Single Malt Tasting Notes from Scotland


Clynelish 14 yr 46%
peppery

Delwhinnie 15 yr

honey, apple light, smooth

sweet, malt, honey, fruit, fireworks (Talisker)

Edradour 10 year
caramel

Glenfarclas 105 cask, 60 %
eggy french toast, honey

Glengoyne 12 yr cask strength 57%

sherry, crisp

Glen Marangie Port

apple pie, cinnamon, sweet

Glen Morangie 10 yr

lemon bar, soft, honey

Highland Park

smooth

Highland Park Cask 1991

peat, sharp, pot roast

Jura Experimental

bacon, sharp, smokey

Longmourn 15 yr
bay side malt, butterscotch

Macallan 10 yr
cinnamon roll, raisin

Macallen 15 yr
smooth, lemon, melon

Oben 14 yr

smooth, orange peel

sea salt, orange peel (Telisker)

Old Port Cask, Double matured port finish

caramel corn popcorn, roast

* Alona favorite

Strathisla 1967

fruit cake, cherry, hint of leather

Talisker 10 yr
smokey
peppry, citrus, flower (Talisker)

Saxo

Rating: 3

Braserie Caracole
Falmignoul, Belgium

Style: Belgian strong / golden ale

ABV: 8%
750 ml bottle

Light straw color with a huge amount of carbonation. Light refreshing taste that I'd put somewhere between a white beer, golden ale, and pale ale. Has the citrus flavors of a white beer, but hops closer to a pale ale. Easy to forget its 8% ABV.

This reminds me of the Troublette we had a couple weeks ago, it would be interesting to try them side-by-side. So far I'm really liking the beers from Caracole. We also had the Nostradamus at Ebeneezers recently and that scored high on everyone's list, though it definitely was a different style of beer.

't Smisje Calva Reserva

Rating: 2

Brouwerij De Regenboog

Brougge, Belgium
Style: Quadrupel
ABV: 12%

11.2 oz bottle

Poured with little to no carbonation or head. Left a good bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

Deep brown color with a strong sweet earthy type aroma. Tastes very reminiscent of the Samiclaus I recently had. Sweet, complex, dark fruit flavors with a moderate amount of oakiness coming through. Alchohol seemed to overwhelm later in the beer.

Farmhouse Ale

Rating: 2

Smuttynose Brewing Co.

Portsmouth, NH

Style: Saison

ABV: 7.4%
22 oz bottle

Classic saison fruitiness and sourness. This has to be very close to the White Labs saison yeast I've used in most of my saisons. Light body, moderate hoppiness, somewhat sweet finish. Great saison interpretation except a) it's a little sweeter than I would prefer, I like the dry finishing saison for their drinkability, and b) the alchohol content makes it less of a session beer.

As a side note, the brewers' notes on their website are great from a homebrewer perspective, with details of malt, hops, and yeast. I definitely have to try some of the other "Big Barrel" series.

Beer Dinner 07/27/07

Given that it was in the 80's and way humid we went for the lighter food. Crazy cucumber gazpacho and pasta el vegetables. We led off the drinking with some Saison v6 - can't be beaten for a summer beer.

Reissdorf Kolsch
Rating: 2
Brauerei Heinrich Reissdorf
Germany
style: kolsch
notes: nice light beer, without other Kolschs for comparison we're having a hard time rating this beer

The Czar
Rating: 3
Avery Brewing Company
Colorado
style: imperial stout
notes: bang-up imperial stout...went well with our super-duper chocolate bundt cake.

Troublette
Rating: 3
Brasserie Caracole
Belgium
style: wit
notes: I swear there is a lemon meringue pie in that bottle, anyone who tells me otherwise is on crack.

Hopf Helle Weisse
Rating: 1
Weissbierbrauerei Hopf
Germany
style: hefeweizen
notes: not our favorite hefeweizen...I think we've had too many edel-weize's recently. And the comparison to Troublette is difficult.

Blanche de Namur

Rating: 2

Brasserie du Bocq
Purnode, Belgian
Style: Wit
ABV: 4.5%

750 ml corked bottle

This has to be one of the lightest beers I've ever poured, hazy straw color. Has the traditional wit coriander, lemon, orange smells. Light dry slightly acidic taste with a ton of tiny bubbles in my mouth. Very drinkable wit beer.

Hennepin

Rating: 2

Brewery Ommegang

Cooperstown, New York

Style: Saison

ABV: 7.7%

750 ml corked bottle

Ommegang's Hennepin, one of their flagship beers, pours with a huge, intense head, that dissipates very slowly, forming strange and - if you've had enough to drink - compelling shapes in the glass. The color is a surprisingly light gold, even yellow. There's an immediate spicy quality to the aroma - coriander is perhaps in here, but it's not that specific. There's also an underlying fruitiness. The flavour is a very balanced mix between the spicy notes, a floral quality, and a malty sweetness on the tongue; an extremely palatable, enjoyable beer to drink. There's also a zesty quality, like that from a lemon peel.

The beer is a perfect pairing with a rustic French cheese such as Comte Le Fort, with a mellow, earthy flavour.