Tag Archives: benriach

Buxton Does It Again, Kingsman, New Expressions & Tasting Notes

Posted on by
Reply

I’m all returned from France with huge purchases of wine. Just because I work tasting whisky doesn’t stop me liking wine – a lot – too. A gift of a bottle of Diurach’s Own (16y.o.) from Jura went down well at La Maison Leflaive though I haven’t heard yet if they’ve tasted it. Also went to Giraud Champagne, the house which had the collaboration with Richard Paterson on his 50th anniversary bottling of The Dalmore and there are some very interesting  things going on there. I had a couple of good whisky conversations at both places too.

Whisky Galore

Anyway, what’s been happening in the intervening month since I last posted? Rather a lot but not room for it all here. I’d need a weekly space. Note to self – get your website updated.

First up, that man Ian Buxton has done it again. Written a book I wish I’d done, damn him – but he has way more anecdotes than I do. “Whiskies Galore – A Tour of Scotland‘s Island Distilleries” is a book about whisky islands and their distilleries, but not merely a travelogue. It delves into histories, myths and legends, ownerships, triumphs and failures all with great humour and wit (always a feature of Ian’s books), self-deprecation (and the occasional pat on the back!), pointed criticism, sadness, joy and plenty of warmth and affection. All this wrapped up in tales of travelling to the islands and touring them, boy and man, as tourist, whisky marketer, consultant and writer. Some of Ian’s views coincide with my own thoughts and utterances so maybe that’s just one reason I liked it! Kidding aside, it’s an utter treat of a read and a lovely way to while away some leisure time. Published by Birlinn, you can buy from them online or from a decent bookshop (or Amazon if you must). Add it to your Santa list or, better still, buy it now.

 

Next up, The new Kingsman movie “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” has a partnership with The Glendronach by way of a dedicated  expression for the film to add to the exquisite men’s tailoring and stylish gadgets. It’s a 1991 vintage and a limited edition, for sale at around £550 a bottle. Ouch! Apparently, The Glendronach is the dram of choice for the film’s director, Matthew Vaughn. What can I say? The man has great taste – in whisky at least. I was lucky enough to be sent a little sample in a hollowed out Kingsman “book”. Tasting note further down the page.

Glenfiddich have continued their wood experimentation with the launch of Winter Storm, a 21 year old expression finished in icewine casks. For those who don’t know, icewine (or Eiswein as the Germans and Austrians have it, since they make it too) is made from grapes picked in winter when they have been encapsulated in ice. It concentrates the juice inside and makes the wine all the sweeter. The casks are French oak but come from the Canadian wine producer, Peller Estates near Niagara. We’re told that only the 21 year old whiskies could take the intensity of the ice wine effect from these casks. No sample, but I feel it’s one I do want to try as I’ve enjoyed a number of the Glenfiddich wood experiments.

 

Back in August, Loch Lomond Distillers released a Littlemill Private Cellar Edition 2017, some precious drops from the Littlemill Distillery which closed in 1994 and was destroyed by fire ten years later. There are 500 bottles of this 27 year old whisky at £2,250 per bottle. Double ouch!! I do think some of the pricing of rarities goes too far. It was made for drinking, not showing off so I hope it gets drunk rather than sitting in collectors’ displays.

Benriach (now owned by Brown-Forman) has released seven expressions, some peated, some not, from its Batch 14 selection, all chosen by Rachel Barrie, who also played a blinder on the Kingsman bottling. The whiskies come from first fill Oloroso sherry butts, port pipes, a first fill virgin oak cask, a first fill marsala hogshead and a Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheon. They are not chill-filtered, have no added colour and are all hand-numbered. Again, not enough space to cover them here so I’ll cover a couple of them next month.

Planning permission has been granted for yet another distillery. Soon all open land in Scotland will be bought up for new distilleries and we’ll be tripping over them. This one is on Speyside and called Cabrach. Plan is to start construction next year, open in 2019 and have mature whisky bottled in 2024. They intend to produce enough for 150,000 bottles per year “using the blueprint of an early 19th-century distillery and made with historical methods”. I’m not really sure what that means in this case (no computers?) so must find out. They are also trying to raise funds for  this venture so if you want to get involved, e-mail info@thecabrachdistillery.uk or see www.cabrachtrust.org for more information.

Of course, the long-awaited Raasay Distillery had its official opening this month too and Raasay is one of the islands featured in Ian Buxton’s book. I wish them all the best and look forward to the whisky in a few years’ time.

Lastly, in this section, the nice guys at Royal Mile Whiskies have launched their own whisky auction site with rates of commission to be paid by buyers and sellers pitched at very reasonable rates. Nothing from their retail side will form part of the auctions. For more info go to http://www.royalmilewhisky.auction if you want to buy or sell.

Now to the tasting notes:

 

Highland Park Magnus (40% abv)

This one is for North America only. The sample arrived the other day with a letter from Brand Director, Jason Craig and a promise that a sample of the other new one, Dragon Legend , will be sent in October, so another for next month already and Full Volume to follow sometime in the autumn too.

Magnus is to plug a gap for HP in the US where their 12 Year Old sells for over $50 and the brand needed to attract more of the 25 – 40 year old male and female brown spirit drinkers  – who latched on to the explosion of new US whiskeys – and at a lower price point. It’s good to look at and the name is easily pronounced, with the back story that it’s the name of the Highland Park founder in the late 18th century, Magnus Eunson. The flavour profile of this is much the same as the 12 but contains more US oak-matured whisky for more sweetness and coconut notes and it sells for about $39. The casks are fresh and refill US oak sherry casks. Very easy to drink yet still complexity to appreciate.

Conclusion? Sweet and fruity with cherries and almonds, a hint of ginger, marshmallows, soft oak and vanilla on the nose. With water, more fruity, sherry sultana notes plus toffee; brioche and custard. On the palate it’s silky and slightly unctuous; a dab of smoke with sweet fruit and toasty grains, some oak and vanilla and a slight “green” note – sap maybe, but sweet. Definitely good value, though depending on where you’re reading this, you might have to travel a way to buy some.

 

The Glendronach Kingsman Edition (48.2% abv; 25 YO)

As mentioned above it’s linked to the new film and the year, 1991, represents the year the main character, Eggsy, was born.

A beautiful  old gold and amber colour – all natural and no chill-filtration. Decided to nose this one from the bottle before pouring into the glass. Oh, joy! Then nosed in the glass. More delight. “Warm, reekin’, rich!” to borrow from Burns. Not in the least haggis-scented though. This one is all about rich vine and stone fruits, sherry notes, some pear drop, rich oak and good vanilla. A little sulphur but not strong. There’s also a faint cologne note a bit like oil of clary sage, some caramel and a touch of peach juice. With water, more sultana fruit cake and barley sugar. It’s rich and mellow.

The palate has rich fruit, cherries and marzipan, dark chocolate and fig, dark caramel, oak and vanilla. Silky but less luscious mouthfeel than expected. It’s a very elegant whisky. The finish is long and fruity with some herbal notes and quite mouth-drying at the end. Just lovely.

 

Diageo Special Releases

I was on holiday when these were first sent out so a bit of a delay. They were kind enough to send samples recently of the four I particularly wanted but only covering two here this time, for space:

Collectivum XXVIII (53.7% abv; no age statement)

It’s a blend and a fine one, as you’d expect from Diageo’s blending team.

Whiskies from Speyside, Islay, other islands, Lowland and Highland are included here. The cask types are refill American oak hogsheads, refill European oak butts, ex-bodega European oak (sherry) and first fill bourbon.

A lovely rich gold colour. The first note on nosing it was candy floss so plenty of caramel and barely sugar. Also very “perfumey” plus alcohol sweetness. With water, it is creamier with stone fruits – apricot and golden plum, soft toffee and lychees.

On the palate, rather grapey and sweet but not at all cloying; soft and creamy toffee notes as well as nuts and a good helping of saltiness.

