Hello Everyone

I‘d just like to start this week by paying my own small tribute to Dominic Roskrow who recently passed away suddenly at the age of 61. Many of you out there will surely have read some of his books and articles. Dominic was a prolific writer on whisky and other drinks and later moved into whisky consultancy. I was fortunate enough to be asked to produce a few pieces for him when he edited Whisky Magazine. We met at occasional whisky events and corresponded sporadically. One time I recall most is giving him a lift back to the mainland airport on a drenchingly wet day after we and others had been invited to Isle of Arran Distillery for an event. He was good company for a very miserable-weather car journey. His whisky knowledge was wide and deep and his enthusiasm for it just as large. He leaves a wife and three children. His writings will, I hope, keep him known to many for years to come.

I still have a number of whiskies to nose and taste but am covering only two this time. They are two more from Diageo‘s Elusive Expressions (the 2022 Special Releases). Again, all are at cask strength this year. This time I chose the Clynelish and Mortlach so those I haven‘t yet covered here are the island whiskies plus Oban and The Singleton. Clynelish I don‘t see very often and I love a Mortlach, hence those choices.

Clynelish 12 Year Old – 58.5% abv

Appearance: Clear, bright sunshine gold. Pale brass and lemon juice highlights. Tears quite slow but not too widely spaced, at least at first. Gives slightly oily,viscous appearance.

Nose: Rich, mellow,soaked dried raisins/sultanas (as if making a Christmas cake. Fresh stone fruits also. Mellow oak and fine vanilla; custard. With water, fresh, airy aroma. Creamy but with spicy notes including ginger and cake spices. Slight wax and the tiniest hint of sulphur.

Palate: Medium mouth feel. Quite sweet at first then really quite peppery on the tongue and cheeks; vine fruits, spices and oak.

Finish: Dry and herbal but sweet notes in the middle and maybe a touch of liquorice.

This whisky was matured in refill American oak then in PX/Oloroso seasoned casks but no indication of how long in the latter. This is a tasty and warming dram. A bottle will set you back £175 at UK prices. Possibly more outside UK dependent on where you are.

Mortlach (No Age Statement) – 57.8% abv

I was intrigued by this one not having an age statement. I‘m more used to fairly long-aged, rich Mortlachs but on richness this didn‘t disappoint.

Appearance: Rich tawny/light amber with old gold glints. Tears very slow to form and quite widely spaced.

Nose: Vanilla and soft candy (Dolly Mixtures)notes; sweet touch of muscat grape – just a nuance. Richly fruity and soft, sweet spices. Some fig. With water, sun-warmed, mellow oak. Fruit and spices – light fruit cake or even bread and butter pudding. Some chocolate notes. Quite complex and layered.

Palate: Medium mouth feel. Slightly unctuous; warming spices with some heat ( a touch gingery) but also sweet though drier than on nose despite the dried fruit; oak tannin. Refined richness with a touch of bitter chocolate coffee bean.

Finish: Long, dry and herbal with a touch of bitterness at the rear.

Another fine whisky, really enjoyable. It was matured in refill US oak and then in virgin oak, tawny port and red muscat-seasoned casks. No wonder it‘s got plenty in it to savour. This one will set you back £250 at UK prices. It‘s the second most expensive after Cameronbridge, reviewed last time. Anybody would be very lucky to be given either of these or to acquire for yourself if you can get one. They‘re always limited though there‘s no indication on the materials this year how many bottles of each whisky is available and they are spread over several key markets.

Macallan has been exploring the depths of its warehouses again to come up with a 77 Year Old expression to add into its Red Collection, created to showcase the importance of the colour red to the brand and its history and currently offering Macallans at 40, 50 and 60 years old with occasional high-age specials. Distilled in 1945, this one will cost you £65,000 should you have that around as spare change. Now, Macallan wouldn‘t risk reputation by releasing a super-aged whisky that wasn’t worthy of the name and that rather leads me on to …..

