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Michel Couvreur Special Vatting
Whisky: Special Vatting NAS, 45%
Producer: Blended and bottled by Michel Couvreur Whiskies, France
R1000 ≈ £80
Similarly with Michel Couvreur’s Overaged Malt, this blended malt whisky does not have an age statement but is marketed as being a 12yo. The whisky is comprised of three separate, first-fill sherry casks, each one chosen to impart a specific flavour, with the label promising a peat influence as well. As with the entire range it’s non-chill filtered. For more info on Michel Couvreur Whiskies please see my earlier post here.
Nose: Silky, sherry notes with great depth combined with fresh, fruit sweetness. The usual plum notes are here, but alongside blackberries and raspberries creating a really nice young-old combination. A touch of sea air and a dab of wood varnish. No peat per se, but the salty, coastal air is just detectable.
Taste: Gentle spices smoothly simmer while the fruit sweetness is elevated, offering a great mouth coating. Sparing tannins, gets very sweet and slightly syrupy like a thick mixed-fruit jam.
Finish: An endearingly long finish with the sweetness slowly waning.
My Score: 85
This is another excellent whisky from the Michel Couvreur range with a deep and refined sherry profile which reminds me of The Macallan 18yo. It offers a great sherry experience with minimal tannins and astringency, but with a terrific mouthfeel and flavour depth. Michel Couvreur is clearly a man who knows what he wants, and know how to achieve it!
Other Scores: Couldn’t find any.
Disclosure: This was a free sample provided by Patrick from WHISKYdotcoza (thanks again Patrick). This in no way affected my review.
Michel Couvreur Overaged Malt
Whisky: Overaged Malt NAS, 45%
Producer: Blended and bottled by Michel Couvreur Whiskies, France
R500 ≈ £42
Although this blended malt doesn’t carry an age statement, I’ve been informed it’s a 12yo primarily matured in first-fill sherry casks and finished in ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. As with the entire range it’s non-chill filtered. For more info on Michel Couvreur Whiskies please see my earlier post here.
Nose: A wonderful flowery honey, tinned apricots and notes of sweet malt. Almond nougat, fresh cut grass. A hint of brine present as well. Good depth and integration of flavours; excellent start.
Taste: A cooling silkiness matched with a sprinkle of all-spice and nutmeg. Slightly prickly but not the typical alcohol tinge. Beautiful oiliness giving a smooth palette-soothing experience.
Finish: A generous vanilla creaminess washes down your throat with more evident oak now causing a slight dryness. Hints of light roasted coffee.
My Score: 84
Although the story of Michel Couvreur and his whiskies is a curious one, there is nothing curious or unsual about this whisky; you’ll recognise and appreciate these typical Scotch flavours. A good level of complexity with a mouth-watering combination of oiliness and creaminess.
Other Scores: Couldn’t find any.
Disclaimer: This was a free sample provided by Patrick from WHISKYdotcoza (thanks again). This in no way affected my review.
Maxim Lounge (Residence of the Local SMWS Branch)
Following on from this earlier post when I first discovered that the South African branch of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) had partnered with a local bar, Maxim Lounge, in Sandton, Johannesburg, here are my thoughts from my eventual visit.
First off, the bar is small. How small exactly? Eight (8!) tables small. And no, not tables of eight seats, only four seats (or less) per table. There are six additional seats at the bar, but it’s hard to imagine anyone sitting there and ordering a drink, especially since the place is shaped like a half donut and to get to the one end of the donut you have to walk past the bar, and its not exactly spacious. With that said, however, the place doesn’t feel cramped the night I visited, and considering it is located in a posh hotel, it clearly caters to exclusivity and (self-titled) elitists, so I wouldn’t expect it to get overly full.
In general the décor is very warm and comfortable with lots of wood and romantic, dimmed lighting to match. Staff were friendly and full of smiles. There is a large walk-in humidor that the website purports has over 3000 cigars on offer, which must be a typo because although the humidor is impressive there definitely weren’t that many available.
That’s enough about the bar, because lets face it I know you don’t really care. “What about the whisky, brother?!” I hear you ask. Well, the bar is pretty… poorly stocked. There are several single malts Scotches, some Jamesons and Bushmills to represent Ireland, and two bottles of fancy Jack Daniels to rep the Yanks, but if you are a whisky drinker in any sense of the term you’ve probably tasted, if not owned, most of the selection on offer. But lets forget about the original bottlings for a moment and concentrate on independent bottles, specifically the fine products bottled by the SMWS themselves, who afterall have partnered with this bar and surely must have millions of their bottlings on offer. Unfortunately, another NO. There are only nine (9!) SMWS bottles available! It’s shameful.
