Håvard Eide

Last week I suddenly found out that a trip to Bergen was in order, I haven’t seen some of my friends for a long time, so tickets was ordered, hotell booked and then it hit me: I have recently tried the Ardbeg 1974 and knew that there was one bottle left at the state run bottle shop in Bergen. Monday night I noticed it was still available, but when I called on tuesday it was gone…. The last bottle of Ardbeg 1974, gone! Very disappointing, but saturday morning I was off for a very good weekend, and it turned out I wouldn’t be too disappointed when it came to whisky this weekend either.

Bergen is the home to a very good bar with a large selection of single malts: Terminus bar, winning the Whiskybar of the year at the 2008 whiskyfestival. ( check out the 360 view of the bar ) The interior is classy: there is 6 meters to the ceiling, nice chairs and a very helpful staff made this brief stop before dinner very enjoyable!

But, enough about the bar, and over to the whisky: I tasted 3 very good malts this evening, and one of them blew my mind away:

Port Ellen 29yo 8th release 1978-2008 55.3%

Port Ellen is a distillery that I haven’t tried many expressions of ( having been shut down in the early 80’s there isn’t very much of this malt left ), I have a bottle of the OMC 1983, and it has always been a favourite of mine.

Nose: first thing that hits me is the soft salt that dryly hits the nose, then the smoke and a hint of oranges comes through. After a bit of air the flavours just keeps hitting my nose: some medicinal hints, salted butter and a smooth peat! At this point I was sitting alone with a glass just smelling it: 5-10 minutes went and I was just nosing it. The complexity of this 29yo is now something of the best I’ve ever had. It might be bit of a cliche, but nosing this bottle had me drifting away to islay on a autum day where the salt sea was hitting my face.

Mouth: this one hit me with a surprise – the initial hit of peat and pepper from a almost 30yo cask is breathtaking! It then slowly goes over to soft, balanced malt/peat that just won’t go away. There are also a hint of the oranges from the nose and then it fades out with a smooth pepper in the end that again had me sitting in wonders of what can be brought out from a expression like this.

Color: almost bright golden honey

Ok, a lot of big words here, I can see that, but this bottle comes up to the Ardbeg 1974 ( and I know that the earlier releases in this series is supposed to be even better ). The complexity is just stunning! I would love to taste 1st – 8th release to compare how they go together, but that would be a bigger task left for a later point in time ( and availability ). All in all: 9.6/10, and I’m getting a bottle tomorrow.

Laphroaig 30yo

Laphroaig is a distillery that I always keep a bottle of at home, and the 30yo is something I’ve only tasted a tiny drop of earlier, so with this in my hand it was exiting to see what it could bring.

Nose: initial hit of fruits, maybe some oranges as with the Port Ellen. But then there is the malt, the laphroaig shines through with the peat that I’ve learned to love over the years.

Mouth: the initial hit of malt is strong, then the spice comes through with a bit of harsh malt that left me stunned: was this the same 30you that I’d tried before? But that didn’t last long – first spices, then malt ( extremely dry malt ), and after a while a trace of cocoa softened the taste while the aftertaste lingered for a very long time.

Color: dark golden honey, almost red

For a 30yo this bottle is still very potent, and I can only say that I wish I had a bottle, only one left in Norway, but the price tag is a bit high ( and I’m going for a bottle of Port Ellen over this when it comes to price/taste). Very different than the 10yo but absolutely something you should try if you love islay whisky. This one hits 9.2/10 and is in my top 10 list of whiskies tasted.

Port charlotte 5yo

I finished the session with this young Port charlotte ( there are no old ones, so…. ).
Nose: citrus-peat, raw spirits, this is young

Mouth: peat, and then dry pepper with a very short finish. The initial hit of the raw spirit that I had on the nose is here as well. Very potent 5yo that I’m looking forward to see as a 10yo when that time comes, until then: 8.2 and a enjoyable dram.

That was two old and one young islay whisky in a memorable night, but if you have the chance: sample the Port Ellen series that is out, at least if you enjoy the classic islay taste.