Hello everyone

There hadn‘t been any new samples or major news items to comment on (until yesterday) so, having several years of Octomore samples in my cupboard, I decided to have another look at them to see what differences there might be, if any. Of course there are. Just because the (largely) same barley variety may be used and the same cask types doesn‘t mean to say they won‘t vary from year to year.

The samples I have are Octomores 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15. Now, renosing and tasting all from each collection would lead me to nasal and palate exhaustion so I decided to concentrate on the .1 versions from each year. As you may already know, these are the baseline expression from each year‘s bottlings. For those of you unfamiliar with them, be assured that doesn‘t mean they are the least complex or least characterful in each year. They are all from Scottish mainland barley and matured in US oak ex-bourbon casks. Some years they are first-fill bourbon and other times have been in a bourbon mix including re-char bourbon casks. They are also not at the same strength though fairly close. Colour is all natural so they do vary slightly with 12.1 being the palest and 15.1 just edging the darkest in this group. There‘s amazing depth and layers from all. 12.1 was noticably drier than the first two and 12 and 14 have more vegetal notes than the others. All have some degree of salt and citrus. 12.1 has a note of lychee with a slight waft of it also in 15.1. Several include ginger and 10.1 was the most overtly fruity for me, certainly in this re-examination of them all together. 10 and 11 both had some coconut on the nose. As always with Octomore, the softness of the smoke on the nose always misleads and bursts out on the palate, though not harshly so.

Having re-read my old notes and tried all the 5 whiskies again for this exercise, I could go on in more detail as to individual nose and palate but suffice to say that the differences, similarities and subtleties are fascinating. Maybe not for this column but I will go back and try all the .2s for each year and so on. I‘d encourage you to do same if you can get hold of each one and try them side by side. A morning well spent.

A highlight from Bruichladdich just announced this week is the 2025 relelase of Port Charlotte 18 Year Old. The 2024 version was one of my favourites from last year. I have requested a sample and wait to hear if one is available again this time. As ever, this is distilled, matured and bottled exclusively on Islay. 100% Scottish barley was used and the casks have never once left the island during maturation. We are told, „…the spirit has been matured in a specific combination of rare first fill bourbon casks (53%) and second fill sherry casks (31%). A further, small parcel of Port Charlotte spirit (16%) was also filled into sherry casks for 11 years, before being recasked into Virgin French Oak for around five years. This spirit was then recasked into second fill bourbon barrels, before all components were finally married for bottling.“ Phew! That‘s quite a complex journey and very enticing to the taste buds. This one comes in at 40 PPM and 51.5% vol. and is a limited release. Price is £175 and you can find it on the website at www.bruichladdich.com and from carefully chosen whisky specialists. It ain‘t cheap but it was certainly worth it last year.

Also new out this week is an age statement release from Kilchoman, following on from their 16 Year Old in 2023. This limited release is Kilchoman 13 Year Old, matured in a combination of bourbon barrels, octaves and Calvados casks. It‘s bottled at 50% vol and is available in the UK and Europe now and priced at around £85 – £90. Kilchoman‘s founder Anthony Wills commented, „After the overwhelming response to our 16 Year Old, I’m excited to announce the release of another age statement Kilchoman – The 13 Years Old. The ex-bourbon casks make up the large part of the vatting, lending that unmistakable Kilchoman character, while the addition of calvados casks, which may surprise a few people, infuses vibrant green apple and fresh fruit notes into the mix.” Although our older stocks remain limited, we’re excited to share a variety of aged Kilchoman expressions with you over the next few years.” So potentially more to look forward to. Bottling strength is 50% vol. and it will be available in the UK and across Europe from this week, priced between £85 and £90. Other markets will have it soon.

A sample arrived today but no time to nose and taste for this column so it will be featured in March.

Last for this time is news of a new Ballantine‘s expression, Ballantine‘s Sweet Blend, no indication of price and for the moment it‘s available only in Poland with other markets to come. It‘s at 30% vol and described as „a premium spirit drink“. Well it can‘t be called whisky at only 30%. It‘s billed as „layering the classic notes of Scotch Whisky with sweet flavours“ which, to me, sounds like a cocktail in full bottle size. The flavours used are natural the label tells us. They‘re caramel and vanilla so emphasising some of the flavours already found in whiskies. They claim it‘s „an answer to the rising demand for sweeter, more approachable spirits“. From where and whom, I‘d like to know and how is it being used or recommended for use? I‘m all for widening the appeal of whisky or giving people the taste for it by introductory means. This is why the industry exported immature spirit to be mixed with local spirits in some markets, known as admix, so that consumers could develop a taste for something that moved them on to the real thing as their economies developed and allowed their higher incomes to purchase the „full fat“ version. Now, Master Blender Sandy Hyslop wouldn‘t let something out of the door if he didn‘t think it was good enough but it still rather smacks to me of a bottled cocktail or base. I‘d like to try it though just to find out.

That‘s all from me for this time. March almost upon us so spring is nearly here – or autumn if you‘re in a different hemisphere and both with exciting seasonal opportunities and reasons to try whiskies you‘ve not sampled before.

Till next time, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline

Hello everyone

First off, you may remember that, last year, Kilchoman Distillery on Islay ran a cocktail creation competition, Kilchoman Shake the Farm. It is being repeated this year in similar format which, they tell us, „…will challenge bartenders across the UK to create a cocktail which showcases one of our core range whiskies alongside a single standout ingredient farmed right here in Britain“.

As in 2024, creative bartenders are being asked to highlight the connection between whisky and agriculture. This year‘s candidates will compete to win an all-expenses paid hands-on apprenticeship at the distillery. The overall winner will get the opportunity to select an exclusive single cask bottling (and to take six bottles of it home with them). Their cocktail will also be featured as Kilchoman’s official drink during Feis Ile 2025. As one of the UK‘s major whisky events with many overseas attendees, that will be a great showcase for the winner and his/her bar.

This year‘s rules and application details are:

• Cocktails must contain a minimum of 25ml of Kilchoman Machir Bay, Sanaig or Batch Strength.

• The recipe must contain one UK farmed ingredient.
• Creations must be easy to replicate and made using tools and ingredients commonly found in bars.
• Drinks must not contain more than 6 ingredients (excluding garnish).
• The use of homemade ingredients is greatly encouraged but not necessary.
• Entries must be submitted before 23^rd March 2025 at midnight.

Application:

• Recipes must be submitted via the entry form athttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfewvUruj52kcOR99ku52mNm_JNDjnrEiBlJK-8SVYRuuEgyA/viewform and you can also find it by going to the Kilchoman website.
• A picture of your cocktail must be shared on Instagram tagging @kilchomandistillery, @kilcho.man and your bar with the hashtags #shakethefarm #kilchomanwhisky #barleytobottle.
• The cocktail must be available within the candidate’s bar offering.

Selection:

Three finalists will be shortlisted based on their online submission and Instagram post. The following criteria will be used for the selection process:

• Drink’s name, story and visual appeal.
• Choice of farmed ingredient.
• Instagram post originality.

Finals:

The finalists will then be invited to an all-expenses paid hands-on apprenticeship at Kilchoman distillery on Islay from April 21^st – 24^th so you must be available on those dates, also allowing yourself time to get to and from Islay so you may need an extra day or two for travel. During these four days, you will stay on the farm, learn about distillery production and have a hand in making Kilchoman single malt, finishing up by competing to become the 2025 Shake the Farm champion.

So, as we say in Scotland, come on if you think you‘re hard enough!

On the – sort of – subject of Islay, one of our national newspapers, The Sunday Times, recently featured an article on the UK‘s most desirable postcodes or „hottest neighbourhoods“. One of those was Port Ellen. Now, I love the place – indeed the whole island – but feel „party island“ is a misnomer. Yes, Islay has a few great events each year and Port Ellen has a new hotel (not yet open) in the shape of Ardbeg House which looks wonderful, as well as existing good places to go e.g. the Seasalt chip shop, but party island? No. One of the hotspots they mention is the newly recreated and internally fabulous Port Ellen Distillery but the complimentary tour is only available one day a month (must be booked in advance) and the other two tours are priced at £250 and £900 respectively. Not for the casual island visitor. I do read this paper but am fairly frequently amused at the recommended hotels and other facilities in their travel section as I can‘t imagine all the readers are made of money (case in point being me).

News from the SWA this last week that Scotch Whisky exports in 2024 went up in volume (by 3.9%) over 2023 but down in value by 3.7%. We exported the equivalent of 1.4 billion 70cl bottles. The value is up 10% on pre-pandemic levels (2019). By volume, exports are up 7% on 2019 figures. Since that time the industry has been recovering somewhat.

Largest market by volume was India (France was second) with USA the biggest by value, followed by France. Indicates that The Auld Alliance between Scotland and France may still count for something! China saw a large drop in value terms but not quite so large in volume so presumably the wealthier citizens are having their taste for Scotch dampened by economic conditions and trade squabbles.

UK position isn‘t mentioned, being the export report, but we‘ve had more duty hikes here in the last 18 months by governments treating it as something of a cash cow. This current lot are as bad as the last in that regard. I‘ve often met overseas visitors who are puzzled as to why whisky costs more in its homeland than it does in their countries. It‘s not a good message to send those who would seek to apply high tariffs and duties and is something I‘m fed up having to keep mentioning but it needs to be said.The situation will surely not be helped if a certain Mr. Trump decides Scotch will be subject to more of his tariffs. If you want to delve a little further into the numbers, go to https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/2024-export-figures/ . Final comment on the UK situation is from SWA CEO Mark Kent who states that, “At home, distillers are being stretched to breaking point, as consumers bear the brunt of a 14% increase on the tax on every bottle of Scotch Whisky in the last 18 months alone. The cumulative effect of inflationary impacts on input costs such as cereals, energy and shipping, and the increased tax and regulatory costs, including the substantial cost of EPR coming later this year, are being fed through to consumers when they are tightening their belts“. 

Lastly for this time, Ian and Alain, the co-owners and distillers at Tiree Distillery have been in touch to say that bottle numbers 1 – 10 of their first ever whisky bottling in January this year raised a little over £10,000 at auction though it wasn‘t clear if there was still auctioneer commission to be deducted. Anyway, that means they will have raised around £1,000 for charities on Tiree. Beneficiaries to be decided. As you might expect, bottles No. 1 and No. 2 raised the highest prices at £2,650 and £1,650 respectively. I would have thought No.3 would come next but, oddly, No.6 was next at £900. Well done to the guys and we can look forward to their next bottling of a different expression in the summer.

I, however, will be back with you end of this month.

Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline