Isle of Tiree First Release Launches

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I think we‘re still allowed to say that just under two weeks into 2025.

Last week the first whisky from Tiree in over 200 years was bottled. Isle of Tiree Distillery is owned and run by Ian Smith and Alain Campbell who also happen to be musicians with Trail West. The whisky was hand bottled and labelled then wrapped in the Tiree map before going into the gift carton at Craigton in Paisley last Wednesday (8th January). I was honoured to be invited along.

In 2023 Ian and Alain came to me and asked for some help with consultancy on aspects of their whisky venture. I reckon that involved my asking lots of questions for them to answer or think about! They‘d been making some rather fine and successful gin to help fund the whisky side of things and I pitched in at the point of pack development and looking at the way forward. They were very clear about the feel they wanted to achieve with their packaging.

I‘ve been pleased to have samples to nose and taste of the separate spirits as they matured and, finally, this Isle of Tiree First Release. It‘s nothing to do with my involvement that I can report this is a cracking first bottling. I’ve been nowhere near the production. The guys have been meticulous in their record keeping of all they have done – and when – and the cask types they purchased for maturation and finishing.

The spirit, distilled using Laureate barley, was filled and matured as follows:

E1 50L Virgin Oak: Filled 24th Feb 2021

E2 125L 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon: Filled 31st May 2021

E3 125L 1st Fill Ex-Bourdon: Filled 12th September 2021

E4 125L 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon: Filled 11th October 2021

E6 125L 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon: Filled 8th December 2021

2nd Stage:

E16 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Sherry Hogshead: E3 & E4 Reracked 23rd November 2022

E21 1st Fill Ex-Oloroso Sherry Hogshead: E1, E2 & E6 Reracked 28th February 2023

Marrying: 2nd Fill Ex-Oloroso Sherry Butt: E16 & E21 Reracked 23rd October 2024

I‘ve been lucky enough to follow how those developments affected the spirit till maturation. This first bottling is at 47% with no added colour and no chill-filtration. I asked why 47% as the chosen strength. They tried their final spirit at low 40s and 45% and decided there wasn‘t quite enough impact. Cask strength would have left them with much less liquid for bottling and they needed as much as possible at just the right strength to carry the flavour and character they wanted to showcase. So they tried 47% and it achieved just that. A bit like the Goldilocks story when the third porridge tasted just right!

My tasting notes for this first ever bottling are:

Appearance: Light amber / rich tawny with old gold and brass highlights. Tears fat and oily but swift at first and close. Then slower and stickier.

Nose: Fruity sweetness with sweet oak wood and some vanilla; sweet spices including a touch of ginger; candy floss and barley sugar. Plenty of toffee/caramel. Lightly earthy and some maltiness. Florals and light honey.

With water, waxy notes and more ginger. A flash of soft sulphur, citrus zest/oil and a little leather. Dried vine fruits and wood shavings.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel with a little viscosity. Initial sweetness and tongue-tingling pepperiness. Sweet and savoury spices; oak; a touch of caramel and malt. Ginger and clove heat. Honey and citrus zest with baked apple. A touch of pear drop sweets.

Finish: Medium length and lively. Candy sweetness and dried herb. Finishing dry with a back hint of malt, caramel and toasted oak.

I haven’t included them in these formal notes but on a second tasting I did get a note of good quality milk chocolate and green apple on the nose as well as a waft of mint on the palate – that latter will certainly be the bourbon influence. Despite the location of distillation and maturation I got no salt on the palate from this first expression.

I always like to leave the empty glass covered for a little while after nosing and then nose again. In this instance I got aromas of sweet toasted oak, vine fruits, caramelised orange and dark toffee.

If you’re intrigued by this one and have read this column before, you may recall that they pre-sold the first few hundred bottles online late last year, prior to this bottling. The final bottle tally was 820 so the remainder went on sale at 10a.m. on Wednesday morning and sold out in 12 minutes – yes, 12 minutes. The guys have held back ten bottles which will go to auction via Whisky Auctioneer from 31st January and 10% of profits will go to Tiree charities. I have no further involvement on future bottlings but will be following Tiree in all its spirit forms going forward.

Good news is that they have a rye whisky coming out in the summer so look out on their website at https://www.tyreegin.com (and click on the Whisky link) for news of that one. Also, you can visit them in spring and summer months.

That’s all from me for this time. I did my interview with Adam Hannett of Bruichladdich the day after this Tiree bottling so it will be written up for my next column later this month. He’s keen to get hold of a Tiree sample if they have any spare!

Meantime, happy dramming.

Slainte,

Caroline

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