Hello everyone

As promised before, the last two Ferg & Harris samples examined this time plus some news snippets.

The Ferg & Harris bottlings are both Craigellachies with the same basic maturation and length of time but differences in finishing and strrength.

Ferg & Harris Craigellachie 15 Year Old with main maturation in an amontillado sherry butt and 1 month finishing in virgin oak. This one is bottled at 64.2%.

Appearance: Rich, deep mahogany, like paperback maple bark with caramelised orange highlights. Tears slow to form and very slow to run with wide spacing.

Nose: Lots of tea-soaked vine fruits; dark sugars; warm fruit cake spices – allspice, clove, mace. Ginger and candied citrus; caramel. With water, more oak and a little sulphur. Baked honey, golden syrup and damp oak. A touch of vanilla.

Palate: Quite mouth-drying. Medium weight- a little viscosity. Warming spices, dark brown soft sugar; ginger and black pepper; zesty with a little vanilla.

Finish: Long; initially dry with warming and hot spices; oak and some rear sweetness. Very mellow.

Ferg & Harris Craigellachie 15 Year Old with main maturation in an amontillado sherry butt and 3 months finishing in a white port barrel. Bottled at 63.1%.

Appearance: Mahogany with amber highlights.Tears form a fine rim at first, slow to form and, again, very slow to run. Widely spaced.

Nose: At first, very different from the first sample. More savoury notes but also more vine fruit. More closed than first sample. Earthy with stewed tea tannins. With water, „flatter“ than 1 at first. Ginger and a little touch of caramel; more vegetal notes. Then Cirtus zest and honey baked orchard fruits; wax-polished warm, wood floor; sulphur comes in and some nuttiness.

Palate: Some viscosity. Very mouth-drying and tannic. Apple and pear skins; some vine fruit sweetess. Ginger and warm spices; slight coffee ground and treacle bitterness.

Finish: Long and very dry on tongue and cheeks; slight burnt sugar bitterness; tea leaves; warm and mellow.

I do like Craigellachie and have fond memories of one brought out some years ago by Craigellachie‘s owner, Dewar‘s (parent company Bacardi) and chosen by Master Blender, Stephanie Macleod. Haven‘t searched back my old notes but I think it was a 19 year old. Both of these Craigellachies are very palatable and delightfully aromatic drams but my preference is for the first one, that had one month finishing in virgin oak. The Ferg & Harris bottlings are limited and not cheap, though both of these are around £130/bottle which isn’t bad for such limited editions of this age. Based on the five samples sent to me, they are worth seeking out for your bar or restaurant if you can get hold of any.

A couple of new offerings flagged up to me this week by Douglas Laing & Co. One is Scallywag Winter Edition 2024 and the latest in its Old Particular Red Wine Cask Collection. Now, Scallywag, alongside Timorous Beastie, is one of my favourites of the Douglas Laing more regular ranges. Haven‘t been able to taste this one but it‘s been finished in orange wine casks from Spain which makes it interesting and different for me. All sounds very Christmassy. It‘s at 53.9% vol with no added colour and no chill filtration and expect to pay around £65 in the UK. No outside UK price was given. The new Old Particular is a Girvan 16-Year-Old Single Grain Scotch Whisky, finished in a single merlot red wine cask from France. Their tasting notes say, „…hard candy, honeyed cereal, and rich dark toffee with smooth ganache.The influence of French oak allows the grain to shine, offering a powerful finish filled with “cinnamon spice and ripe red fruits“. It‘s bottled at 48.4% abv (NCF/NAC) with expected pricing at £85.00 / €101.00.

Heard this week that The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery won the award from the World Travel Awards last weekend in Madeira for World’s Leading Whisky Distillery tour. As you might expect, it was also voted Scotland‘s Best Whisky Distillery Tour earlier this year from the same source as well as other awards since its re-opening in 2022 after a re-jig of its offering and much investment by parent company, Diageo. I‘m ashamed to say it‘s not one I‘ve been to myself though I did have clients there on my bespoke tours in the past when I still ran that company. Based in Muir of Ord, near Inverness, it‘s one that would fit neatly into a northern Highland tour if you‘re planning such a thing, especially if you base yourself in Inverness or are trying the North Coast 500 driving route. The distillery has welcomed nearly 80,000 visitors in 2024 and offers a range of different tours as well as locally sourced food in its bar and deli space. Not the best time of year to be trying that area now but do think about it for 2025 from spring onwards.

Lastly for this time, I was truly dismayed to read a couple of days ago that Ireland‘s Waterford Distillery, set up by former Bruichladdich CEO, Mark Reynier, has gone into administration with the hope that the receivers can “secure the future of the business”.  I wouldn‘t like to see their approach to whisky-making with different barleys and from individual farms, following the concept of terroir, disappear. According to a report in the Irish Times, „the receivers will either attempt to find a buyer for the business, or sell assets, such as its stocks of whiskey or the distillery itself “. Let‘s hope someone buys the business and takes it even further forward, preserving the jobs of all the team there.

That‘s it for this month and next month we‘ll be on countdown to Christmas and New Year. Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline

Hello everyone

First of all, an update on the upcoming whisky from Isle of Tiree. The guys there were kind enough to send me another sample to look at before their first bottling is launched in January. Without going into my full tasting note, I can says it‘s coming along nicely. Two separate vattings which will be used for the final single malt bottling were put together before re-racking into a 2nd fill sherry cask a few weeks ago. Now, that sherry cask will make a bit of difference to a young spirit like this and my sample was before that re-racking but the signs are distinctly positive. I‘m looking forward to tasting the final version.

