One of One 2025; Two More Thai Whiskies; Lochranza Turns 30

Hello everyone

Well, one trip to a classic car show and drives down some tiny Yorkshire lanes for me since last time. Sadly, no whisky bars to speak of in the area where I was. I have also had time to try the other two Thai whiskies in the trilogy sent to me, one of which I wrote about last time.

First off, though, news has come out since last column about this year‘s One of One auction (held every two years) where whisky companies create a bespoke piece or offering for the auction to raise funds for the Youth Action Fund charity, helping young people in Scotland with education and training. This year‘s event on 10th October will again be held at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh.

The list thus far is 15 of the 40 items to be auctioned and they are: Port Ellen 200th Anniversary Release; The Glen Grant Eternal 77 Year Old; The Glenlivet Spira; Aberlour – The Mouth of the Chattering Burn; The Glendronach – Arias in Time (4 whiskies); Laphroaig Capsule (40 Year Old); Gordon & MacPhail‘s Benromach and The Cairn; Dragon in Clouds – Kandoblanc; Ladyburn One of One 2025 – featuring a label picture of Marilyn Monroe by photgrapher Sam Shaw; House of Hazelwood and Savile Row BespokeTailoring and Whisky Experience (resulting in 12 bottles of older whiskies and a tailor made jacket); Old Pulteney Polaris; The Last Drop Private Blending Experience; Royal Brackla 54 Year Old; Aberfeldy 49 Year Old Single Cask; Rare Find The Age of Change – Gleann Mor (three whiskies all over 30 years old). However, I received more info on the Old Pulteney Polaris from owners, International Beverage.

Old Pulteney Polaris (taking its name from the North Star) is a 47-year- old expression of this North Sea adjacent distillery in Wick and is its oldest ever release. This beautiful offering is valued between £26,000 and £40,000, the bottle being „…encased in a stunning sculpture of Caithness slate and silver, which are both naturally found in the Distillery’s windswept coastal home in the far north of Scotland, with an additional enhancement of a secret copper disc at the base of the structure which has been carefully reclaimed from Pulteney Distillery’s stills.“ The bottle was designed and crafted by Glasstorm in Tain, also in the north of Scotland. International Beverage go on to say, „Old Pulteney Polaris has been carefully matured for four decades in American oak casks with a final seven years spent resting in a single first-fill Spanish oak butt. Selected for its elegantly complex and perfectly balanced character, this exceptional whisky boasts complex aromas of sea spray that the Maritime Malt is renowned for. On the palate, delicate vanilla and sweet cinnamon pastry come to the fore with a smooth, fine-textured taste featuring Scottish tablet and dark chocolate, ending with a finish of clotted cream. A 1.5 litre bottle with an ABV of 43.6%, the lot will include a 100ml tasting sample.”

Old Pulteney Distillery will celebrate its 200th anniversary next year when we are told there will be, „an exciting programme of new releases.“ So already something to look forward to in 2026. Meanwhile this packaging is a stunner and I hope it does well in the auction in October as, indeed, we hope for all of them raising funds for such a great cause.

Well, as mentioned above, I‘ve nosed and tasted the other two Thai whiskies in the Prakaan range – Prakaan Tribura Series Double Cask and the Peated Malt, both at 43% abv. We‘re told that Prakaan Distillery is „…in the province of Kamphaeng Phet, which sits within Thailand’s northerly Western Forest Complex – part of a vast, unspoiled UNESCO World heritage site. The area’s rich natural resources and hot, humid climate…provide the perfect conditions for making premium whisky with a distinctive Thai character. This unique setting also inspires the name, with PRAKAAN translating as ‘wall’ or ‘fort’, in tribute to the remains of an ancient wall which once surrounded Kamphaeng Phet, and stood strong in Thailand’s defence through the centuries. The whisky PRAKAAN’s inaugural single malts have been named ‘The Tribura Series’ – inspired by the wall’s three fortified layers and representing the Thai history, provenance and passion… Crafted with the region’s pure, high quality spring water, PRAKAAN’s sustainable, state of the art distillery features two large 30 – 50,000 cask underground warehouses, designed to carefully control maturation in the warm, humid climate. Here the spirit is matured in a mix of American Oak Ex-bourbon casks and Spanish Oak Ex-sherry casks.“

My favourite of the three is probably the Double Cask and my tasting notes are:

Appearance: Rich, barley gold with light brass highlights. White rim. Tears fairly swift and close together.

Nose: Sweet and fruity – sultanas; baked apples. Light floral and creamy notes. Oak and spice plus a touch of vanilla custard. Light barley sugar but the nose fades quite quickly. With water, it‘s a little simpler at first. The sweetness and creaminess remains but with more fresh apple notes and a little more oak coming through. Slight toasted oak and a fleeting touch of muscat but, again, the nose fades quite soon.

Palate: A pleasant, medium mouth feel with some viscosity. Even diluted, it‘s quite peppery and is bottled at a standard 43% to start with. Oak tannins and spices. A touch of waxiness on the palate. Seems young and fairly uncomplicated. I can taste alcohol. Mouth drying herbs and not much fruit.

Finish: Medium length, oak and dried herbs.

I won‘t do full notes for their Peated Malt but the initial smoke note is sweet and made me wonder about the peat source whether mainland peatlands or more maritime. I‘m guessing the former but don‘t know if it‘s local forest peat or imported. A little barbecued / griddled fruit comes through, with water added, to join the smoke and embers already there but like the other bottlings the nose fades a bit. No viscosity on the palate but peat smoke and some licorice, oak and black pepper. Again, not very complex but there is a long, smoky finish.

There‘s no age indication on these bottlings but I‘d like them to have been in cask rather longer to develop more complexity. All would make good single malt cocktail bases as they are. Their notes mention tropical fruits quite a lot but I‘m not getting that. I‘d say a good start but in need of more maturation time and would love to try them again with more ageing. Their website at https://prakaanmaltwhisky.com is well worth a look.

A release in from Isle of Arran Distillers recently to remind us all that their Lochranza Distillery is celebrating 30 years of fine whisky production. I still think of it as a newbie. It is of course, the older sister of the company‘s Lagg Distillery also on Arran and it‘s still a small, independent company. To mark this occasion they are offering only 30 new fill Palo Cortado sherry casks. These will be filled on 15th August, exactly 30 years after their first ever cask was filled in 1995. I‘ve visited on several occasions and had conversations with chief execs, management and distillers old and more recent and it‘s such a charming place to see with plenty of delicious whisky offerings over the years. They‘ve never been shy of cask experimentation either.

Price of these 30 casks, bound to be sought after as Arran is one of the few doing direct cask sales, will be £7,250 each. That price includes 10 years of insurance and storage. Each cask will bear an unique commemorative stencil. The distillery manager, Stewart Bowman, is really enthusiastic, commenting, “We’ve just received these wonderful casks from Spain, and the quality of the wood is outstanding. It’s a real privilege to have such special casks in our warehouse. I’m genuinely excited to see how the classic Arran Single Malt flavours will evolve into a fine, complex, and truly exceptional dram.” For those unfamiliar with palo cortado it starts akin to fino sherry as it begins its development under flor but loses this earlier so it also develops a richer character though still quite dry, certainly in my experience.  The Consejo Regulador de Jerez (sherry authority) describes it as, „A wine of great complexity which combines the delicate bouquet of an Amontillado with the body and palate of an Oloroso.“ If you want more information on this Arran cask offer or to register to buy then visit www.arranwhisky.com/our-distillery/buy-a-whisky-cask/30th-Anniversary-Cask-Offer .

Well, that’s us done for July. I’m lucky enough to be out doing some awards judging in August and very much looking forward to see what the finalists have to offer. Back with you all at some point in August

Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline