Strathmill 10 Year - Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon & MacPhail)

Stop number 80 on the SDT is Strathmill. This Speyside distillery is Diageo owned and the vast majority of their whisky goes into J&B blends. This 10 year old comes by way of the independent bottlers of Gordon and MacPhail and is part of their Connoisseurs Choice line. Bottled at 46% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of pale gold. I gave this whisky a good 10 minutes rest in the glass before nosing, but still I was met with a blast of alcohol. Not a good start. A very light nose, almost nonexistent. Latex paint, alcohol and a faint lemony citrus. Pine resin, faint oak and furniture polish. After a while some decent notes came in. Vanilla, buttercream, custard, orange rinds and floral notes. A little water brought out a soapy/detergent note and an old ashtray. Neither one was good. The palate was honestly worse. Metallic, weak oak and harsh. Pepper and faint vanilla. I might have been able to get more but I didn’t want to subject my tongue to any more so I added in about 35% water. This took away most of the harshness and added a little orange oil. Nothing more than that though. The mouthfeel was light to medium bodied, a bit thin but creamy. The finish was medium short, vanilla and weak oak. This was bad. Another example of a terrible independent bottling. They seem to be much more prevalent than the good ones. At $84 this was money wasted. The only redeeming quality is that you can get a buzz if you can drink enough. Drown it in Coke or with a bunch of ice and water, but avoid it neat. Glad I only had 2oz to suffer through. 2 stars and I think that’s generous. Thanks for the sample from a friend, and I’m sorry that you have to deal with the remainder of your bottle. Cheers

Continuing with our second-to-last set of samples, we arrive at the Strathmill distillery in Speyside. This distillery was initially named Glenisla-Glenlivet, but was rebranded Strathmill, derived from "Strath" (meaning "shallow valley") and "Mill" (honoring the location's former use as a corn mill). Established in 1891, it is presently owned by Diageo. Its primary purpose is as a component for J&B and Dunhill blends. This sample is from Gordon & MacPhail, possessing a light gold color and leaving oily, thick legs in the glass. It is bottled at 46% ABV. The nose was very light and subdued initially: alcohol notes, cornmeal, and, as a friend observed, latex paint. I let it sit open in a copita nosing glass for about 10 minutes and detected a slight sweetness, but not enough to redeem the nose from its significant failure. The palate reminded me of inexpensive bourbon: peppers, corn, and extremely harsh oak. Strike two. The finish was medium length, warming, and oily with a strong oak presence. Not a complete strike three, but nothing commendable either. Thanks to a friend for spending his hard-earned cash on this one so we could mark Strathmill off the list. It's unfortunate it just wasn't very good. I will echo a friend's generosity and award it two stars, but no more than that. It's not worth seeking this out. Keep going.

A rare mid-week tasting of an independent bottling whisky provided by a friend for our tasting group. These later rounds of sample are scraping the rare and uncommon. A faint nose that makes it difficult to extract any aromas. What can be discerned are paint thinner, vanilla, straw with a hint of nutmeg and oak. Unlike the nose, the palate is lightly saccharine with ginger, ground cinnamon spice. This is all enveloped in a thin, watery body. What remains in the palate for a medium length of time is oak, ginger root and orange rind. The whisky lacks any depth across the nose, palate and finish. The redeeming quality is it’s sweetness. Otherwise it is a flat, lacking a true character and provides an unmemorable experience. It’s another indistinct whisky in an arena of many. [82/100][Tasted: 6/13/18]

Another sample from our tour, this one was provided by an internet acquaintance known for his impressive recall of music titles. I admire that. My own listening habits since age 13 have been limited to NPR and Bloomberg. While I can debate the reasons for North Korea's nuclear stalemate or argue for buying short to intermediate bonds due to rising interest rates, I couldn't name a single song from the top 50 charts. This led to rather unpopular teenage years. Anyway... I'm getting sidetracked. Regarding this sample: as the philosopher might say... why does this even exist? There's no justification for its presence on a shelf. Acknowledged and moving on.

The initial scent is shocking, evoking the feeling of Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz." It presents notes of sauerkraut, bruised pears, immature apples, and wood shavings. This doesn't set a good precedent. Despite its moderate strength, it's a chaotic and obviously rushed spirit. The texture is watery, the conclusion is subtly lemony and polished, yet thankfully it is dry. It's a definite miss from beginning to end. The only positive is the absence of a waxy quality. 1.75.