The finish features salt and sweet with some nuts, oak and herb. Quite a dry and long finish. Liked this one a lot.

 

Convalmore 32 Year Old (Speyside; 48.2% abv; distilled 1984; closed distillery)

Cask type for the Convalmore is refill US oak hogsheads; a medium, soft gold colour.

I wanted to try this one as there was a 36 year old Convalmore in the 2013 Special Releases and it was the star of the show for me. Not that I have any to compare but I do have my notes from the event they held for scribblers and retailers in Scotland at the time. Also, it was from refill European oak casks so there are bound to be some differences.

First note out of sample bottle and glass – wine gums! Soft with citrus zest and oily notes; apples and damp oak woods. With water, more apple, vanilla and oak; some sweet cinnamon, nutmeg and mace notes; a slightly sweaty and yeasty wisp too.

On the palate it’s soft, clean and sweet with a touch of cream; barley grains and spices but savoury rather than sweeter ones on the palate. Finish is longish with apple and mouth-drying oak notes.

Did I like it? Yes. Did I like it as much as the previous one? I don’t think so from reading my notes but couldn’t say definitely at this distance in time. They share some qualities but also differ quite a bit, again if comparing my notes.

If there’s room next time, I’ll cover the Teaninich and Port Dundas Special Release bottlings.

If I can stretch the Burns analogy a bit further, not a sleekit, cowerin’, tim’rous beastie amongst any of these.

So there we are. That’s enough from me. In October I’m going to visit the new Clydeside Distillery and hope to tell you more about it later that month.

Meanwhile, keep tasting!

Caroline Dewar

Save

Festive Whisky Drinking

Posted on by
Reply

Well I survived the Highland Park Fire candle and didn’t set fire to anything except the taste buds with some more whisky samples – that’s in a good way.

I’ve recently been checking over a piece about whisky cocktails and mixed drinks which are delightful at any time but there’s perhaps the opportunity to be even more adventurous at this time of year. I’ve received some fantastic recipes for the new Chivas Regal Ultis I wrote about last month but they do need a fair amount of equipment and preparation. You may well have them in your workplace if you’re in the bar or restaurant business but they’re not things we’d all have readily to hand at home such as ice cups and atomisers. Lovely to look at and great theatre, though.

Chivas Regal The Blend at Truman Brewery 18th October 2016.

Chivas Regal The Blend at Truman Brewery 18th October 2016.

One, which doesn’t need so much equipment is “The Ultimate Punch” which is supposed to show off, in harmony, all the five malts in the blend: 50ml Chivas Regal Ultis, fresh mint (placed at base of cocktail cup and pressed with the other ingredients), 15ml spiced honey syrup, 40ml freshly pressed pineapple juice, 15ml ginger wine, 5ml cassis, 5ml elderflower. Shake and pour. Serve with crushed ice and and a straw and garnish with 2 pineapple slices. My kitchen is going to be awash with cocktail experiments this festive season.

The Famous Grouse has a good hot toddy recipe and given the cold I seem to be in middle of at the moment it’s certainly one I should be trying. They suggest 50ml The Famous Grouse, squeeze of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon runny honey, 1 spiced teabag e.g. apple and cinnamon, hot water, lemon zest. Add the spiced teabag and pour hot water into the hot toddy glass, Then add The Famous Grouse, honey and lemon juice and stir. Remove teabag and finish with a sliver of the lemon zest. It’s good. However, my standby favourite is a cold powder like Lemsip or Beecham’s or whatever, a hefty spoonful of honey, juice of a lime (more vitamin C than lemons), a hefty belt of a good sherry matured whisky e.g. The Glendronach and boiling water to top up the mug. Makes you feel warm to the core and banishes the sniffles for a while. A master blender ex-colleague once told me dark rum would be better than the sherry-matured whisky but each to their own.

