Scottish Islands and Thailand on Taste; A New Epicurean

Hello everyone

Wherever you are on the planet, I hope the weather has been kind to you of late. I‘m not long back from a trip to Paris where we sweltered for a few days and had fierce rain with a bit of heat for two before going back to sunshine. Not conducive to whisky drinking so I stuck to wine. Our British Meteorological Office tells us the heat and more rain we‘re getting here will be the new norm going forward so we‘ll need to have a think about what that does for barley cultivation/varieties and water for making whisky. Especially if you think about Islay where new distilleries have been springing up like mushrooms for the last several years with more to come. Not to mention the large numbers of gin distilleries which have appeared everywhere for some years now. A subject for a future column. For this time, I have a few new launches to talk about.

The first whisky I want to cover is the new Rock Island 16 Year Old Sherry Edition, the latest in this range of island blended malts from Douglas Laing. The whiskies come from distillereis on Orkney, Arran, Jura and Islay. Following on from the 14 Year Old Sherry Edition from 2023 this further version has been matured for an additional two years in sherry casks. It‘s not chill-filtered and nor does it have any added colour.

Appearance: Bright barley gold; mature white burgundy / pale brass highlights. Tears fairly slow to form and quite sticky.

Nose: Surprisingly, alcohol first when I tried it. Then soft, ripe stone and melon fruits. Subtle peat smoke. Quite mellow. Some oak and coal tar soap plus a little spiciness. With water, a little waxy at first. Then spiciniess returns with the gentle smokiness, roasted barley grains and some roasted, salted peanuts + salted potato crisps.

Palate: Medium mouth feel – slightly viscous. Peat smoke and citrus bitterness. Some salt, oak, vanilla and tannins. A touch of nuttiness. Quite light for its years.

Finish: Quite long with peat smoke plus a touch of char. Mouth drying.

This will be available from good whisky specialists and online for around £75.00 / €90.00 across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. Definitely worth buying for the comparison with its predecessor if you still have some.

The second whisky for this time is a novelty for me – it‘s from Thailand. Three single malt whiskies have been released by International Beverage (parent company of Inver House Distillers who own Old Pulteney, An Cnoc, Hankey Bannister and Cardrona amongst other brands, under the name of the Prakaan Distillery. They were in domestic and Asian markets last year and this year‘s focus is the UK, France and Germany with others, including the US, to follow later on. The whiskies, called the Tribura Series, came out in the UK in June but the samples arrived ony a short time ago. I was assured these would taste nothing like a terrrible example of Thai whisky I tried years ago. I‘ve had time to try only the one of the three so far – Prakaan and am relieved to say it was nothing like that previous one.

The one I‘ve tried so far is Prakaan Select Cask at 43% abv and matured solely in ex-bourbon wood.

Appearance: Warm, sunshine gold; pale brass highlights. Tears fairly slow at first but soon much quicker to form and quite close.

Nose: Soft ith some light pear fruit and citrus. No overt wood notes. Sweet yet a little bit bland with a young alcohol note. Lightly floral. With water, a little flatter at first but left a few minutes a more zesty note returnsalong with melted wax. Light sponge cake before it goes in the oven. A touch of butter and that light aromatic floral again.

Palate: Quite citrus zesty and lightly peppery. Slightly mouth coating. A very light wood note and some green plant touches. All in all, a bit lacking in falvour for me. More on the nose than on palate.

Finish: Short – medium length, slightly drying and green notes.

On first run, I found this a bit underwhelming on palate but there‘s enough left to have another try in case my post-Paris aircon throat affected things. I‘ll let you know because I‘m also looking forward to trying the Double Cask and Peated Malt expressions and to doing a comparison amongst the three as well as saying a bit more about the distillery.

The last whisky this time is a new expression of The Epicurean Lowland Blended Malt from Douglas Laing & Co. Gosh, haven‘t they been busy recently. This is The Epicurean Three Wood Finish, a limited-edition of 1,920 bottles of this Lowland at 54.1% abv. True to their usual form this is another NCF/NAC whisky.

It‘s usually a very palatable dram but no sample available at the moment so their own notes say: „…three distinct wood types unite to create a Whisky of remarkable depth and character:

• Virgin Oak introduces bold spice and toasted richness.
• Bourbon casks add smooth layers of vanilla and honey’d sweetness.
• Sherry casks impart a luxurious fruitiness and mellow warmth.

Nose: Bright citrus, vanilla cream and toasted oak, with honeyed sweetness and hints of dried fruit and nutty spice.

Palate: Silky and layered with vanilla, baking spice, baked apple and golden syrup. Rich sherry fruit adds depth and warmth.

Finish: Long, smooth and gently spiced with lingering notes of toffee, dark fruits and a soft oak.“

My kind of flavour profile. Expect to find this one at around £65 or Euro 77.

That‘s us for now but I‘ll be back by the end of the month with more words on the Thai whiskies and whatever else of interest comes by.

Till then, happy dramming.

Slainte mhath,

Caroline