To my fellow whisky drinkers who hear about the SMWS partnership with Maxim: Don’t get the impression it’s a whisky bar. It’s not. It’s just a smart, upmarket bar with an excellent selection of cigars and wines, an average selection of whisky, and a handful of SMWS independent bottlings. How this made news in the SMWS’s Unfiltered magazine I have no idea. The bar staff knew nothing of the whiskies available, including the SMWS bottlings which I had to point to in order to get them to understand what I was asking for, and I had to rely on my smartphone to Google the distillery codes on the bottles to make my selection.
I still had a really nice evening though; with my poor knowledge of cigars I selected a simple but enjoyable Partagas Coronas junior, and I tried three SMWS whiskies, all very well-priced around R40 (≈ £3.60) and, as per most SMWS whiskies I’ve tried, very impressive:
- 53.136 Utterly amazing, 17yo, 55%, 256 bottles. (Caol Ila)
- 76.67 Black bun and red Burgundy, 10yo, 59.7%, 243 bottles. (Mortlach)
- 26.64 Drinking with Lara Croft!, 9yo, 61.2%, 224 bottles. (Clynelish)
I will return, simply because South Africa is sadly in short supply of good whisky drinking establishments, and there isn’t any other bar in Joburg that I know of that sells independent bottlings.
A 30yo for My 30th
In less than two weeks time I turn 30 years old. I’m not particularly worried about my age; some people will always think you’re too young, and others will always look as you as old, and I couldn’t be bothered with what others think of such a pointless measure. Personally, I’m comfortable with where I am in my life and my achievements thus far, sure I’m not where I dreamed I would be when I was 20, but as you age the one unavoidable lesson is that dreams and reality are two separate worlds. There is only one milestone that I regret not wrapping up before my coming birthday, alas though it isn’t yet to be but it’s still no reason not to celebrate.
A special occasion calls for a special dram, but due to the meagre selection available in SA and the often exorbitant prices for older whiskies, it was a sure thing the bottle was to be ordered online. The only whisky I considered buying locally was the Highland Park 30yo which is available in duty-free for R2500 (≈ £225), but as good as I’m sure it is I decided to get something more unusual, limited, and reasonably priced. After some browsing and suggestions from fellow bloggers and Twitter friends I settled on the recently released Caol Ila 30yo in Jim McEwan’s Celtic Heartlands range available on Master of Malt, matured in ex-bourbon and finished in ex-Amarone casks (an Italian dry red wine).
Why this one? Firstly the presentation far exceeds all whiskies I’ve purchased so far. The sturdy, black leather case with silver lettering and insignia securely holds an elegant yet simple glass decanter. Of course presentation only counts for so much, but since this is to commemorate an occasion it will be nice to have such a beautiful bottle on the whisky cabinet to admire over the coming years. Secondly, I have a fondness for Caol Ila and have never tried a 30yo release, plus it’s bottled at cask strength (51.9%) and limited to 1,017 bottles. Lastly, and the largest contributing factor for my decision, is that the whisky was selected by Jim McEwan, who I personally consider a whisky demigod and trust to have bottled a superb dram.
I asked Serge Valentin over Twitter if he had tried it, and although he hadn’t he did say the previous Celtic Heartlands releases were “brilliant”. Turning 30 is often an event not looked forward to, but with a new baby like this to open, how could I not count down the days?!
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Tasting notes coming soon…
Lochside 15yo IB
Whisky: Lochside 1981/1996, 40%
Gordon and MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice (Old label)
No price available
Lochside is an interesting distillery with a sad and short-lived history. Found in 1957 to produce both malt and grain whisky, it was mothballed in 1992, and then burnt to the ground in 2004. I can’t find any information on original bottlings, but there are a handful of independent bottlings still available, although stocks are rumoured to be running out.
Nose: Delicate, though intentional, with obvious cereals and grains. A hint of honey and nuts (almost like a peanut oil?) with some subtle fruits. Has an unprocessed, dusty feel to it.
Taste: The delicacy of the nose is gone and in its place remains courser grains. Spice on the front of the tongue with notes of orange. An enjoyable build-up of heat that doesn’t overpower but provides a nice balance. A bit too watery.
Finish: A mixture of sweet and sour that slowly works its way to the back of the palette. A slight waxiness, like honeycomb. Too short.
My Score: 77
Well balanced with enjoyable notes of cereals, honey-nuts combo and the coy oranges. A nice enough dram, but inconspicuous in its mediocrity.
Other Scores: Couldn’t find any
