Field Briefs June 2023: The Single Cask Singapore
Singapore is one of my favorite places to visit, and I leapt at the chance to finally return again during my summer conference schedule. I resolved to do a bit more whisky tasting while I was in the country and use my extended stay to drop by new places and meet new people.
One of the bars I was recommended a few times was the Single Cask, an antipodean outpost of the UK-based bottler. The cozy bar and shop sit right inside the historic Chjmes complex, the main chapel of which was the filming location for the wedding scene in Crazy Rich Asians. The owners and staff were amiable, generous, and ready to talk whisky or soccer with anyone.
We visited right when they opened to avoid the evening crowds that show up when the air cools, and people venture out for dinner and fun. We mostly let the knowledgeble crew pick out the flight for us after they asked about what we liked and what we had had before. Hard to argue with their selections— all the whiskies below were quality, and a few were absolute standouts. We will no doubt be back, perhaps taking advantage of their set Happy Hour flights next time!
Whisky Details: Longmorn 18 Year (2002) Bourbon Barrel 45.5%, The Single Cask for Swan Song Cask R2020/9460
Nose: Subtle and fruity, refreshing, tropical fruits, Rainier cherries, white peaches, subtle dry champagne, pear, white chocolate, wood spices in the background with pepper and cinnamon, citrus sorbet.
Palate: Medium to light-bodied, fruity up front and earthier at the end, subtle nuttiness, slight metallic zinc sunscreen, mellow tropical fruit and citrus, fresh and slightly grassy at times; a few drops of water elevated a muted melon.
Finish: Medium-length and slightly drying with citrus, citrus rind and earth.
Score: 7-
Mental Image: Citrus Sorbet at the Spa
Narrative & Notes: A lovely Longmorn with a surprisingly low abv after eighteen years in an ex-bourbon barrel. Considering the low bottle count and abv., I asked the excellent people at the Single Cask whether the cask had been a bit leaky. It turns out that half the cask had been bottled by another individual before the Single Cask took the remainder, which had been left in an inert container. That half cask was split in Singapore between the Single Cask’s namesake bar and their friends at the Swan Song.
I thought this was a lovely example of the fresh fruity nature I love about Longmorn, with some of the nuttier and spicier elements remaining in the background. Yet, I also thought this was missing something— the texture or weight of the whisky was just a bit too light and shallow to really be great. We added a few drops of water to see how that might change the flavors or feel of the whisky; besides the elevation of some really subtle melon to a more prominent position, the whisky stayed relatively the same.
The lighter aspect of the whisky was not without its virtues; in a tasting lineup like the one we did, it made for the ideal dram to warm up with and settle down after escaping the tropical heat. It was akin to a palate cleanser at the beginning of a meal or as a transition from one part to another. Nothing wrong with a good opening act to get the audience warmed up!
Whisky Details: Jura 29 Year (1992) Barrel 44.7%, The Single Cask Cask 829
Nose: Dark fruits, algae candies, berries, slightly sour blackberries and pickled plum, herbal dill and shiso leaf, licorice, very mellow swampy funk with sweet rotting seaweed.
Palate: Medium-bodied and oily, salt and mangrove swamp, orange and licorice, basil and crushed mint, herbal pho spice pouch, coriander, lemon grass, mild vanilla and peppercorn at the end.
Finish: Very long and lingering with subtle orange, herbs, and peppercorns.
Score: 8
Mental Image: Orangina and Pho
Narrative & Notes: With a weighty mouthfeel and oily texture, this very mature Jura was everything I hoped it would be. The flavors were fruity and concentrated, with the underlying saltwater marsh and mangrove notes of Jura still there but softened by time. I love the marshy vegetal funk of Jura; something about it often reminds me of tamarind pods or mangroves, even a fish market, if the notes come out really strong. The beautifully swampy Jura funk provided a throughline connecting the different herbal and fruity elements of the malt, as bitter oranges and licorice came harmoniously together with lemon grass and coriander. A few drops of water reordered some of the notes slightly so that orange appeared more on top with a quiet floral quality.
