February 2023 Digest — Whiskery Turnip

Feb 28

Feb 28 February 2023 Digest

Welcome to a brief wrap-up of reviews from February 2023!

Is it just me, or is 2023 flying by at light speed? It feels as though our semester just started, yet here we are in the thick of midterms. What better excuse to indulge in some beautiful pours of scotch than recovering from grading mountains of digital papers and essays?

I have tried to stick to the idea of pouring whiskies with a common theme this month. However, my mercurial nature and tendency to gravitate toward drams that fit my mood better than a specific calendar schedule continue challenging my attempt to taste drams with some coherency. Pouring similar whiskies and enjoying a side-by-side comparison is a lot of fun, but sometimes you want a whisky that fits your mood or the weather. We have had no shortage of cold and rain lately, so peat has been on the menu and will undoubtedly figure more in my March reviews.

February began with a handful of miscellaneous reviews I posted to bridge the gap between January and February and to celebrate hitting 800 reviews over on r/scotch, the forum dedicated to scotch on Reddit. The gap week included an early 1990s Glendullan 8 Year Pure Malt, an intriguing whisky made when there were briefly two Glendullan distilleries, the Glen Elgin 25 Year I chose for best of the month below, the very first (and one of the only) Benromach bottle by SMWS, and then the Cragganmore Special Release for 2016.

February continued with a collection of malts from Michel Couvreur, a French bottler who imports single malt from Scotland for maturation in their carefully sourced wine and sherry casks. Michel Couvreur maintains a cave— a caver of wonders certainly— where the whiskies mature in a distinctive environment. The final product is not legally scotch as it left Scotland still in the cask, likely shortly after production, and I do not entirely consider it French whisky as it was not distilled in France. The whisky sits in a unique middle ground— not quite anything except usually delicious.

From French whisky to Linkwood, I spent a week with Linkwood malts at different ages, from a feisty 9 Year red wine maturation bottled for Binny’s in Chicago to a mellow 18 Year to a 30 Year from Douglas Laing, and then finally a 33 Year from the Whisky Jury. I realized during my Linkwood week that I may have written off the distillery a bit prematurely; the feisty youngster was impressive considering its youth and the difficulty managing red wine maturations, while the elder statesmen were some of the best drams I poured this month.

Finally, I ended the month with single-grain whiskies, including a trio of 30-something Invergordon, a Cameronbridge special release, and a 33 Year Strathclyde bottled for a friend’s whisky bar in Japan. I have rarely encountered an unquestionably flawed single-grain whisky; the style is typically dependable but generally not very deep or complex. I have met even fewer single-grain whiskies that impressed me or rose above average.

With March already upon us, I am looking ahead to jam-packed weeks dedicated to Port Charlotte and Ireland… beyond that, only time will tell!

It was a busy month, but I still found time to relax with some whisky! Let us begin with a few numbers.

18 reviews
6.28 average score
20.6 Years average age

Here are a few standouts from the pack:

Best of the Month

It was not easy picking out the best bottle this month, not when three stellar options hit an 8/10 on my imaginary turnip scale. However, the 25 Year Glen Elgin from Scott’s Selection just pipped the field as it nearly ascended to the level of divinely delicious. The whisky was dripping with delightful nostalgia for the freedom and innocence of childhood as it provided a crystal clear moment of remembering my grandparent’s orange-cream-colored sitting room. It was not a room we spent much time in as children— antiques, second world war medals, and a lifetime of memorabilia decorated it— not the sort of place children were welcome, so it was interesting to suddenly appear right back there looking at the collection of memories and the green garden just through a double glass door.

I have never had a Glen Elgin like this, and I want more. The wife opined that it was a sublime bath time dram.

Honorable mention goes to two other stellar drams; the Cragganmore Special Release from 2016 and a Linkwood 33-Year released by The Whisky Jury.

Surprise of the Month

It should not be shocking that a 300 $USD bottle was good, but I had incredibly low expectations coming into the 33-Year Invergordon SMWS labeled “Age with Grace.” I generally enjoy single-grain whiskies but have never been so impressed by one that I would spend quite that much money, and the fact that this whisky received a five-year finish in a second fill white wine barrique seemed dubious. Though I have had plenty of delicious whiskies with a cask finish, I cannot help but remain suspicious that something must be wrong with the whisky— even if that is not true.

This whisky was superb and one of the best single-grain whiskies I have ever tried. The second-fill wine cask finish provided a beautiful accent to the grain and drove a latent farmy-earthy quality, providing more complexity than one might expect in a very mature grain whisky. My wife thought it was a touch over-oaked for her taste, though I thought it was well-balanced. It may not be for everyone, but I was very impressed. When we poured this at a whisky club event, three people immediately ordered bottles online.

A full list of reviews can be found below:

Feb. 2 Glen Elgin 25 Year (1980), Scott’s Selection

Feb. 4 Benromach 9 Year (1978), SMWS 47.1

Feb. 5 Cragganmore, 2016 Special Release

Feb. 7 Michel Couvreur “Candid”

Feb. 9 Michel Couvreur 12 Year “Peaty Overaged Malt Whisky” for K&L

Feb. 11 Michel Couvreur 10 Year (2010) “Fleeting”

Feb. 12 Michel Couvreur “Blossoming Auld Sherried Whisky”

Feb. 14 Linkwood 33 Year (1988), The Whisky Jury

Feb. 16 Linkwood 9 Year (2010), Signatory Vintage Cask 306190 for Binny’s

Feb. 17 Linkwood 18 Year (2002), Hepburn's Choice for K&L

Feb. 18 Linkwood 30 Year (1974), Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum