House of Hazelwood Tastings; Duncan Taylor Gets Royal Approval; Loch Lomond Whiskies 50 Year Old.

Hello everyone

Some lovely samples kindly sent to me a short while ago but was advised they were under embargo so I‘ve had to hold over the column till today. There were four in total but I‘m looking at only the single grain whiskies this time. The two blends will be covered end of July. The samples come from House of Hazelwood 2024 Collection. The company is owned by the Gordon family of Glenfiddich fame and the Hazelwood ranges consist of very special older and rarer whiskies.

We‘re starting off here with The Silk Traveller Single Grain whisky from The Legacy Collection. It‘s 44 years old and is bottled at 47.6% abv. There are 212 bottles of this at £1,500 per bottle. No indication of distillery so I don‘t know if we can assume Girvan again.

Appearance: Bright barley gold with pale brass highlights. Tears swift but look quite oily.

Nose: Cake icing (frosting) sweetness. Some soft oak and vanilla and dried vine and stone fruits. Floral notes – orange blossom and light jasmine/ stocks. Sponge cake with sweet, soft cake spices. A touch of ginger syrup. With water, no real change that I could detect. A sweet and very attractive nose.

Palate: Slightly oily medium mouthfeel. Oak and vanilla; sweet stone fruit and pears. Quite mouth drying with a peppery tingle and hint of liquorice.

Finish: Medium – long. Oak and fruit sweetness but drying. Fruit and oak linger in the mouth.

Next one is The Old Ways 1972 Single Grain whisky at 50.1% abv from The Charles Gordon Collection. It was distilled at Girvan Distillery in Ayrshire and we‘re told that it‘s a heavier style no longer made there. Pity as this is delicious. Only 123 bottles have been produced and it‘s priced at around £3,500.

Appearance: Rich, old gold with brass highlights. Tears slow to form at first and very sticky. Quite widely spaced.

Nose: Warm and mellow; warm, sweet apple juice. Apricot fruit; quite sugary like Dolly Mixtures. Soft oak and vanilla and vanilla muffins/sponge cake. Soft toffee and golden syrup plus a dab of marzipan. With water, initially a touch flatter and less sweet though it all comes back in but with a drier, more pencil shaving note.

Palate: Slightly oily, unctuous mouth feel. A peach note leaps out – unexpected and quite dominant at first. Some astringency and not as sweet as on the nose.

Finish: Quite long with peach and dry spices; pencil shavings and green wood. A dry ending.

I‘d be delighted to drink either of these again, price being the only barrier. If you get the chance, try them. They‘re both excellent whiskies offering a luxurious and quite opulent drinking experience. All whiskies in these two ranges are available „…exclusively to order from www.houseofhazelwood.com and select luxury retailers. The 2024 Collection will be rolled out to international markets throughout 2024 including Germany, Italy, France, and Taiwan, with US and other parts of Asia to follow in 2025.“

I noticed in a recent daily newspaper online feed that Queen Camilla, in Edinburgh with the King to celebrate the 900th birthday of the City of Edinburgh, was given a sample of a 52 year old Macallan to try from Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Ltd., the independent bottler and blender based in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. She pronounced, „That hits the spot.“ She also waited for the King to have his dram alongside her reckoning, according to Kevin Alston the DT marketing manager, that he‘d not be too happy if she drank it without him. Great PR for Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky! DT have a number of carefully nurtured ranges including plenty of older and very rare drams which they have bottled when they believe their casks are ready to show the contents at their best. They do also include some award-winning blends and grains as well as malts. The list of awards is huge – find them all on their website at www.duncantaylor.com . There is a beautiful tasting room behind The Bank restaurant in the centre of town (where you can also see some of the beautiful bottlings on display) and which I have been privileged to visit but, unlike the restaurant, it‘s not open to the general public just to walk in. They do also offer private client sales.

While I‘m on the subject of Duncan Taylor, they recently launched two more rarities – very limited numbers –  to those who are Spirits Embassy members – A Lochside 60 Year Old and Miltonduff 41 Year Old and there‘s a members‘ ballot to acquire a bottle. The latter is a brand I had marketing charge of years ago while also looking after The Glendronach, Laphroaig and Tormore. It‘s a key part of the Ballantine‘s blend and still under the Pernod Ricard ownership. Like other distilleries, Miltonduff celebrates its 200th anniversary of legality this year and this bottling is tribute to it. Lochside which was in Montrose, on the coast between Dundee and Aberdeen, is a distillery long closed and, indeed, demolished but some precious liquid is still out there. Neither is a cheap buy if you‘re lucky in the ballot but, given the ridiculous pricing of some whiskies at these ages, they‘re bargains.

Loch Lomond Whiskies sent a release about a rare 50 year old whisky and „…is exclusively limited to 100 individually-numbered bottles worldwide. Distilled in 1973…using 100% unpeated malted barley, this distinctive single malt whisky has been aged in a combination of refilled American oak casks, first fill bourbon casks and Oloroso sherry hogsheads.“ Obviously no sample of something this rare but you can find out more about it and them on https://vimeo.com/975245387/e1e2a8f3f6?share=copy .

We‘re told that additional maturation in first fill bourbon casks came in 2011, followed by a re-cask in oloroso sherry hogsheads in 2017 which has, „…further enhanced the complexity of this elegant single malt“. The beautiful packaging, featuring copper touches, was crafted by Glencairn Crystal and, hidden in the wooden cabinet is a small 50ml sample and a book with all the background information on it.

It‘s non-chill filtered with no added colour and bottled at its cask strrength of 42.6% abv. If you want to purchase you have to do so via the Loch Lomond Whiskies online shop or highly specialist retailers in key markets globally (www.lochlomondwhiskies.com ) but you‘ll need a sizeable bank account for the £25,000 it costs. Their tasting notes are:

Nose: Refreshing orange and mint, sweet fruit of grilled peach and mango, nutmeg.

Palate: Beautiful depth of flavour, melted brown sugar, tangy orange marmalade and dark fruits, plum and cherry before creamy vanilla fudge and warming cinnamon spice.

Finish: Long, mouth-watering watermelon and kiwi with a grapefruit citrus edge, some green tea and lasting wood spice.

If any of you out there manage to try or acquire some do let me know if you agree with those notes. It sounds like a real fruit salad treat.

That‘s me for the middle of this month. I‘ll be back again at the end of July.

Until then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline