With this small B&W article/post www.whiskyintelligence.com has achieved a milestone of 2,000 articles/posts dedicated to all types of whisk(ey) since the launch in 2009.

Whisky Intelligence would like to take this opportunity to extend a sincere thank you to everybody who has contirbuted, encouraged, read, commented and supported this effort since inception.

Work continues apace on the next 2,000 articles & posts…

Please find below the some what tardy delivery of the Whisky Intelligence Tasting Notes/Whisky Reviews Scores for 2009. As you can appreciate W.I. has been mildy over tasked in 2010 posting hundreds and hundreds of articles relating to whisky.

This compilation is not in any regard an ‘Awards’ but merely a record from top to bottom of the whiskies reviewed in 2009. The vast majority have been purchased with private funds; a very few have been provided by agents or suppliers and are thus noted in the individual review. If you are curious to see which are the later, you may search through the Tasting Notes/Whisky Reviews archive and find them for yourself.

There is a distinct lack of neither rhyme nor reason in the compilation; they have merely been reviewed as they have come available. Some were new releases, some blends and some no longer available.

Additionally whiskies that have achieved an equal score (for example 88 points) have not been listed alphabetically merely to further demonstrate the lack of neither rhyme nor reason.

W.I. expects to publish the full 2010 Compilation in early 2011.

93 Dumbarton 42yo 1964/2007 (46.7%, Celtic Heartlands, 450 Bts.)
92 Bunnahabhain 37yo 1966 (40.3%, Bourbon, Murray McDavid for Willow Park Calgary, 186 Bottles)
91 Whyte & MacKay 30yo (40%, OB, +/- 2009)
90 Tamdhu 42yo (43.8%, Dewar Rattray for Calgary Co-op, HHD, C#6, 95 Bts., D01/’67 B03/’09)
90 Port Ellen 25yo 1982/2007 (57%, Signatory CS, refill sherry butt, C#2847, 417 Bts.,D11/’82 B12/’07)
90 Ardbeg 1990 ‘Airigh Nam Beist’ (46%, OB, 2006)
90 Bunnahabhain 31yo 1976/2008 (49.4%, Dewar Rattray, refill sherry butt, C#6223, 529 Bts.)
90 Laphroaig 18yo 1990/2008 (55%, Dewar Rattray, ‘Alberta’, C#2244, 265 Bts, 1st Fill Hogs Head)
90 Laphroaig 18yo (48%, OB, 2009)
90 Tullibardine 15yo 1992/2007 (46%, OB, C#737, Bourbon, Victoria Whisky Festival, 269 Bts)
89 Glen Grant 31yo 1976/2008 (58.6%, Douglas Laing Platinum Selection, Sherry, 196 Bts.12/’76 B02/’08)
89 Hazelburn 12yo (46%, OB, 12,000 Bts., 2009)
89 Isle of Arran 10yo 1998/2009 (57.7%, OB, ‘Sherry’, C#819, 319 Bts., D29/6/’98 B24/6/’09)
89 Glendronach 18yo (46%, OB, ‘Allardice’)
89 Mortlach 12yo 1994/2007 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, Ref#3554, 654 Bts., D07/’94 B05/’07)
89 Glenlivet 21yo (43%, G&M ‘George & J.G. Smith’)
89 Glen Elgin 12yo (43%, OB, +/- 2007)
88 Tullibardine 16yo 1993/2009 (54.5%, OB, for Kensington, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, C#15081, 332 Bts)
88 Springbank 10yo 1995/2006 (46%, The Alchemist, D12/’95 B01/’06)
88 Poit Dhub 8yo Unchilfiltered Gaelic Whisky (43%, OB, +/-2008)
88 McCarthy’s 3yo Oregon Single Malt (42.5%, OB, ‘Peated’, Batch #Wo9-01, B3/08/’09)
88 Laphroaig 10yo (40%, OB, +/-2007)
88 Classic of Islay 21yo (46%, Vintage Malt Whisky Company)
88 Glenallachie 11yo 1989/2001 (61.7%, Cadenhead’s, Bourbon HHD, 312 Bts.)
88 Balmenach 14yo (40%, The Inverarity Ancestral, Sherry cask)
88 Laphroaig 8yo 1998/2007 (46%, Douglas McGibbon & Co. Ltd Provenance, Cask #’s 3868 & 3869)
88 Bowmore 15yo Darkest (43%, OB, New presentation, 2007)
88 Port Charlotte 2001/2008 ‘PC7′ (61%, OB, Bourbon and Sherry casks, 24000 Bts.)
88 Benromach 1968/2007 (43%, OB)
88 Octomore 5yo (63.5%, Edition, 01.1,6000 Bottles, 2008)
88 An Cnoc 12yo (40%, OB, +/-2008)
88 Springbank 18yo (46%, OB, 2009)
88 The Whisky Exchange “Straight from the Cask” NAS Celebration 60.1% 50cl
88 Amrut NAS Cask Strength (61.9%, OB, Bottled Sept, 2007) Indian Single Malt Whisky
88 Linkwood 17yo 1990/2008 (55.5%, Signatory, Binny’s Beverage Depot, C#9724, Sherry Hogshead, 232 Bts)
88 Glen Grant 25yo (40%, G&M, +/-2008)
88 Bowmore 17yo 1991/2008 (55.9%, Dewar Rattray, West Coast Whisky Society, Sherry, C#2058, 206 Bottles)
87 Imperial 14yo 1994/2008 (46%, Duncan Taylor, Whisky Galore, Madeira)
87 Benromach 10yo (43%, OB, 2009)
87 Grant’s NAS ‘The Family Reserve’ (40%, OB, +/-2009)
87 Bowmore 10yo (55.3%, OB, Tempest Batch No.1, 2009)
87 Fettercairn 13yo (50%, DL OMC, Refill HHD, |C# 1327, 289 Bts., D03/91 B01/05)
87 Ben Nevis 8yo (43%, Duncan Taylor, Battlehill, +/-2009)
87 Ardbeg NAS ‘Supernova’ (58.9%, OB, Advance Committee Release, 2009)
87 Old Pulteney 12yo (40%, OB, +/-2008)
87 Ledaig 18yo 1990/2008 (43%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, Refill sherry)
87 BenRiach 15yo (46%, OB, Madeira, +/-2008)
87 Glenmorangie ASTAR NAS (57.1%, OB, +/-2008)
87 Aberlour NAS A’bunadh Batch #23 (60.2%, OB, +/- 2008)
87 Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America Balmenach 17yo 55.8% Distilled April 1989 Bottled May 2006 Society Cask 48.8
86 Rosebank 18yo 1990/2008 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, Refill Butt, C#4655, 672 Bts)
86 Kilchoman NAS (46%, OB, Inaugural Release, 2009)
86 Bruichladdich 2001/2008 ‘Resurrection’ (46%, OB, Bourbon, 24000 Bts.)
86 Balvenie 12yo (40%, Signature batch No. 001, +/-2008)