News items since my last piece include the Scotch Whisky Association joining forces with the Brazilian Institute of Cachaça (IBRAC) – a private entity representing the Cachaça Brazilian spirit industry –  have signed a mutual cooperation agreement. The agreement provides for collaboration on themes such as the prevention of misleading commercial practices, promotion of responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages, and mutual promotion and protection of the geographical indications (GIs) Scotch Whisky and Cachaça. We are mutually important markets for these products so it makes good sense.

The Scotch Whisky industry is also the single biggest net contributor to the UK’s balance of trade in goods and that was celebrated recently at a reception in London. Seems that without our contribution Britain’s trade deficit would be 11% larger. Something to be proud of.

At the beginning of this month, Strathearn Distillery in Perthshire launched its whisky at the age of 3 years and 1 day following an online auction, held over a few months, for the first 100 bottles. The first bottle went for £4,150 which is being hand delivered to the bidder, in Italy. Bidders for all the bottles were from  a number of countries. The Strathearn spirit is put into small 50L (octave) casks. They can use peated and unpeated malt and vary the cask type amongst sherry, bourbon or rum so each batch is unique.

strathearn-bottle-002

Glengoyne has recently launched its latest Teapot Dram – number 5, in fact. Sadly, no sample but we are told, “Matured in first fill Oloroso sherry oak casks, Glengoyne Teapot Dram V is teeming with brown sugar, sweet fruits and soft spices, with a natural colour of dark mahogany. Bottled unchillfiltered and at cask strength (59.6%), just 3,138 bottles of Teapot Dram V are released, available exclusively from the Glengoyne Distillery shop or at Glengoyne.com.” We are told, “The Teapot Dram was created in tribute to an old Glengoyne Distillery tradition: for over 150 years, workers would be given three fingers of whisky, three times a day. The less seasoned workers would, to save face, discreetly pour some of theirs into a copper teapot on the windowsill. Their older colleagues would intersperse official drams with unofficial “cups of tea” from the teapot, ensuring none went to waste.  As the daily dram would never be taken from an old cask, this is a deliberately young and bold malt.” It will retail at £90. With that nose and flavour profile it sounds like just my kind of dram but it will need to be a request to Santa.

The guys at Glasgow’s Liquid Academy have announced a major presence at the ScotHot show in March 2017. They’ll be “offering tips, tricks and expertise for visitors to take back to use in their own businesses. From exploring innovation with ‘Simple Serve Sophistication’ that looks at new and unusual ingredients entering the soft drinks market; to ‘From Grain to Cask’ celebrating traditional spirits with a cask strength whisky tasting.” Sounds good to me and I hope to  attend myself. We can – and should – all learn something new all the time. It’s the joy of this industry.

scothot-2017-002

Lastly, what was your favourite whisky from this year? I can’t decide. Lots of good things but, from the samples sent, nothing that really left me gasping in amazement. There were Glenmorangie Milsean and a couple of the Compass Box and Benriach and Glendronach offerings which I particularly liked and Lagavulin 8 but a range of good, steady offerings industry-wide is something to be celebrated – with a dram.

On that note, I’ll love you and leave you for 2016 and wish everyone a merry and busy (business-wise) Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Slainte mhath!

Caroline

Save

Save

Whisky Tasting Treats

Posted on by
Reply

In recent weeks I’ve been the recipient of an array of whisky samples of for tasting so I’m feeling very spoiled but no time to taste them all. Instead I decided to taste just a selection and mention a little about them here. I’ll try to fit in more for December.

One received was the sample of Chivas Ultis I was promised. A whole bottle in it’s beautiful box with a dazzling video presentation about the selection of the whiskies for this, Chivas’ first ever blended malt. It celebrates the five men who have been the guardians of the Chivas house style over many decades, as master blenders, including current custodian, Colin Scott. A delightful piece of work.

chivas-ultis-bottle-box_10

The liquid in the bottle was delightful too but no surprise as I wouldn’t have expected anything less. It’s been well-received by all, as far as I can see.  The five malts used are The Tormore (one of my old brands and good with certain chocolate desserts), Allt A’Bhainne, Longmorn, Braeval and Strathisla. So all Speysides and as elegant as you would expect such malts to be, alone or combined.