Back in the summer, I was honoured again to be asked to be an independent judge for the Scottish Licensed Trade News Awards, looking at the finalists for Whisky Bar of the Year. Myself and fellow judge were all over Scotland to see the 6 finalists and ask questions. I don’t have to keep the result secret any more as the winner was announced at the awards banquet on 7th November, brilliantly hosted by James Corden. A worthy winner was Tipsy Midgie at 67 St. Leonard’s Hill in Edinburgh. I first saw this entrant a few years ago when it was a fairly recent opening and we all felt it wasn‘t quite ready at that point. However, it has developed its offering so well in the intervening time. The other two which made the final cut were The Pot Still in Glasgow and The George Hotel in Inveraray. Both of them have been previous winners and are truly excellent whisky bars. It was close amongst all three.

I said I‘d cover more of the Ferg & Harris sample pouches that were sent to me a few weeks ago. I‘ve chosen to do one which is a peated Bunnahabhain and do so alongside the latest Sanaig offering from Kilchoman which arrived only on Friday before I ran away to attend an Italian (in fact, Puglian) wine tasting.

Let‘s look at Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength 2024. A bold one at 57.8% abv and 50ppm of peat level.

Appearance: A rich amber with tawny and orange highlights and some brown tint too. Tears achingly slow and clingy – the rim pretty much a solid line after first swirls round the glass. Spacing not too wide.

Nose: Controlled smoke and brown sugar sweetness; dark caramel. Toasty oak. Roasted plumsand a hint of wax. Richly roasted barley. Char and tar plus a little creosote. With water and letting it sit longer, more brown sugar caramel and treacly sweetness; coconut cream and warm engine oil.

Palate: Distinct oiliness; light-heavyweight mouth feel; oil fumes in the throat; bonfire smoke, char and tar but also wood swetness. Salt water; slight pine resin; earthy; the smoke is still quite controlled but a definite presence.

Finish: Long, resinous, smoky and dry.

For this bottling Kilchoman used the usual Sanaig maturation recipe but didn‘t dilute it to 46%. The finishing was in oloroso sherry hogsheads. I‘ve found a range of prices from about £67 up to almost £80 at UK pricing. This one is available in Europe now but other markets may have a little longer to wait.

Now on to Ferg & Harris Bunnahabhain 14 Year Old. Again, I didn‘t look at their notes before doing my own and was surprised to find this is a peated Bunnahabhain. It‘s at 54.7% abv and matured in a 2nd fill oloroso hogshead with 3 months finishing in a Sauternes barrique. I was intrigued to see what this combination had done to the whisky.

Appearance: Shining tawny with old brass and old gold highlights. Tears are slow and clinging like tinned fruit syrup. Fairly widely spaced.

Nose: An intriguing smokiness; ash and bonfire smoke; salty sea air; smoked ham. Baked apples and smoky honey. A lightness for its age but the maturation was 2nd fill sherry nd the sauternes cask will have contributed to that. Light peat with some maltiness and vegetal notes. With water, softer with more sea air; salted potato crisps; potato cooking water; more fruit and honey; golden syrup.

Palate: Medium – heavy mouth feel. Much smokier and peatier than on the nose. Richly roasted barley; licorice and salt. Not so fruity on the palate as it was on the nose; savoury spices, tar fumes and ashes.

Finish: Long, peaty,smoky, ashy, salty and dry.

Interesting to compare these two. There‘s no age statement on the Sanaig. In terms of preference, I think the Sanaig does it for me though the Bunnahabhain is a decent dram. I just preferred the Sanaig‘s element of sweetness. There are two more from Ferg & Harris to look at and both are from Craigellachie so I‘ll do those next time if there‘s room.

The third and final sample I have this time is Fettercairn 18 Year Old 2024 Edition at 46.8% abv. It‘s „fully finished in responsibly sourced Scottish Oak after initial maturation in first-fill and refill ex-Bourbon American White Oak barrels“.

Appearance: Rich, medium amber with tawny and orange marmalade highlights. Tears very slow and fairly widely spaced.

Nose: From the bottle, it‘s rich, fruity and warmly spicy with some caramel and milk chocolate. In the glass, rich and fruity again but clean, not cloying, sherry influence. Baked honey and apple. I couldn‘t detect any of the pineapple I often get in Fettercairn. With water, softer but not much change at first. Then more oak, peach nectar and brown sugars; golden syrup.

Palate: Medium mouth feel; warm spices, oak and earthiness. Plenty of tongue tingle. Drier than expected and a slight dab of sulphur. Citrus zest and pith. Slight dark chocolate bitterness and almonds.

Finish: Medium length, spicy, vanilla, woody and dry at the end with a touch of marzipan.

I‘m not overly fond of the standard Fettercairn 12 year old finding it pleasant but a tiny bit bland. I prefer it at older ages. This one does a fine job but at a suggested price of £212.

Fettercairn‘s owner, Whyte & Mackay, has also recently launched The Dalmore Vintage Collection 2024, offering two expressions – The Dalmore Vintage 2009 and The Dalmore Vintage 2006. The Dalmore Vintage 2009 is a 15 Year Old Single Malt, 48.9% abv, £173 RSP and The Dalmore Vintage 2006 is an 18 Year Old Single Malt, 47.2% abv, £403 RSP. In the 2009, flavours have been created from an initial maturation in American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels, followed by a dual finish in hand-selected matusalem sherry casks and 10 Year Old tawny port pipes. As for the 2006, it has been matured in American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels and finished in hand-selected rare and aged matusalem, and amoroso Sherry casks. Both should be opulent whiskies and their tasting notes certainly lean that way. Find out more on https://www.thedalmore.com/en-gb/our-collections/limited-editions/ .

Well, that‘s it for this time. I already know there‘s more to write about at end of the month so I‘ll be back soon. Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte,

Caroline