Toasting 20 years of Notes with a Pittyvaich 20yo »
PHILIP STORRY - DEC 8, 2009 (12:02:33 AM)
If you're going to note something, then note it well.
So I apologise for the sudden rush of blog entries, but this 20th "birthday" of Notes is something which should be handled properly.
A 20th birthday requires a decent dram, at the very least. And it just so happens that one of my favourite drams of late is also 20 years old...
Well, it'd be rude not to, wouldn't it?
Pittyvaich "Limited Edition" 20yo
A limited release of only 6000 bottles, each bottle individually numbered. Bottled at 57.5% abv.
Pittyvaich was built in 1975, to supply the Bells blend. Closed in 1993, but mothballed and used for some odd experiements (including, it is rumoured, making gin!). This distillery does not have a high profile, and not many bottlings of it have been made available commercially.
Nose: Light oranges, pineapple, grass, perhaps a metallic note. With water, the metallic note disappears and a trace of soft supple leather emerges.
Body: Crisp. sharp, zesty and clean. Fresh green apples, more oranges. A light cereal note, somewhat biscuit-like. Also a little acidic. With water, the green apples slide into the background and the cereal and orange notes come forwards.
Finish: Zinc, salt. Quite sharp, but lingers and slowly lets out more of that sweet orange note that was present in the body. With water, a little spice joins the orange note - perhaps cardamom?
Conclusion: A fine, potent and robust dram. Amazingly youthful for a 20yo whisky. It's great at its natural strength, yet incredibly potent. But if you want to add water, it'll work with it all the way down - it keeps changing and shifting its balance of flavours without ever actually losing its core character.
A truly fine whisky...
Let's just remind us why I'm on this fine dram:
Lotus Notes & Domino 8.5 (General availability)
A general release of 145 million licenses sold to date. Initial release in 1989, but new releases have been available roughly every 2.5 years.
Still in production, with no signs of going away (despite the competition's best hopes!). We were unable to measure the strength of this release, as it broke our gauging equipment - something stronger is now on order.
Purpose: Defines "groupware", but with hints of email communications, collaborative working, remote working and replicated distribution of data. After time, adds in some further abilities for connecting people.
Capabilities: Email, discussion, workflow, replication and mutiple platforms are all in the early impressions. After time it reveals stronger development capabilities, web serving, SMTP mail, integrated instant messaging, and a strong platform for composite applications.
Impact: Lower total costs of ownership than competitors and yet also greater capabilities. After time, flexibility and rapid development shows a real benefit.
Conclusion: Twenty years has matured this nicely, and yet it's not stood still and shows no signs of premature ageing - nor has it lost sight of its core strengths whilst adding in newer capabilities. It's always capable of surprising you, and with a recent investment in a new production platform it will probably continue to do so even more.
Truly fine software...
Here's to Twenty. A good age for whisky. A good age for software. Just don't mix the two in a production environment, folks!