Nose and taste? Glorious. There are citrussy notes – candied peel I think, peach (an aroma found by others too I have since discovered), some oak vanilla and sweet cake spices (I’ve recently made my Christmas cake so these were top of mind) and a hint of ginger; some oak vanilla and cedary notes. The palate is fruity and juicy with a continuation of the spices on the nose as well as toffee/caramel notes. First fill US oak was said to be important here but no indication of whether that was bourbon wood or a US oak sherry cask. There are also sherry elements to the palate with a long finish. Not for the faint-hearted at around £180 per bottle from selected retailers and now that it’s open it will have to be shared!

I also tried a brace of Highland Parks – Hobbister which came out some time ago – and which I’ve mentioned before – and the new Highland Park Fire. Hobbister (51.4% vol) is the one paying homage to the peat on Orkney and indeed there is peat but refined and integrated, though stronger than usual in HP – not a peat beast. Fire (45.2%) came accompanied by a candle which is supposed to crackle like a fire when lit. Haven’t tried it yet but will do soon. If I set fire to my house, I’ll let you know.

FIRE Edition is a whisky which has been matured exclusively in refill Port wine seasoned casks and follows on from the release of ICE Edition earlier this year.  This completes the two-part series of special edition bottlings which celebrate some of the myths and legends emerging from the Viking age.

The crimson red coloured glass was specially commissioned to represent the fierce and molten world of the Fire Giants from Viking mythology.  The bottle is encased in a distinctive black wooden cradle with accompanying black wooden stopper.  A booklet which accompanies the bottle, recounts the story of the realm of the Fire Giants and their epic battle against the Gods to rule the world.

hp-fire-1

The whisky itself was a little closed at first but came into its own with notes of creamy custard, candied citrus peel (a theme here for whiskies coming out near Christmas?!), fruit, wisps of smoke and fine vanilla. The port begins to emerge more with water, more toffee sweetness, sultanas and creamier. A refined palate with oak tannins, dried fruits, hints of smoke and heather. The colour is a fascinating, almost rose gold, tone.

Another Edrington offering was the new Macallan Edition No. 2. Wow, what a nose! A real toffee hit if nosed on opening the little sample and much more once poured. This one is richly coloured and glowing. The sherry clue of a touch of sulphur was there with rich fruit cake, glorious golden syrupy toffee; oak vanilla, candied peel (again!) More sherry notes and waxy with water, a touch of fresh citrus zest and – rubber! Lighter on the palate than expected but elegant and with the dryness that is often a sherry casked whisky feature.

Benriach 22 YO Moscatel (46%) was one of the many samples from Benriach Distillers. I tried this one due to the Moscatel finish (though matured first in bourbon wood) – a nose of dried fruit and a bit “grapey”; juicy and rich, spicy and sweet, candy floss. With water some orange peel and Clementine juice, wax and chocolate and some toasting. I did rather like this one as well as The Glendronach 25YO Grandeur Batch 8 (50.3%) Nose of pear drop, a fresh sharpness, warm oak, vanilla and fruit, leather, sherry nuttiness and with water, waxier, condensed milk, shelled nuts. Not as sweet on the palate as on the nose. There was a lot to savour in both and both definitely worth trying.

benriach-moscatel

In other news the Scotch Whisky Association has been in talks with the government about Brexit which is a good sign that they’re being involved. With their former CEO now an adviser to Boris Johnson, we can hope that his informed view will help there. They have been on the recent Prime Minister trip to India to talk trade there and are appealing the minimum pricing for alcohol ruling here in Scotland. That one has a way to run perhaps.

Anyway, I’ll be back before Christmas with another round up of samples and news – possibly some about a French graphic novel featuring whisky which is due to come out next year. Hope your present buying experiences are not too stressful.

Caroline

News, News, News

Posted on by
Reply

So much seems to have happened or been launched in the last month, immediately after I wrote the last blog so having to be rather selective this time. My trip to France was during a wonderful heatwave and I discovered some new whiskies whilst there but weather too hot to taste and not enough room in the car to bring any back. Maybe next time.

Anyway, I was sent samples of The Glendronach 14YO Virgin Oak and BenRiach 17YO Pedro Ximenez Sherry Wood Finish and 21 YO Tawny Port Finish as mentioned in last month’s column. All of these come from BenRiach Distillers sold earlier this year to US company Brown Forman. Another one I received was the Big Peat Christmas Edition 2016 from Douglas Laing & Co. So I recently spent a happy time tasting all four, starting with The Glendronach and ending with Big Peat. It has some youth about it but the peatiness would have overwhelmed the older whiskies.

I’ve rarely met a Glendronach I don’t like. I thought I’d miss the sherry aspect but didn’t really and it’s a very acceptable dram. At 46% vol. it has plenty of lusciousness on the nose and slightly less than I was expecting on the palate but an enjoyable and fairly complex one nonetheless.

Of the two Benriachs (both 46%), it’s hard to choose a preference as I did get a lot out of both. I think the Pedro Ximenez Finish just edged it for me. It’s a very silky dram that glides down easily with lots of succulent notes (creamy vanilla custard, damp earth, chocolate, stewed green apples and more) and tastes to pick up.

benriach17yopedroximenezfinish-bottleinfrontoftubelr1

A different beast entirely was Big Peat Christmas Limited Edition, using only Islay malts. As it has no added colour, it’s interesting to think how that might skew your perceptions of the taste and depth. If you’re a peat freak, you’ll love it. I like peatiness but I am choosy! This one features whiskies from all the current Islay distilleries plus some Port Ellen, from the long-closed distillery. It’s at 54.6% vol so does need water before you taste or it’ll burn the tongue. There’s plenty of smokiness, peat, toasted grain, smoked fish, sweaty sock and tar – a bit like the flavour that catches the throat when bitumen is being spread on roads. Don’t be put off – those are positives if you like peat!

big-peat-christmas-2016-with-tube

Compass Box have recently announced two new expressions, still poking a tongue out at some of the whisky labelling rules. No samples but I have media releases and pics as you see here. I just love the packaging these guys produce for their brands. Despite – or maybe because of – being a marketer by profession, I’m still a sucker for good, innovative, creative packaging and these two newbies are no exception. (Douglas Laing are also good at using less traditional label styles).

Anyway, the first is ‘Spice Tree Extravaganza ¬¬- a Blended Malt Scotch Whisky at 46% vol. released to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Compass Box being compelled to discontinue production of the original Spice Tree – due to a certain avant-garde approach to cask maturation that was deemed ‘untraditional’. There are 12,240 bottles available.

Their second offering is Three Year Old Deluxe, described as “precociously mature”. That’s because they say the only whisky the daft rules allow them to give details of is the youngest in the blend and it is a blended malt. Only 3,282 bottles of this one and it sounds delightful. There is a bit under 1% of the blend at 3 years old from a distillery near Brora (now let me guess!) which they have raised from spirit infancy in first-fill US oak, plus just over 90% of much older whisky from the same place and then 9% of peatier single malt from a certain place on Skye. They reckon the 3 year old whisky “imparts a lively vivacity to the blend”. I like to think of it as similar to Aussie wines where they add a dab of viognier to the shiraz to give it a bit of zip or Michel Roux telling Masterchef contestants that a dish needs some citrus to give it lift. More power to their creative arm.

compass-box-3yodeluxe-bottle

On that note, their whisky maker (or one of them), Gregg Glass is moving to Whyte & Mackay later this year to work alongside Richard Paterson as the succession plan there. However, Richard isn’t going away soon with a long world tour still to come.
In a very heartwarming story, Diageo’s Johnnie Walker brand is behind a new film, Ode to Lesvos, all about the islanders on that Greek island and their humanitarian response to nearly half a million refugees who landed on their island in 2015. It’s a production initiative that sees the brand working with a global network of storytellers – including writers, directors, photographers and filmmakers – to give everyday people a voice to tell inspiring stories of positivity and progress. The brand is also supporting Mercy Corps, a global organisation that helps people around the world survive and thrive after conflict, crisis and natural disaster.
In other news, the Scotch Whisky Association tells us Scotch Whisky sales were up 3.1% in the first six months of 2016 compared to 2015. Also, the organization has secured a registration for Scotch Whisky as a certified trademark in Taiwan which is an important market for our national drink. It was already a well regulated market but this makes life easier to protect Scotch, if necessary.
Lastly, a reminder to watch the Bruichladdich online tasting as mentioned in my last blog, on evening of 13th October on YouTube. I’m looking forward to it, even without the whiskies!

Back in October,
Caroline

Save

Save

Shop Early for Christmas Whisky?

Posted on by
Reply

If you are doing some early Christmas Shopping, then here’s Caroline’s most recent whisky blog.

I hope everyone’s had a good summer and that we get an Indian one to end on!

Word just in from Highland Park tells me that their Hobbister special edition I wrote about last month sold out within a day of release. Therefore they now intend to release the other four expressions in the Keystone series towards the end of this year rather than in 2017.  More info is to come so just watch this space. They are also working on a revamp of their core range of 10, 12 and 18 year olds as well as two new ones to replace 15y.o. and Dark Origins.

It must be the retail run up to Christmas now. I may be cynical but there has been a raft of new releases recently form Tomatin, Benriach, The Glendronach, Whyte & Mackay, Bruichladdich and Douglas Laing to name but some.

The Tomatin one I did receive a sample of. It’s their peated Cu Bocan but a 2005 Vintage at 50% abv and £49.99 which is a pretty good price. Tried it and liked it – on a rainy, cool, Glasgow summer day it stood up to the weather rather well. I also compared it with the original Cu Bocan and found it hard to decide which one I preferred.

Tomatin Cu Bocan 2005

The new offering from Douglas Laing is a 40 Year Old version of their Timorous Beastie vatted – or, rather, blended – malt expression. Only 1,080 bottles have been produced and it’s at cask strength – 57.4%. No added colour and no chill-filtration. There’s a competition you can enter to win some of this on www.DouglasLaing.com . They have 100 taster bottles (presumably means smaller size) to give away to the best tasting notes submitted by consumers. The competition opens for entries from Tuesday 30th August so find out what to do and how to enter from the website.

Timorous Beastie 40 Years Old

In another fun development, Bruichladdich are releasing three new bottlings for their Micro Provenance digital whisky tasting programme. The set of 3 x 20cl bottles costs £50 plus post and packing and there will be an online tasting of these on the evening of 13th October via YouTube. Only 860 sets are available. All the bottlings are of unpeated Bruichladdich and at a strength Head Distiller, Adam Hannett, thinks is best for each one. Details are:

Cask #361 – distilled in 2008 and matured full term in a French ex-Syrah (red wine) cask.  It is at 58% alc. vol.

Cask #16-062 – distilled in 2006 and matured in ex-bourbon before being finished in an ex-sherry cask is also at 58% alc. vol.

Cask #1062 – distilled in 2005 and matured full term in bourbon is at 59% alc. vol.

They are available only via www.bruichladdich.com or the distillery shop on Islay. Why not give it a go?

Another distillery-only new release is The Dalmore Distillery Exclusive Vintage 1997 (58.4% abv). The Dalmore is renowned for its use of good sherry wood for maturation but this time, Master Blender and Distiller, Richard Paterson has chosen three different types of Bourbon barrels in which to mature this whisky. It was initially matured in second fill bourbon barrels, then put into specially selected aged bourbon barrels before a final fling with some “small batch” aged bourbon barrels. Only 450 bottles each at £200 are available at the distillery, way up north in Alness, Ross-shire. One way to attract visitors!