Jura always brings out mixed emotions: is it a malt to be disdained or adored? I love a bit of vegetal or sweet decay on a whisky (okay, sometimes I like it a lot), so I often enjoy Jura, even some of the maligned entries into their core range. The spirit shines on some of these mature independently bottled malts with the early nineties in particular worth keeping an eye out for as they are usually priced very well— no doubt due to Jura's mixed reputation.
Whisky Details: Port Charlotte 21 Year (2002) Rum Barrel 55.7%, Malt, Grain & Cane Cask 263
Nose: Meaty and smokey with a mellow farmy grassy-earth funk, roasted beef bones, fish sauce, plum sauce, tomato relish, a Vietnamese barbecue, hints of Worcester sauce and rich umami.
Palate: Medium-bodied, maritime meats and herbal grassy smoke, old grassfire, white-hot binchotan charcoal, metallic iron, earthy fresh and grilled mushrooms, mild vegetal decay and forest humus, tropical fruits and mango near the end with a touch of white pepper.
Finish: Long and lingering with white pepper, fruit, mint, and charcoal smoke.
Score: 8
Mental Image: Mushroom Hunter’s BBQ
Narrative & Notes: Bruichladdich’s peated label, Port Charlotte, feels all grown up. It is almost hard to believe that in 2001 the spirit was rolling off the stills and that any casks from those early years are more than two decades old. I reviewed one of the first to be bottled at twenty years earlier this year, and here is yet another pushing the age boundary a bit further. I am unsure where the cask, an excellent ex-rum barrel that I wish was less rare with Port Charlotte, originated, but it was bottled for the Singaporean-based IB Malt, Grain & Cane.
So how has the spirit changed with age, and what might this foretell for future premium releases? Honestly, it’s hard to tell as the production of the malt has changed over the last decade, and more recent releases have lacked some of the farmy intensity of the earlier ones. This has that old farm and funk. However, the notes have shifted slightly toward a lovely earthiness that bore more in common with the earthy umami or funk of mushrooms— maybe somewhere between porcini and braised shiitake. The influence of the rum cask mainly appeared in some of the tropical vibes and mango around the edges; otherwise, the beautiful malt shined the brightest.
Whisky Details: Ledaig 10 Year (2010) FF Oloroso Hogshead Finish 58.9%, The Single Cask Cask TOB01
Nose: Caramel and nougat surfed in on a wave of smoked caramel with hints of chrysanthemum tea, gradually sweet cured Mears joined with tobacco smoke, hints of menthol, the dry fallen leaves and sweet decay of Autumn, maritime salt and iodine.
Palate: Medium to full-bodied, salted caramel with a sweet ribbon of smoke, red fruits, grilled peaches, maritime and salty toward the end, artificial cherries and medicinal herbs, iodine and medicinal antiseptic funk at the end.
Finish: Medium to long with salted caramel, smoked salt, and sweet peppers.
Score: 8
Mental Image: Salted Caramels by the Sea
Narrative & Notes: The flavor evolution of this whisky was excellent, with caramel holding court at first before smoke and grill char gradually came forward. Rich and full-bodied, the gradual reveal of additional complexity offered up maritime iodine, medicinal cherry, and, increasingly, medicinal herbs. I was a touch hesitant at first to include this in our tasting lineup at the Single Cask, the missus has not always been a massive fan of sherried Ledaig, but once the fine folks there opened the bottle and let us have a teasing sniff, she was ready to commit.
My initial impression was not great— caramel and nougat seemed to roar over and dominate in a rich but pedestrian manner. But every time I returned to the whisky, something new stood out— it was the sort of slow reveal of character worthy of the greatest RomCom in which your first impression of a character turns out to have been shallow and ill-formed. That is, of course, a trope of Rom Coms; I am less used to the slow reveal on whiskies— at least for a single glass.
The missus thought the whisky was beautiful and rated it 9/10 on her mental scale. She was insistent that grilled snail was a note on this whisky, and while I have never had such a thing if it tasted anything like this, I certainly look forward to eating it!
