Inspired by a friend, I’ve begun two “living bottles” of scotch whisky, to populate as I finish bottles. This is doubly cool: it allows me to have living bottles, of course, but it also gives me an excuse to finish off bottles, which I otherwise would leave with two pours left in them for all eternity.
It’s essentially a solera system. Every time I get close to finishing a bottle, I’ll pour 50 mL from the bottom into a living bottle. Then I’ll shake it up, let it settle, and pour off 25 mL as a tasting sample. I worked out the math, and the solution for concentrations is really elegant. To wit: count the number of generations; let’s say there have been six generations. Then, the oldest contribution will have 1/6 of its original contribution, the second-oldest 2/6, and so on, until the newest, which has 6/6, or one times the original contribution, namely 50 mL. I’ll leave the proof as an exercise to the reader. If you need help send me an email.
I started two bottles. No grand theme. One is “peated”. One is “unpeated”. I did this because a little peat (for non-afficionados, that’s the phenolic flavors generated by burning peat moss to dry the grain) goes a long way. (It’s a good way to stretch your peated whiskies, actually: mix a splash of peated stuff in with a bunch of cheap “carrier”. Your detection of phenol concentrations is not in any way linear, so you’ll get the peaty enjoyment without the cost of the peaty whisky.)
I added the sixth generation to my unpeated bottle tonight. I’m going to post tasting notes. I’ll maybe make this a regular feature depending on the reception.
It contains, roughly:
- 8 mL Glendronach 15 sherry cask
- 17 mL Aberlour a’bunadh, euro bottling (heavily sherried)
- 25 mL Glenturret ’80/’00 (Blackadder)
- 33 mL Glen Moray 12 Chenin Blanc finish
- 42 mL Glen Moray 16
- 50 mL Glen Garioch 8
Nose: The sherry monsters are in low concentration, and it shows. No discernable sherry note. Malty, mellow highland grain, with a hint of marshmallowy lowland character. Golden raisins, Malt-O-Meal, American oak.
Palate: Sharp at first, then cabbage soup, malt, leaves.
Finish: Toasty, marshmallowy, malty, slightly briney (odd).
Notes: Not showing the best right now, as it is more than half really mediocre whiskies (Glen Garioch 8 and Glen Moray 16, both of which are good cooking whiskies.)
Score: 79/100
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[...] My pours haven’t been precise up to this point in my unpeated living bottle. The figures I gave last time about the relative volumes of the constituent whiskies were close but not perfect. They summed to 175 mL (but I did not measure it) before I poured off a tasting sample. My sample was probably about 25 ml, then I found another bottle to add (allegedly) 50 mL of to it, then poured off two tasting samples on two nights. Now I’ve measured the volume, and it’s, as far as I can tell, exactly 200 mL. I’ve made a measurement error. Assuming my errors were constant up until now (a significant assumption, but reasonable since I’ve been doing the same equipment), I’ve been off by about 25% in my pours. But I have calibrated my equipment now, and now we can begin newly calibrated. [...]