Field Briefs June 2023: TBWC Tasting at Oak Barrel Sydney
One of the first things I do when I finally rouse myself to begin planning to travel to a new place is to look up whisky shops and bars in the area. During my Google “research,” I came across the Oak Barrel, a spirits shop in Sydney whose website highlighted regular tasting events and an impressive selection of malts. Even better! The shop had an anniversary tasting event with That Boutique-y Whisky Co scheduled during the brief window between my arrival and the start of the conference that brought me to chilly Sydney.
I tasted the following whiskies once during the TWBC celebration at Oak Barrel. As the reviews are based on just one experience, I have kept to a shorter format. I broke off the Glenfarclas 50-Year and Anniversary 10-Year blend for longer reviews as I spent more time with them and returned to them again later.
I had only reviewed a single TBWC bottle before, so this made for a fabulous exploration of what the bottler does and what whiskies they found particularly special. Rating the whiskies was a bit difficult; as they were all wonderful, they sometimes overshadowed one another. I only wish there had been a bit of peat in the lineup, though the Ben Nevis provided a dirty finale (followed by a Caroni rum which I have not reviewed).
Whisky Details: Aberlour 31 Year (1990) Refill Barrel 47.9%, TBWC Batch 10
Nose: Honey and ginger candies with a grassy undercurrent, licorice, molasses, menthol, orange jam, lemongrass, occasional white pepper.
Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, oranges and clementines, grassy cane sugar, subtle menthol, dandelion, and honeysuckle, more licorice over time, lemon grass, Sichuan peppercorn, caramel toward the end.
Finish: Medium-length with citrus, pepper, and subtle grass.
Score: 6+
Narrative & Notes: The score might seem a bit harsh, but hear me out. The score is my least favorite part of any review because it always feels incredibly reductive. It is the part of the sentence where I tell you, “This was good/bad/meh,” absent the following clause beginning with “although, but, or because.” A six might seem a bit disappointing here, even though I tagged on a shiny + sign. Usually, I think of my scores as a shorthand for where I would place the whisky on a linear scale of everything I have ever tried. To that end, I usually only score one whisky at a time. I prefer to try a whisky multiple times before I come to any conclusion. That is not always possible, and one of the downsides to trying a whisky just in a tasting lineup is comparing it more with the other whiskies that evening than with the vague totality of all whisky.
That was a long-winded way to say, “this was good, but…” it was outshone by the other whiskies in the lineup. In some ways, it was classic Aberlour with grassy and herbal notes creating a lovely spring vibe with hints of citrus and lemon grass. Licorice tied everything together with Sichuan peppercorns which belied that this was a touch spirited and peppery at times, though never unpleasantly so.
Whisky Details: Blended Grain 45 Year (1976) 44.2%, TBWC Batch 3
Nose: Cream, vanilla, butterscotch, herbal sugary milk tea, Butterfinger bars, hints of coconut, desiccated coconut husk, subtle driftwood
Palate: Mild and light-bodied, milky sugars, citrus rind and oils, woody pencil shavings, kiss of salt, more sweet milk tea as herbal and creamy notes combined, slight woody bitterness at the end, stone fruit pits.
Finish: Medium-length and mild, butterscotch, cream, and subtle florals.
Score: 7
Narrative & Notes: A ghostly old blended grain whisky from two lost distilleries: North of Scotland and Carsebridge. While TBWC does not label this a single cask, it was disgorged from a single refill hogshead which, at some point in the past, had been filled with whisky from those two lost grain distilleries. Why was this done? Who knows. While the provenance of casks is typically important enough to record a chain of transactions, vintages, or the contents of the cask— the reasoning behind past decisions is not. So why someone chose to combine two whiskies, which may or may not have been lost distilleries at the time, North of Scotland closed in 1980 and Carsebridge in 1983, is lost to time.
Very mature grain can be charming; this was a prime example of what is possible. It was a touch mild for my taste; I prefer my grain a bit richer with more robust vanilla and cream on the palate. Those notes were not absent here, but old wood notes of pencil shavings, fruit pits, and a slight oaky bitterness detracted from some of the lovely cream and herbal qualities. Other tasters noted more orchard fruits and peaches; sadly, I only got a hint of that with the stone fruit pits, but I seemed to find more butterscotch and Butterfinger bars than others.
Whisky Details: Clynelish 25 Year (1996) 47.1%, TBWC Batch 11
Nose: Wax candles and birthday cake frosting, lamp oil, paraffin, tangerines, waxy citrus rind, parchment paper, pineapple rings, achiote seed.
Palate: Medium-bodied, waxy, restrained cherry and pineapple, molasses cake, stem ginger, subtle vanilla, mint, and pistachio, mild buttercream and green apple, wax paper.
Finish: Very long and lingering with green apple, mint, wax, and pepper.
Score: 7
Narrative & Notes: The nose had all the Clynelish wax one could want— paraffin, candles, citrus rinds, though it was less prominent on the palate. I do not usually meditate or consider price in my scores; many of the whiskies I have tried were thanks to running tasting events or swapping samples with friends. I did not have to think about price, so looking it up later always feels a bit artificial, especially when some whiskies have substantial price variations based on the market or era. Yet, I know the price of this because it was right in front of me during the tasting event. I also loved the label, and a part of me hoped that this would somehow be within my price range— though realistically, I knew that would never happen.
The price on this 90s Clyenlish has exploded in the last half-decade, far outpacing the general inflation of whisky prices. While I thought this whisky was quite good and not a bad example of why 90s Clynelish are sought after, the price felt steep. I did not reckon the malt was near that USD 500-600 valuation for 500 ml.
Whisky Details: Ben Nevis 25 Year (1996) 55.8%, TBWC Batch 16
Nose: Dirty with earth and sulfur, mud masks, kerosene, rice crackers (arare or kakimochi), roasted nuts, red apple.
Palate: Full-bodied and viscous, initially earthy with a funky sulfur edge, fruitier and nuttier over time, sweet overripe spoiled guava on the hiking trail, salty pretzels, apricot candies, rice crackers, mud masks and earth.
Finish: Long and lingering with orange, tobacco, and earth.
Score: 7-8
Narrative & Notes: A divisive and polarizing whisky, this epitomizes a love-it-or-hate-it dram. One’s sensitivity to sulfur is critical in determining how this tastes— is it earthy and complex or foul and rotten? I get a bit of both, but I found that loads of delicious fruit candies and perhaps slightly rotten fruits developed as the sulfurous gas and earth faded from view. For many, the aroma was maybe the Rubicon as it was far dirtier than the palate. It seems sure to turn away those with more sensitivity or dislike for sulfur-ish notes.
This was not the tropical bomb for which the 1996 Ben Nevis vintage is famous, and I am sure that may also play a role in the divisive nature of the whisky. I doubt many people approach this without forewarning, expecting to find intensely vegetal and earthy notes. While this was not what I expected, and, initially, I was pretty turned off by the pungency on the nose, I ultimately really enjoyed the heavy viscous body and well-structured layers of flavor.
