L-R: Macallan 22, Highland Park 18, Ardbeg 18
A few days back SGwhisky wrote on the interesting new Independent bottler making waves in the Singapore scene (resonating from The Auld Alliance no less), Silver Seal. The independent bottler has been garnering acclaim from the whisky world, and from the regular patrons of The Auld Alliance. But as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is always in the eating. That phrase is chronically overused in this blog, but the fact of the matter is I truly believe in it, that's why I repeat it till it gets really old.
But I digress, today is about the whiskies that were tasted at the Silver Seal tasting last week. There were 4 altogether, but as the last one was a Rum, it will be better to focus on the 3 whiskies that were tried. So without further ado, here are the 3 whiskies in the order that was tasted.
Name: Silver Seal 'Sestante Collection' Ardbeg 1991
Distillery: Ardbeg (Islay)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch
Age Statement: 18YO
Vintage: 1991
Bottler: Silver Seal
Alc/Vol: 50%
Ardbeg is considered by Max (Silver Seal's owner) as an elite malt. Sadly, due to the immense popularity of Ardbeg in recent years, they are now jealously but totally understandably guarding their best casks. This works against the independent bottlers who have lesser quality casks to choose from. This Ardbeg seems lightly peated, and is quite an interesting malt.
Nose: Loads of lemon, grass and antiseptic. Salted anchovies, and the slightest hint of peat that comes out a bit more with some water. An interesting Ardbeg (21)
Taste/Palate: Very salty but yet clean, like high quality potato chips with sea salt, along with an ashy smokiness. These then give way to some fruity notes of Blood orange, cherries and sweet lemon drops. The flavors then give way to a very mineral-ly finish, like drinking mineral water (almost metallic) (21)
Finish: Very mineral-ly again, with a slight saltiness and notes of lemon drops. (20)
Overall: This might be one of the casks Ardbeg selected for lower peating levels as it tastes lightly peated. The mineral taste is interesting, but I found it a bit intrusive. Overall a drinkable dram though (21) 83/100
Name: Silver Seal Highland Park 18YO (bottled to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Silver Seal)
Distillery: Highland Park (Islands)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch
Age Statement: 18YO
Vintage: 1992
Alc/Vol: 53.1%
Arguably my dram of the day, the Highland Park 18 is a truly unique whisky, extremely aromatic, beautifully complex on the nose and palate, it is a great Highland Park.
Nose: A real beautiful Highland Park nose. Fruity (red fruits), heather honey, unique aromatic peat of Highland park. Lavender, stewed fruits, even some banana. Beautiful (23)
Taste/Palate: Amazingly complex. First notes of burnt sugar, kiwi, banana, lemon drops, orange sweets. Then the malt, heather honey, rich peat and lavender come in. Notes of honeycomb cake as well, and a touch of nuttiness and peanut butter. The only weakness is that it all comes too close together so its hard to make out all the flavours, but that is just nit-picking (24)
Finish: Lavender, honey, green banana and even some aldehydes in the form of leather. Trails off a bit quickly though. (21)
Overall: Despite the slightly disappointing ending, this is a truly unique and beautiful whisky. Definitely one for the big occasion. It costs quite a bit more than the standard HP 18 bottling, but it is definitely one worth trying! (23) 91/100
Name: Silver Seal Macallan 22YO
Distillery: Macallan (Speyside)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch
Age Statement: 22YO
Vintage: 1988
Alc/Vol: 56.7%
This Macallan was given a very good 90/100 from Serge Valentin, and according to Max, a recent re-taste has led to a conclusion that some time in the bottle has made it even better. This could be the closest approximation to the 'old styled' Macallans the whisky lovers of the world rave about.
Nose: Absolutely brilliant and complex. Icing sugar, cocoa, candied orange, fresh bananas, banana cream, banana skittles, ripe papaya, honeydew, toffee, red apples, Chinese fragrant pears. This is one amazing nose. One of the few that deserve the accolade of 'Nearly flawless' in my book (25)
Taste/Palate: Vanillia cream, sweet milk chocolate (the rich Valronha sort), chocolate lava cake, green banana, sweet cream ice cream, banana chips? Interesting (22)
Finish: Icing sugar is the main note in an otherwise slightly short ending, quite disappointing actually (21)
Overall: A brilliant nose but the flavours don't seem to keep up sadly. This affects its overall balance too... (21) 89/100
And to round it off, let's have a look at one last Silver Seal Bottling, a very interesting Longmorn 22!
Name: Silver Seal Longmorn 22YO
Distillery: Longmorn (Speyside)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch
Age Statement: 22YO
Vintage: 1988
Bottle No: 116/315
Alc/Vol: 53%
A Bourbon matured Longmorn (quite different from the classically Sherried Longmorns), this is a real interesting dram.
Nose: Creamy and fruity. Banana cream (again!), icing sugar and pears. Sweet, and pleasant! (22)
Taste/Palate: Rich, sweet, but has a strong bitterness to it. Notes of sweet cream ice cream, ripe rock melons and even some ginseng (21)
Finish: More rock melon, and some sweetened milk (21)
Overall: Interesting, a great drinking dram in general, and not too complex (22) 86/100
All Whiskies Found At: The Auld Alliance
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