bay, it is unlikely to make for an accessible introduction for the curious.
Whisky Details: Jura Prophecy, 46%
Nose: Charcoal smoke, salt marsh brine, smoked fish, langoustine boat, hints of tar and herb-infused oils.
Palate: Medium-bodied, honey, mellow smoke and brine, mangrove marsh, smoked fish, tarragon and thyme, tractor oil, mild dried grassy notes and heather.
Finish: Medium-length with coal smoke and dried ginger.
Score: 6-7
Narrative & Notes: Sadly discontinued, this was one of my favorite Jura labels along with the Superstition. Sure they were chill-filtered for clarity and texture, sure they had no age statement, sure they were not cask strength, and sure they were dyed a lovely shade of bronzed orange… but I enjoyed them. The heavily peated Prophecy featured a delightful aroma that would surely play the nostalgia card for anyone who has spent time along the sea shore. The Superstition was medium-peated but a bit funkier, with a deeper mangrove swamp mustiness than the Prophecy. I know the branding on the two bottles was a bit strange, and it was hard to understand the connection to the whisky, but what an absolute treat. I do not think any of the bottles in the refreshed Jura lineup quite equal these two discontinued drams.
