G&M Recollection Series Tasting with Gordon Muir, Brühl
Gordon & MacPhail, one of the oldest and largest independent bottlers of Scotch whiskies in particular, has launched a new, small luxury project. Within their already quite pricey Private Collection, a sub-series was introduced, the "Recollection Series". In accordance with the name it is focused on the closed distilleries of Scotland and since last year (2022) will now be continued annually.
For the start of the series, the Brühler Whiskyhaus has once again organized a very special tasting at the end of the year, as they had already done with the fantastic G&M "suitcase tasting" (full of ancient bottlings) a few years ago, exactly matching my birthday, a week before Christmas Eve on December 17th. I do not want to lose too many words here about the Brühler Whiskyhaus itself, there will certainly be a separate article soon, in which this great whisky store will be discussed in more detail.
At 289€ you could get 8x1cl, at 495€ it was 2cl, in both cases accompanied by a really respectable 4-course menu in cooperation with a local restaurant. These were served individually at intervals between the whiskies, including small breaks, which worked quite well and it was extremely tasty.
Tuna tartare with avocado & sesame seeds
Porcini mushroom risotto with quail breast & parmesan espuma
Saddle of venison with celery puree, marinated pointed cabbage & heart cherry jus
Valrhona chocolate brownie with Christmas almond ice cream & baked apple compote
8 bottlings instead of the 6 of the Recollection Series, since the store usually always offers 8-bottle tastings and to make this possible here as well, they added 2 G&M bottlings (Longmorn & Strathisla) from their own inventory.
The line up for the evening
The evening was moderated on the one hand by Michael Reick, a bottler with labels including Best Dram, Scotch Universe and many others, and often seen on camera with Marco Bonn (owner of the Brühler Whiskyhaus), especially on YouTube. In addition, of course, the actual guest "star" of the evening, Gordon Muir, European Sales Manager at Gordon & MacPhail. Both led the guests through the night with funny or interesting anecdotes and a relaxed mood. Especially Gordon managed to shine in a pleasant way between some humor, melancholic reflection on his whiskey journey and thankfully rather little marketing about the company or the series itself. Thus, the whole event turned out to be very relaxed, high-quality and well planned, with the necessary, "discreet" (>1h) overlength.
But how were the whiskies themselves? As someone who has almost exclusively been tasting vintage bottlings for a few years now, some of the bottlings were actually too noticeably modern for me in terms of their casks. In particular, the Strathisla and also St. Magdalene seemed rough and unbalanced. Real highlights were the Lochside, which was also chosen as the winner at the end of the evening by grassroots democracy, and in the second row the Glen Mhor and Banff. The Lochside with the distillery-typical spectrum of exotic notes and yet slight dirtiness was perfectly bottled at 40 years, exceedingly complex and full-bodied, without having absorbed too much wood. The Banff was not so dissimilar to this, a little more compact and with 1-2 layers less to discover, the Glen Mhor distinguished itself ,as is often the case with the distillery, by very unique notes, such as eucalyptus, cola nut and others.
Below you can find the individual notes, ratings, as well as more photos.
Imperial 1993-2022 GM | Cask 2636 | 57,6%
Nose:
You notice the alcohol, dark dried fruits, cherries, dark honey, raisins, you also notice that it's 1990s, hint of tobacco leaves, later also baked apple, a bit of clove
Taste:
Intense, fleshy, baked apple, tobacco and grass, delicate leather, nutmeg, cloves, spicy, well-integrated and yet not too much modern style sherry notes, as first feared while nosing it
Finish:
More oak comes through, nutmeg, some black pepper, the malt very present for the first time, bitter orange, medium to long
89/100 Points
Longmorn 1987-2020 GM | Cask 5725 | 51,0%
Nose:
Dry, light woods, a lot of light malt, dry pears, yellow plums, blossom honey, honeydew melon, vanilla, gets better when warmed up a bit, initially a lot of dusty furniture
Taste:
Pear, plum, vanilla, light malt, granulated sugar, papaya, gooseberry, green apple, light wood, somewhat spicy and slightly dusty
Finish:
Bitter, light oak, bread dough, sadly some apple cores, medium length
87/100 Points
Glen Mhor 1982-2022 GM Recollection Series | Cask 72 | 50,8%
Nose:
Autumnal, compact and intense, dark malt, dried fruit, autumn leaves, plums, brown sugar, with some time beautiful bitter orange, hazelnut, milk chocolate emerge
Taste:
Cola nut, brown sugar, dates, nutmeg, fennel, liquorice, black pepper, eucalyptus, cherry juice, mulled wine, dark malt
Finish:
Eucalyptus, leather, malt, liquorice, pomegranate, oak, long
91/100 Points
Lochside 1981-2021 GM Recollection Series | Cask 802 | 49,2%
Nose:
Slightly funky, veggies, artichoke, green peppers, star fruit, kiwi, papaya, gooseberry, cumin, brown sugar, sugar cane, cantaloupe, sweet pear, guava, white jelly beans
Taste:
Guava, papaya, brown sugar, pear, ginger, star fruit, camphor, cardamom, saffron, lemongrass, lime zest, salted peanut
Finish:
Ginger, kiwi, papaya, licorice, gooseberry, lemongrass
93/100 Points
Your individual table line up
St. Magdalene 1982-2021 GM Recollection Series | Cask 2094 | 54,8%
Nose:
Weird, grilled corn, yellow fruit fermented to alcohol, quite alcoholic, turpentine, light nuts, pecan and macadamia, ginger, light honey, unripe pineapple, subtle white grapefruit
Taste:
Lychee, pecans, pear, ginger, camphor, honey cereal, lemongrass, lemon zest, again slightly alcoholic and boozy, somewhat unbalanced, voluminous
Finish:
Ginger, citrus zest, light malt, cereals, medium to long
88/100 Points
Strathisla 1987-2020 GM | Cask 3053 | 56,8%
Nose:
Not quite typical Strathi, slightly funky, subtly alcoholic, gluten, peach, camphor, tarragon, toasted oak, light malt, some cinnamon and apple, almost like rather light rum
Taste:
Punchy, granulated sugar, papaya, peach, tarragon, light malt, cinnamon, green apple, cardamom, matches, pear
Finish:
Fennel, cardamom, malt, fruit stones, coffee and oak, medium length
85/100 Points
Convalmore 1982-2022 GM Recollection Series | Cask 155 | 55,5%
Nose:
Pear, green apple, light malt, cereals, iodine, fennel, chalk, corn, shortbread, it gets nicer with water, orange oil and grapes
Taste:
Pear, light malt, corn, chalk, shortbread, guava, mango, chamomile tea, ginger, honeydew melon, again with water some nice orange oil, grapes
Finish:
Chalk, ginger, camphor, chamomile, medium length
89/100 Points
Banff 1975-2021 GM Recollection Series | Cask 3623 | 48,6%
Nose:
Delicate, complex, elegant, floral, pear, fine citrus oils, candied ginger, green apple, light grapes, sweet grass, bit of eucalyptus and some white gummy bears
Taste:
Pear, plum, white gummy bears, grapes, sweet grass, lychee, pecans, macadamia, interesting toasted notes, ginger, green apple
Finish:
Slightly burnt almonds, wood, grape seeds, medium to long
90/100 Points
The full menu for the night, including the different courses