Benriach has recently released Batch 13 of its single cask bottlings. There are 13 of them and too many to list in detail here but the oldest is from 1975, the youngest from 1999, all at cask strength and with some rather exciting finishes. Seek them out. Two further new offerings from this same distillery are a 17YO Pedro Ximenez Sherry Wood Finish at 46% and a 21YO Tawny Port Wood Finish to replace the 15YO with the same finish. Both sound delicious.

BenRiachBatch13-GroupShotLR(1)

Their sister distillery, The Glendronach has also brought out a re-release of its 14YO Virgin Oak expression (46%) we saw first in 2010. I’ve never had the chance to give this one a try but must get round to doing so as it’s a bit different from The Glendronach norm in terms of maturation.

So, plenty to look out for and try though some of them may be rather beyond most budgets. I’ll remind again in September about the Bruichladdich tasting in October as, even if you don’t have the set to taste, it would still be an interesting one to watch.

I’m off to France for a holiday featuring more wine than whisky and will be back in September.

Enjoy the end of your summer.

Caroline

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Many Things

Posted on by
Reply

I’m delighted to hear, this week, that Scapa Distillery is opening a visitor centre up there on Orkney. It means Highland Park no longer has things all to itself. No disrespect there – Highland Park does a great tour and it’s one of my favourite whiskies but Scapa is one of the brands I used to work on as a marketeer and it’s good to see it developing in this way. Also good in that it may encourage even more tourism to Orkney and give the whisky enthusiasts more to see. A number of people have asked me over the years if they could visit Scapa and I always had to disappoint them. Not now. It’s a long way up to get there but worth the effort so I’d urge you to go. Also lovely to be able to try both whiskies on the island of their birth – quite different one from t’other.

Laphroaig 15 Year Old (3)the-glenlivet-founders-reserve-with-carton (3)BenRiach10YearsOld

Also great news is that another of my former brands, Laphroaig, has put out a limited release of its 15 Year Old to commemorate the distillery’s 200th anniversary. This expression hasn’t been available for years. I always liked it for sampling with Islay whisky newbies as it can be a gentler introduction to Laphroaig than 10 Year Old, which is too big in flavour and character for many beginners. 15 Year Old is mellower, richer and still “large” but with the corners lightly sanded down. A brilliant dram and useful for vertical tastings of Laphroaig. I’m certainly planning to buy some. It’s a round £70 – £75 a bottle but I can’t pass this up.

 

In recent times, The Glenlivet has brought out The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve in the UK. It first saw light of day in October in other markets and is “the ultimate tribute to founder George Smith’s original vision to craft the most definitive, smooth single malt Scotch whisky.” They’ve certainly achived that smoothness and  balance here.  On the nose I got white chocolate and maybe a hint of rosewater, pear juice, a little vanilla and some toffee/caramel and soft candy – a bit like Dolly Mixtures. On the palate it’s slightly unctuous and creamy – more so than 12 Year Old; it’s really smooth and rounded with a touch of oak and peppermint. There’s the slightest hint of smoke and toast with some citrus zest. The finish is medium – long with toasted barley and a lovely spritzy sensation.

 

Also new is BenRiach 10 Year Old from, funnily enough, BenRiach Distillers. It’s the first 10 year old distilled largely under the current ownership and it was their first distillery purchase. Now, of course, they have The GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh too. Anyway, they’re pretty proud of this achievement.  On the nose this one has a slightly rubbery note initially but that fades, warm woolly socks just out of the dryer and malty, toasted grain. There’s Granny Smith apples (sharp green apple), some tropical fruit juice and stewed fruit, a dab of citrus and a touch of smoke and gingery spice. It’s quite a creamy nose with a tiny hint of toffee and some honey. On the palate it’s slightly mouth–coating and toasty with some smoke, heather, a touch of oak and grain sweetness, a hint of anis in the background and some citrus zest bitterness. This one has a medium – long finish, quite dry and astringent with some wood tannins, toastiness and residual sweetness.

 

I think that’s enough for this month – see you in May with, hopefully, some other new offerings.

Caroline