Balblair 1999, 1st release

Balblair is probably the only distillery that still sells their whiskies as vintages. The 1999 vintage 1st edition has been a mainstay of the travel retail. It was bottled in 2016 which makes the whisky approximately 17 years old. It has been aged in ex bourbon barrels and some ex spanish oaksherry butts. So how does it taste?

Smell: A nice complex smell. With vanilla, spices, fruits and some apples and some citrus
Taste: Spicy and some toffee and some vanilla and sweetness.
Aftertaste: Long spicy sweet finish.

A highly recommended whisky. One of the best whiskies in the travel retail range.

Birthday and good wines

When it is time for my birthday it is always nice to celebrate it with good food and wines. This year the food was four cheeses from Italy, a tuscan brasato and a lemon meringue pie.

The first wine of the day were a Rotari Millesimato from 1999. This sparkling wine has character and tasted of citrus and bread. A strong vintage that worked very well with the cheeses. Next wine up was a Taurasi from 2003 from producer Di Prisco in Campania. Has a misfortune with the cork but after some struggle I could decant the wine. It is interesting how the older wines change their character with decanting. Just poured into the container it tasted very closed and not that good. But after an hour it had completely changed character. Now it was very elegant with notes of tobacco and liquorice. Very good. To finish the evening off were the sweet wine Kabir from island Pantelleria from producer Donnafugata. As usual one can through the smell say that this wine is from Pantelleria. Very good and full of flavour. Since this was from 2010 it didn't have the strong perfume tones of the 2012 vintage.

Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt 1999 Scharzhofberger auslese

Not many times that I have the chance to try a wine 14 years old and that does not cost a fortune. This was quite cheap so my expectations were not that high. Did they sell it out because it was going bad and had to get rid of it or maybe no one likes old rieslings?

The nose of the wine was very good. Apples and a very typical riesling smell. Very nice. The taste was good. I missed a bit of acid and it felt like it had reached its peak and would go down in a years time. Very delightful summer wine and happy time for me as old rieslings are good.

Charles Ellner brut 1999

After the birthday tasting of champagne it was new year and yet another good reason to try out one more champagne. I decided to stay in the nineties with a champagne from 1999 by Charles Ellner. Now this champagne is good and my first impression was. Wow, this is so much bread taste in this one it is huge. Certainly not for all people, but very good dry champagne.

When celebrating my 40th birthday I thought a champagne tasting wold be in order, especially some good vintage champagnes. And it would be interesting to see how the different champagnes would work together with the food also. But Champagne works very well with everything, right?

The first champagne of the day was a Delamotte Blanc de Blancs from 2002. The smell were delightful. Very good. The taste were of fruits, dry and very elegant. An excellent champagne for aperitifs. Went very well together with the Breasola with Parmesan and olive oil.

For the maincourse of pie made from Västerbotten cheese the first champagne was Wilmart & Cie from 1999, a Grand Cellar d'Or. The smell very strong and delightful yet again. The taste were strong, dry, fruits and a yeast/bread taste which was very good. yet again an excellent wine. Worked very well together with the pie.

The third wine of the evening were a Moet & Chandon from 2000. The smell delightful. The taste of this champagne were very complex. Dry, bread, citrus and a hint of minerals. Very good.

For the dessert which consisted of an Italian Panatone the drink of the day were yet again a champagne. This time a Jaquart, 2002 Millesime. Smelled a bit less tha the three other tasted champagnes. Now this felt like an aperitif champagne. Dry, citrus taste. Very good yet again. Worked very well with the panatone.

A wonderful evening spent discovering the excellent taste of vintage champagnes.