86 Tobermory 11yo 1995/2007 (59.9%, Dewar Rattray, Bourbon, C#1161, 155 Bts.)
86 Glentauchers 12yo 1994/2007 (50%, DL OMC, HHD, C#3364, 354 Bts)
86 Finlaggan NAS Islay ‘Old Reserve’ (40%, Vintage Malt Whisky Co, +/-2008)
86 Clynelish 10yo 1996/2006 (59.7%, Dewar Rattray, Cask#8251, Refill Sherry, 577 Bottles)
86 Springbank 11yo 1997/2009 ‘Madeira Wood’ (55.1%, OB, 9,090 Bts.)
86 Benriach 12yo 1994/2007 (46%, Signatory, C#1692+93, 747 Bts)
86 Balblair Vintage 1989/2007 (43%, OB)
86 Tomintoul 14yo (46%, OB, 2009)
86 Longmorn 16yo (48%, OB, +/-2008) Lot 2008/05/12 12:22 LW30509
86 Glencadam 10yo (46%, OB, +/- 2009)
85 Mortlach 18yo 1990/2009 (46%, Coopers Choice, Sherry, C#4421, 726 Bts.)
85 Kilkerran NAS ‘Work in Progress’ (46%, OB, 2009)
85 Imperial 9yo (43%, Duncan Taylor, Battlehill, +/-2008)
85 MacLeod’s Isle of Skye 8yo (43%, Ian MacLeod, +/-2009, 750ml)
85 Clynelish 11yo 1994/2005 (46%, Murray McDavid, Bourbon/Viognier, 1800 Bts.)
85 Isle of Arran 4yo 2004/2008 (59.8%, OB, Peated, Bourbon, C#103, 225 Bts.)    
85 Balblair Vintage 1997/2007 (43%, OB)
84 Dewar’s NAS (40%, OB, “White Label”, +/- 2009)
84 Bruichladdich 19yo 1989/2009 (51.1%, ‘Black Art’, 6000 Bts.)
84 Tomintoul 12yo (40%, OB, Oloroso, +/- 2008)
84 Macallan 8yo 1998/2007 (46%, Douglas Laing Provenance, ref#3837 + 3838)
84 Black Grouse NAS (40%, OB, 2008)
84 Benriach 12yo ‘Arumaticus Fumosus’ (46%, OB, Peated Jamaican Dark Rum Finish, 1740 Bts.)
84 Miltonduff 8yo (43%, Duncan Taylor, Battlehill)
84 Tullibardine 21yo 1987/2008 (54.6%, OB, for Kensington, Refill Sherry Hogs Head, C#632, 191 Bottles)
83 Port Ellen 23yo 1982/2005 (46%, DL Provenance, C#1754, Sherry, D04/’84 B05/’05)
83 Springbank 13yo 1995/2008 (55.4%, MMcD Mission, Bourbon/Lafite, 282 Bts.)
83 Dalmore 12yo (40%, OB, +/-2009)
83 Finlaggan NAS Islay ‘Cask Strength’ (58%, Vintage Malt Whisky Co, +/-2008)
83 Adelphi 22yo 1985 ‘Breath of the Highlands’ (55.2%, Adelphi, C#1066, 159 Bottles.)
83 Bruichladdich 10yo 1998/2008 (46%, OB, ‘Manzanilla’)
83 Tobermory 10yo, 1995/2005 (46%, Murray McDavid, Fresh Sherry, 2400 Bottles)
83 Isle of Arran 10yo 1998/2008 (57.5%, OB, Bourbon, C#678, 216 Bts.)    
83 Mortlach 25yo 1979/2005 (46%, Coopers Choice)
83 Port Ellen 24yo 1982/2007 (60.6%, Dewar Rattray, Sherry, C#2466, 188 Bottles)
82 Whyte & Mackay NAS ‘Special’ (40%, OB, “Double Marriage Blend”+/-2009)
82 Macallan 14yo 1991/2005 (46%, The Alchemist, D04/’99 B07/’05)
82 Linkwood 23yo 1983/2006 (52.1%, Murray McDavid Mission Gold, Madeira casks fin., 700 Bts.)
82 Royal Lochnagar 12yo 1996/2008 (40%, OB, Distillers Edition, RL/96-8S “Old Muscat”)
82 Coleburn 1981/2006 (43%, G&M, Connoisseurs Choice, ‘Map Label’)
82 Strathisla 48yo 1960/2008 (43%, G&M)
82 Isle of Arran 12yo (46%, OB, +/- 2008)
82 Singleton of Glendullan 12yo (40%, OB, 750ml, 2008)
80 Bell’s NAS ‘Original’ (40%, OB, +/-2009)
80 Glenfiddich 12yo ‘Caoran Reserve’ (40%, OB, +/-2003)
80 Highland Park 10yo 1997/2007 (46%, Duncan Taylor, NC2)
80 Tobermory 12yo 1995/2007 (46%, Duncan Taylor Whisky Galore)
80 Ardmore NAS ‘Traditional Casks’ (46%, OB, peated, finished in quarter casks, +/-2008)
80 Auchentoshan 8yo (43%, Duncan Taylor, Battlehill, +/- 2008)
79 Auchroisk 15yo 1992/2007 (46%, MMcD, Bourbon/Syrah, 2050 Bts.)
78 Glenturret 13yo 1993/2006 (56.4%, Dewar Rattray, C#172, 311 Bottles.)
77 Allt A’Bhainne 15yo 1992 (46%, MMcD, Bourbon, 350 Bts., +/-2007)
76 Clynelish 9yo 1997/2006 (46%, Coopers Choice)
76 Ardbeg NAS ‘Blasda’ (40%, OB, lightly peated, 2008)
76 Deanston 12yo 46.3% Un-chill filtered Official Bottling
75 Tobermory 10yo (40%, OB, +/-2008)
72 Glenrothes 13yo 1994/2007 (46%, Signatory, Refill Sherry, C#1086, 780 Bts)
68 Tamnavulin 12yo 1994/2007 (46%, DL Provenance, HHD Ref# 3362 & 3363)