…the first of a new quarterly report series from Noble & Co. entitled Whisky Intelligence Fine & Rare Whisky Auction Market Report 2022. They say this year has shown good growth in the fine and rare whisky markets adding, „There is no doubt the appetite for fine and rare whisky remains strong whether it’s for drinking, collecting or investing”. There‘s that awful word „investing“ again. Interest and price increases vary from region to region. The report also indicates that the oldest whiskies were outperforming no-age statement ones. These latter showed a drop in the average bottle price. “Whisky collectors still care about age statements.” Probably to be expected but disappointing. Shows there is much education still to be done. It‘s quality that counts.

That‘s it for this month as an overseas trip beckons for me. Before I go just a mention that while in France early October, I tried a whisky from Alsace in our hotel bar. Meyer‘s Le Whisky Alsacien Pur Malt was a pleasant, light, fruity and sweet dram. Worth a try if you find some.

Happy dramming,

Caroline

Well, we‘ll soon be at partridge in a pear tree time again and you might be looking for something to give your true love or for them to give you, as the carol indicates. Therefore, I‘ll do some more tasting bits as we get towards Christmas, for those who celebrate it, but am starting off with a few here.

First of all though, I‘d just like to mention some activity at Tiree Distillery. Since 1st November and up until 18th December you have a chance to win a trip to the island of Tiree so there‘s still plenty of time to get your orders in to have a chance in the prize draw. Our western isles are wonderful places to visit and doing it as a prize makes it even sweeter. This offer features their gin only as the spirit maturing to become whisky isn‘t ready yet but there may be more news to come on that soon. The gin has won awards so do try it soon.

Now, in the last month or so I‘ve been sent three samples of Fettercairn to taste. Using all three would turn this into the Whyte & Mackay show. No harm in that but I‘ll concentrate on the recent Fettercairn 18 Year Old release which is intended as a permanent expression. A live Zoom taste session with their Single Malt Specialist Andrew Lennie was held recently giving us scribes more info. I‘d tasted it and written my own notes beforehand and use those here.

This expression was matured in bourbon wood, finished in Scottish oak casks and bottled at 46.8% alc. vol.

Appearance: Light – medium amber; slight reddish cast and old gold/tawny highlights. Tears fairly slow and fat with some oiliness in its aspect.

Nose: Honey – rather like manuka. Ripe fruits and soft, sweet spices. Barley sugar. Dried pineapple and mango slices. Oak vanilla – quite deep and rich. Sawn wood. Baked citrus and dark fruit – blueberries.

With water, waxy at first then sweet. Toasted wood. Concentrated sweetness with a lightening toast and zest. Baked tropical fruits and barley sugar persist.

Palate: Slightly unctuous mouth feel. Warm spices – ginger and pepper; cedar (Scottish oak spice); wood – like pencil ends or shavings. A slightly green sappiness.

Finish: Quite long, spicy and drying with a hinter sappy note and wood shavings.

It‘s a good dram and one I‘d go back to again. I always like the tropical fruit notes in Fettercairn, particularly the pineapple. The other two samples I‘ve had sitting for a little while were Fettercairn 16 Year Old, 3rd Release 2022 (46.4%; cost approx. £72 – bargain!) and Fettercairn Warehouse 2, 2022 Release Batch 004 (48.8%; cost approx. £60). The Warehouse 2 is a younger whisky, distilled in 2014 and matured in 1st and 2nd fill bourbon barrels and Hungarian wine casks (we‘re not told which grape type). I found plenty in it such as lemon sherbet, pineapple juice, toasted bread and baked pear on the nose. The pear note continued on the palate alongside a slight unripe hazelnut „green“ nuttiness. The 16 Year Old (from sherry matured and sherry finished casks – 1st and 2nd fill Oloroso, PX and ex-bourbon casks) featured tropical fruits on the nose again plus a touch of vine fruits. It had a richness and opulence despite also having a clean, fresh aspect. Maybe some baked plum and blackberry with ginger too (a nice autumn crumble!) as well as some toasted oak, vanilla and yeast notes – a bit like aged champagne. The palate also included spices and a note akin to black leaf tea. If asked for a preference I‘d be hard pushed between the 16 and the 18.

