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Duelling
Drams
or "Man against Clipper" |
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In the red corner
we
have the famous walking man in his 1980's guise, he's served
from a very recognisable square bottle into my classic malt
glass where he glows with the colour of 9ct yellow gold. The
nose offers leafy vanilla with a hint of banana stem. Over
time the leafiness expands and now includes a definite mustiness.
The palate is surprisingly faint but does offer a slight
suggestion of liquorice and peachiness. In contrast the
finish is surprisingly long and consistant with a creamy
peachiness.
In the yellow corner
we find a 1980's 12y clipper by the name of Cutty Sark. It is
served from a rather different, dumpy and angular vessel from
today's variant and when moored in my classic malt glass it
glows with the colour of light cork. The nose is somehow
creamy(?), woody and also grassy, in fact this reminds
me of
something I tried recently, but what...? With time in the glass
the woodiness and grassiness expand, then after 4-5 minutes they
just gently fade away. The palate offers
a very nice
creamy mouth-feel with hints of vanilla, wood and a fruitiness
akin to red apple and pear. Maybe even a touch of not so bitter
star fruit? The finish is quite long.
I tasted both
these drams blind after being given the samples by a whisky
friend in Limburg (Thanks R.), so initially I was trying to
place them and I initially wondered if the JW was indeed Scotch.
Somehow it almost seemed like a rather subdued Canadian
and it was
a pleasant whisky even if a little subdued. The Cutty Sark was
always going to be Scotch in my mind and along the lines of some
of the more 'outdoors' or grassy variants. Once I was told what
it was I realised my "seems familiar" thought was
referring back to my last MMA reviews and the trio of submitted
Cutty Sark, although this one is just a wee bit different to the
current 12y variant.
And the winner is? For its slightly bolder character
along with more depth and complexity the clipper definitely
triumphs over the walking man on this occasion by a
couple of points. Now where's that old White
Horse .......
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Limburg
2013
Great old town even without the whisky
or "Crooks & Nannies" |
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Limburg
is a
kind of Whisky Utopia to nerds or Maniacs like me. It's the
biggest and best when it comes to what was as opposed to what
is. It specialises in old and rare bottlings alongside an
impressive array of independent bottlers, but let's forget
whisky for a moment. Yes, really, but maybe not for too long.
Limburg's
history appears to date back to around the year 800 when the
first castle buildings arose on the crags above a ford across
the river. The town grew under the protection of the castle in
the following years and decades. Limburg sits on the
long-distance road between Cologne and Frankfurt (am Main) and
the first wooden bridge was constructed across the Lahn at
Limburg in 1150.
St. George's
Cathedral (Sankt-Georgs-Dom) was built on the old Monastery
church's site in 1235, this previous Monastery church was also
originally called GeorgsDom. The Cathedral with its seven towers
still overlooks the river and the old town today.
Nooks and Crannies
(or
what I referred to as Crooks and Nannies - sorry Limburg
residents) are best described as hidden corners, recesses and
remote or partly hidden areas and I feel this quite accurately
describes the old town of Limburg.
Limburg weekend is
always sunny, isn't it?
Ahh yes, you see nice blue skies in some photos above but I
was fortunate to arrive on a lovely sunny Thursday and also
enjoyed a sunny Friday morning, leaving on a sunny Monday
morning. As for the bits in between, well, the weather is
probably best described pictorially by the famous landmark right
outside the festival hall:
Click on
any picture here for a larger version
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2009-2013 by Keith Wood - All rights reserved - Whisky-Emporium |
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