As many of you have noticed we now have a direct feed, located on the upper right hand corner of the home page, to www.whiskyfun.com by Serge Valentin and Serge has very kindly done  the same thing on Whisky Fun reproducing the feed from Whisky Intelligence.

Here at Whisky intelligence we’re very pleased with this new whisky opportunity for our readers…..

And you may also have noticed the absence of tasting notes during the last 10 days or so, this will continue for the next little while due to the fact that there is a serious lack of suitable material on the Hawaiin island of Maui! Having said that, it must be noted that WI does have some interest in Scoresby Very Rare Blended Scotch Whisky aged 36 months which is in most liquor stores here and simply must be investigated at some point!

Things will return to normal the middle of February…….

WI

Whisky Intelligence is celebrating Christmas with family and a few drams and would like to take the opportunity to wish the myriad of WI readers a Merry Christmas and may all your drams come true! Whisky Intelligence will be back at full cask strength after Christmas and Boxing Day (depending on the availability of whisky news!).

Merry Christmas!

WI

(A message from our good friends at Rare Drams)

Master blender Keith Law talks about pairing food and whisky…

People have a very divided opinion over pairing food with whisky and most people find it hard to envisage a whisky and food match. Personally, I think a blended scotch whisky can match certain foods and dishes excellently and the array of flavours found in blended whisky can bring out and define a food’s taste.

Many articles about pairing whisky and food talk about single malts, however I like to remind people that blended whiskies offer a perfect alternative.

I feel that people have missed an opportunity not to drink blended whiskies with food mainly because it is something they never thought about trying before. The truth is that blended Scotch whisky when drunk neat or sometimes slightly “longer” than usual with water can make a great alternative to wine and really emphasise the flavours of certain foods and dishes.

Matching whisky with food takes some experimentation and experience to get it right. But if you stick to simple foods it can be a real eye opener.

In general, dishes with extreme flavours that generally do not match easily with some wines work well with blended whisky. Tapas, Asian dishes and particularly seafood combine well with some of the lighter less peaty blends such as Buchanan’s and J&B.

Desserts and after dinner courses work well with blended whisky too. Johnnie Walker Gold Label served “frozen” (at least 24 hours in the freezer please!) can give an indulgent taste sensation when served “straight” with dark chocolate desserts.

To finish off a meal a smoky, rich blend such as Johnnie Walker Black Label goes nicely with a cheese platter.

In the past I have experienced some unusual combinations of blended Scotch whisky and food  – How many of you have attended a Burns Supper and saw people pouring some whisky over their Haggis?  It just works!

So in many cases choosing foods to match blended Scotch whisky is very much down to personal preference and experimentation is the key. So keep educating your palate and have fun trying out new combinations. Enjoy!

www.diageo.com

This article was first published in July 2008 and is here with permission of the author.

Funny thing tradition. Seems to mean different things to different people. Finishing, for example, is ‘traditional’ despite being an innovation which started in the 1990s. Making malt whisky in a column still isn’t traditional despite having been a technique used since the 19th century. Let me explain.
Two weeks ago, Loch Lomond Distillers asked the SWA to consider creating a new category for malt whisky made in continuous stills. As it makes such a product this seems worthy of debate. The SWA rejects this, as the technique “does not …reflect traditional Scotch Whisky distillation and practice.”
This strikes me as strange. Historical records show that so-called ‘Silent Malt’ was widely made in the 19th century. Cameronbridge, Yoker and Glenmavis distilleries all produced such a spirit and there’s evidence that the practise was common elsewhere. In 1913, Nettleton refers to: “Patent-still all-malt whisky, as made at one or two distilleries, may claim the title ‘whisky’ with the qualifying description.”  Neither was the technique restricted to the 19th century. George Christie produced this type of whisky from a continuous still at his North of Scotland distillery until the 1960s and, obviously, Loch Lomond continues to do so. Both Irish Distillers and Nikka are currently making whiskies of this style.. outwith the Scotch Whisky Act of course, but evidence that this isn’t just a one-off. Coffey Malt may be unusual, but it has solid historical precedent. 
I wrote to the SWA for clarification and they, speedy and polite as ever, responded, highlighting a sub-clause in the new regulations which states that malt whisky can only be made in pot stills, a change from the current regs.
What then, I wonder idly, is the legal definition of a pot? Is a Lomond still, for example a pot? Is a pot still with a rectifying column attached a pot? “We’ve looked at them,” came the response, “and they’re considered to be pots. Loch Lomond is however producing from column stills and that’s outwith the new regulations.” They then added that though Loch Lomond will have to call its product grain whisky, it would be allowed to state on the label that it was made from 100% malted barley. Reasonable enough?