Before we depart Fettercairn, some words on the distillery where the revamped visitor centre opened back in June. Near the distillery is their forest where they have planted 13,000 trees to aid Master Whisky Maker, Gregg Glass‘ focus on Scottish oak. They created the Fettercairn 200 Club to recruit nearby barley farmers but already 109 of them have filled the quota required and all their barley needs come from within 50 miles of the distillery. All of them grow the same type of barley. It‘s currently Diablo but that will change from time to time. The maturation caks are bourbon wood but the whisky in 18 Year Old was finished in Scottish oak, both first fill and refill casks for 12 – 24 months. The cask sizes are 200 and 250 litres with a medium toast. Mainly 250‘s were used to give „slightly more subtle notes“. One of the ongoing considerations is how to season the casks, grain whisky being but one option. They are also playing tunes looking at things by farm and warehousing. Gregg has ex-bourbon casks where only the ends are of Scottish oak too, to see what effect that has on the spirit. Plenty to look forward to here. I find the maturation process such a fascinating area.

I‘ve finally been able to get round to this year‘s Diageo Special Releases, Elusive Expressions. It‘s a select group of 8 cask strength whiskies and I‘m covering two here. I chose the Cardhu 16 Year Old for this column as I don‘t see anything other than the standard Cardhu that often and Cameron Bridge 26 Year Old Single Grain Whisky. We‘re told, „Inspired by the artwork and legends behind this year’s theme, Special Releases is launching the first ever Elusive Expressions Cocktails and Serves book. Explored in a bold graphic-novel style, cocktail-making is reframed through characters and journeys. Carefully created by our Brand Ambassadors, each cocktail and serve highlights the whisky collection for fans to recreate at home and enter a new world of Special Releases.“ I haven‘t tried my hand at any yet, wanting to sample the whiskies on their own first but hope to get to them over the next few weeks. As mentioned last time the packaging artwork (and hatbox/outsize jewel box format) for the samples collection is superb as befits these cask strength, sometimes older and sometimes rarer, whiskies and as you‘ll see below, looks fabulous on the full size bottlings too.

Cardhu 16 Year Old (58% alc. vol.):

Appearance: Bright sun gold, brass highlights. Tears slow to form and run. Quite widely spaced.

Nose: Ripe banana skin and sponge cake; touch of vanilla custard and icing sugar; marshmallows; soft, mellow oak and sweet cake spices; creamy caramel/toffee. With water, barley sugar sweets, more creamy caramel, touch of wax and maybe a tiny waft of sulphur.

Palate: Slightly unctuous and mouth-coating. Pepper and spice; oak; a little liquorice; toffee/caramel and ripe fruits; dark rum sugary notes.

Finish: Medium length. Dances on the tongue. Finishes quite herbal and dry.

This expression is matured in refill and recharred US oak and Jamaican pot still rum-seasoned casks. Recommended 70cl. retail price (UK) is £160.

Cameron Bridge 26 Year Old (56.2% alc. vol.):

Appearance: Rich, warm gold, almost old gold; brass highlights. Tears very slow, sticky and quite fat. Quite widely spaced when they start to run down really slowly.

Nose: Quite fresh and a little sharpness at first. Green fruit and, oddly, fresh sea air as it‘s not beside the sea. Touch of oak and light spice. Damp oak begins to push through more with some vanilla. Fresh pear and dark berries + plum fruits with brown sugar. Baked pastry. With water, a little more oak and a slight vegetal note which fades quickly. Soft toffee and sweet wood char, more of a toast than a char.

Palate: Medium mouth feel. Touch of char and mellow oak. A slightly „corked“ wine note but pleasant in this case. Caramelised brown sugar, spices and shaved wood.

Finish: Quite long and rich; dryness and oak linger.

It‘s matured in refill US oak. Recommended 70 cl. retail price (UK) is £275. I chose this one as I don‘t drink single grain whiskies often but I‘ve never had a bad one yet from Diageo (and Chivas‘ Royal Salute Snow Polo Single Grain was wonderful). This one is no exception, really quite a tasty whisky. Another reason for the choice, the distillery is situated not too far from where I was born and I drive past it sometimes when visiting family over in Fife.

That‘s it for this first November piece. Back by the end of the month with more.

Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte,

Caroline