Well.. maybe we should read on:

“Patent stills have been used since the mid 19th century – what is not traditional is that Scotch Whisky produced from such a still should be described and/or sold to customers as Single Malt Scotch Whisky [which is] a recognised trade description with a particular reputation. Whether or not Mr Christie distilled a malt mash in a continuous still in 1960 and whether or not such a practice was known in the 19th century is neither here nor there.
“But for the new Regulations, the fact that some of the ‘Single Malt’ being distilled by Loch Lomond since 2005 is from a continuous still would never have become public – it certainly isn’t mentioned on their web-site. The new Regulations are needed to prevent precisely this sort of thing going on behind the scenes.
“The requirement to adhere to traditional practice arises out of EU Regulations, hence the use of the term. Just because something has happened a couple of times in the past does not make it a traditional means of producing Single Malt Scotch Whisky in 2008.”
 
Is this double-think? The EU requires you to adhere to traditional practise, but despite this having been a technique used continuously (pardon the pun) since the 19th century it isn’t traditional? This production technique didn’t happen ‘once or twice’, but was an accepted practise which, though not widely used, was and still is part and parcel of the making of Scotch Whisky.  In other words it is part of the tradition.
Given this, there is greater historical precedent in the distillation of 100% malted barley in a patent/column still than there is around finishing. I can find no reference in any historical documents about distillers using Sauternes casks (etc) in the production of their whiskies. I can however find plenty of evidence of them making ‘Coffey malt!’ If tradition is to be used a legal grounding for these regulations then it must be used in a consistent and equable fashion. That isn’t the case here. 

The SWA also argued that one reason for rejecting Loch Lomond’s submission was that “one of the aims is to produce a lighter spirit which matures more quickly.  You can imagine the implications for small traditional malt whisky distilleries if such a product was able to use the Single Malt description.”
Now, “quicker-maturing” whisky has been the holy grail of every distiller (or at least their accounts departments) for decades. If distillers find a way of creating a mature whisky at 3 years of age then what is to stop them? Or is this suggesting that single malt should have a different minimum age? Are the 3yo malts used in blends not mature?
It’s an open secret that experiments are ongoing to try and find ways of accelerating the interactive process. The fact that continuous stills might make a quicker maturing whisky can’t be an argument for not allowing the “Coffey Malt”.
 
It transpires however that the real reason for the rejection of the 6th definition might be down to finance. “Installing a continuous still in an existing Single Malt distillery is for all intents and purposes a shortcut to increase capacity without the expense of installing new pot stills. (We understand, for example, that the single continuous still used by Loch Lomond for distilling malt mash has an output equivalent to six pot stills.)” So, the reason this was rejected was because it saved money? The SWA logic was that if Coffey Malt could be defined as a single malt then all distillers would scrap their pots, install columns and make this lighter variation on the theme. Fact is, Loch Lomond didn’t want to call their malt single malt whisky, which would potentially cause confusion, but wanted a new designation for this specific method of production.

I felt obliged to ask whether the SWA’s remit now extended to controlling firms’ financial decisions? “The simple answer is no. We are not making any attempt to control financial decisions and, as you are aware, we cannot do so. There is nothing to stop the building of patent stills and distilling a malt mash in them. Our point is the resultant spirit cannot be described as Single Malt Scotch Whisky for reasons explained.” But that’s not what was said and the logic behind the other reasons [ie the lack of tradition etc] strike me as being fundamentally flawed.
 
This one will run.

http://www.maltmaniacs.org/ADHD/mm-db.html

Further comment on the subject can be viewed at:

http://www.whiskyintelligence.com/2009/08/gauntleys-whisky-newsletter-no36-july-2009/

WI will be absent for a few days, a few posts featuring tasting notes will pop up, back into the swing of things this coming Friday.

Slainte.