The Scots Magazine has a new whisky columnist, she is Penny Ellis and she’s a director of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival ( http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/ ) She also runs the Knockomie Hotel ( http://www.knockomie.co.uk/ ) in Forres with her husband Gavin.
The Knockomie Hotel
Canadian Club 1.75L…$16.99
Canadian LTD 1.75L…$11.99
Dewar’s White Label 1.75L $27.99
Jim Beam Bourbon 1.75L…$21.99
Johnnie Walker Black Label…$25.99
Johnnie Walker Black Label 1.75L…$49.99
Johnnie Walker Red Label 1.75L…$27.99
Knob Creek Bourbon…$24.99
Seagram’s Crown Royal…$19.99
Prices valid w/Binny’s Card September 1 through September 7, 2010. Not responsible for misprints or typographical errors.
Sizes 750ml unless otherwise stated. Advertised items limited to quantities on hand.
Don’t forget to use your Binny’s Card!
Get discounts on mixed case wine purchases and work towards a 2% rebate on every $500 of eligible purchases. Get your free card at a Binny’s near you.
Visit Binny’s at www.binnys.com
Grant’s blends have recently scooped some top prizes at three major wine and spirit competitions.
Golds at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, 2010
This is the oldest and most prestigious competition of its kind. There were entries from over 150 countries and with blind tasting, judges chose purely on merit. Our awards included:
Grant’s Ale Cask – Gold Best In Class
Grant’s 12 Year Old – Gold
Grant’s 18 Year Old – Gold
Golds at the Scotch Whisky Masters, 2010
With over 150 top Scotch whiskies battling it out for honours, we were especially pleased to come away with 15 major medals including:
Grant’s 12 Year Old – Gold
Grant’s 18 Year Old – Gold
Golds at the International Spirits Challenge 2010
This massive contest attracted over 1,000 contenders from all over the world. We were very proud to win 5 medals including:
Grant’s Sherry Cask – Gold
Grant’s 18 Year Old – Gold
These awards are a real tribute to our craftsmen. Brian Kinsman, our Master Blender, puts it perfectly:
“The skills and dedication that go into the making of our whiskies is reflected in the medals won. We still use some of the same techniques as William Grant did when he first started the company back in 1886.”
Visit Grant’s at www.grantswhisky.com
The Spirit Drinks – “A Recipe for Success?”
The new Glenglassaugh Spirit Drinks were officially launched at Bramble Bar in Edinburgh on Thursday August 26th, 2010.
These drinks are truly innovative, demonstrating how colour, nose and taste all develop as spirit matures in cask. However their real difference is that each one is a fantastic drink in its own right and can be drunk straight or long with a mixer and ice or as a cocktail.
Bramble Bar has been voted one of the top cocktail bars in the world and the team are extremely creative, having developed a number of cocktails in past years. Last year they created “The New Yorker Re-visted” using “The Spirit Drink that dare not speak its name”, which is featured on their exclusive cocktail list. This year they surpassed themselves and they created a signature cocktail for each of the four Spirit Drinks.
Each of the cocktails are different and builds upon the base flavours in the specific Spirit Drink to create a unique drink, the list includes “Peated Julep”, “Fledgling Sour”, “Clearac Manhattan” and “New Yorker Revisited” . Having tried them all I find it hard to say which is my favourite, but to allow you the opportunity to try them as well, and to form your own opinion, we will be making the recipes available shortly.
A number of well kent faces were in attendance and I can confirm that they all left with big smiles on their faces.
Slange
Stuart
Visit Glenglassaugh Distillery at www.glenglassaugh.com
It has been a lovely summer, indeed, one which has given our team ample relaxation to recharge our internal batteries as well as our psyches for a busy and exciting fall season to come. We are very excited about the upcoming Single Malt and Scotch Whisky Extravaganza fall tour, and hope to see you at one of these events. We are also pleased to announce that several members’ tastings are being scheduled in other cites around the country. Please look for forthcoming date announcements on our website and invitations in the mail so that you can enjoy Society whiskies and a guest distillery in these member gatherings.
We’ve selected five diverse Society whiskies for you in this Outturn, our last issue for the summer. These selections from the Highlands, Speyside and Campbeltown will delight your palate. From the Highlands, we offer Society Cask No. 59.39, a 16 year old aged in a refill hogshead and filled with treacle toffee and hot fudge sundae flavours. Also available is Society Cask No. 39.75 which matured 13 years in a first fill sherry butt. Its flavours include Cuban coffee, cedar cigar boxes, limes and barbequed pork with a pineapple glaze. Society Cask No. 37.46, one of the Classic Malts, is a 10 year old from a refill hogshead and bursts with banana, caramel and sherbet. It is a delightful aperitif. Lastly, from Campbeltown’s most well known and respected distillery is Society Cask No. 27.79 which matured for 19 years in a refill Bourbon barrel. Presenting an unusual cherry nose and chocolate covered cherries with Milky Ways bars on the palate, this whisky is “yummy!”
The President’s Choice for this Outturn is Society Cask No. 2.77. Having spent 21 years in a refill sherry butt, its initial flavours are fruity & citrus. The finish combines deep rich dark chocolate and zesty grapefruit.
Enjoy your Society whiskies this summer in good health and moderation.
Best regards,
Alan Shayne, President
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America, Ltd.
The Malt Maniacs have inducted kidnapped a new member; Rich Howard of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota into the cult team.
Visit the Malt Maniacs at www.maltmaniacs.org
Rich lost in the warehouses at Bowmore
The Whisky Guild held its annual “Whisky on the Hudson” tasting and dinner cruise in New York City the other night, with more than 900 people on hand to taste dozens of whiskies. I’ll have some of the highlights on this week’s episode, including a visit to The Balvenie’s Warehouse 24 room and chats with some of the U.S. microdistillers on hand. In the news, a new peated Glenmorangie, 10 single casks from BenRiach, a new Macallan 1824 Collection expression, and an update on the “Water of Life” Drive for Charity: Water.
Visit WhiskyCast & listen to episode #276 at www.whiskycast.com
The ebay auction Item Number 300456699703 featuring Bottle No1 of 222 bottles taken from cask No. 6966, a 28 yo hogshead of Inchgower distilled on the 30th of June 1982 and bottled on the 5th of August 2010 at cask strength 50.7% abv has ended.
The bottle sold for £370
The bottling process has been recorded for posterity in one of Ralfy’s famous UTube videos and the proceeds will go to a local old folks charity in Wigtown (a very old Wigtown Charity called the Wigtown Players who provide Christmas dinner for old folk).
It was bottled by the lads at Bladnoch Distillery and to view the bottling process at Bladnoch visit; http://whiskyreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/bladnoch-forum-bottling-factory.html
Whisky Intelligence has reproduced (with permission) The Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter for August 2010, the author, Chris Goodrum, has some excellent insights of whisky, which makes for excellent reading on a Sunday. However W.I. has carefully excised any mention of r*m or V*dk*. The full newsletter can be viewed on the Gauntleys website.
Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter
Well it’s that time of the year again. The Independent Bottlers Challenge, and I have a box full of Islay samples sitting on my kitchen work top waiting for me to pass judgement upon. So a report on that should be in the next newsletter. This month’s news is that I’ve been writing an article, which I have submitted to the whisky Magazine for Publication. As Rob Allanson the editor is currently touring Scotland picking up samples for their next bottling it may be some time before I find out if they are going to publish it. So in the mean time I will kick off the newsletter with said article, which I think is pretty ground breaking, even if I do say so myself.
Tasting wise I have reviewed some of Dewar Rattray’s and Raymond Armstrong’s latest bottlings. It was interesting to see that Raymond has bottled a few casks from the more obscure distilleries, such as Balmenach, whose current owners Inver House Distillers don’t appear to have released an official bottling. This is probably down to the fact that when they purchased the distillery from United Distillers, no maturing whisky was included in the deal. He has also bottled an Inchgower and a Teaninich, which are only offered as part of the Diageo ‘Flora and Fauna’ series, although a ‘Managers Choice’ bottling of Teaninich was released recently.
I have also tasted both the 2010 and 2009 World Whiskies of the year, those being the Ardbeg Corryvreckan (Second Release) and the 20 year old Yoichi, with mixed results it has to be said. Also reviewed as promised in the last newsletter is the Glengyle ‘Kilkerran WIP 2’.
Also there is a review of an interesting Tobermory and Highland Park tasting. The aim of which was to see if Tobermory could do a ‘Tulli’. That is being promoted from the axis of evil – scroll down to see the answer! With regard to the Highland Park tasting the aim was to see if my theory that it really needs some sherry cask in order to impart some character as I have said many times in the past was true. So was Bourbon oaked Highland Park lacking? The results were rather interesting!
So without further ado I give you……………… fanfare please!!!!!!!!!
THE HUNT FOR SPEYSIDE
So where is the Speyside region? On the face of it, this may seem like a really silly question. We all know where it is right? Well no actually! It has come to my attention that there is no consensus of opinion as far as whisky books go as to which distilleries lay within this region. It all began when I received a consignment from a well known Independent bottling company. Amongst the bottles was a bottle of Tomatin. Nothing unusual about that, however on the label it stated that it was a Speyside malt. Hang on I thought surely the distillery is in the Highlands? Upon contacting said bottling company I was told that they had used a well known book as a reference guide. So upon checking that along with a number of other books and websites it appeared to me that each one had their own take on which distilleries were either from the Speyside or Highland region.
I wondered if they were roughly categorising them purely upon flavour. Broadly speaking Speyside malts fall into one of three styles, those of a light and floral style, for example Aultmore. Those of a medium bodied fruited up highland disposition, like Miltonduff and those of a more full bodied style, which usually means sherry ageing, for example Macallan. However as is the case with many distilleries, long gone are the days of one signature malt being produced. Nowadays it is all about diversity – different wood finishes, different peating levels, different strains of barley, etc, the list is almost endless.
But, let’s stick with the flavour category for awhile. I have taken as a reference book the excellent ‘Whisky Classified – Choosing Single Malts by Flavour’ by Dr David Wishart. So, if we take the most basic expression from these distilleries and group them together by flavour, then in the case of the light and fruity style, not only would you include Aultmore, but An Cnoc (Knockdhu), Isle of Arran, Auchentoshan, Cardhu, Glengoyne, Glen Grant, Glentauchers, Mannochmore, Speyside, Tamdhu and Tobermorey.
You could also quite rightly include Allt a Bhainne, Bladnoch, Braeval, Bunnahabhain, Caperdonich, Glenburgie, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, Glen Moray, Inchgower, Loch Lomand and Tomintoul. I don’t think it would take a genius to point out that this list of distilleries is from all over Scotland, not just Speyside, and if you look at including say older expressions from the distilleries core range, you will find that a number of them employ sherry casks, which would then put say Glengoyne and Glen Grant firmly in the full bodied, robust Macallan camp. Thus it would appear to be impossible to categorise an entire region purely on the basis of flavour alone.
This means that membership of the Speyside community must be down to geography, but that seems to raise yet more issues. For example some books and websites just consider those distilleries that are found on the A96 grouped around Elgin and Forres, those on the A95 between Craigellachie and Ballindalloch, and those found on the A941, between Elgin and Dufftown. Other publications believe that the distilleries clustered around Huntly - Glendronach and Knockdhu being two examples are included in the Speyside designation. I have also seen a map in a publication which claims that the region stretched all the way from Inverness to Fraserburgh on the east coast.
So, who is correct? Anecdotal evidence suggests that the term Speyside has been in use since the 1880s, however Alfred Barnard in his seminal book ‘The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom’, written in 1885 doesn’t use the term Speyside and refers to the whisky of many of the Speyside distilleries as ‘pure Highland malt’. Surely I thought by now there must be an official demarcation of this area, which would provide those distilleries within it some kind of legal protection, similar to the 1993 European Union ‘Protected Food Names’ legislation, whose framework was modelled on the appellation controlee system in France, which is rigorously policed by it’s governing body the ‘Institut National des Appellations d’Origine’ (INAO). This piece of legislation makes it illegal under European law to manufacture and sell a product under one of the controlled geographical indications if it does not comply with the criteria of it. For example the legislation not only provides protection for food names on a geographical basis but also on a ‘traditional recipe’ basis too. This means that Orkney beef for example can only be labeled as such if the produce is derived from cattle born, reared and slaughtered in Orkney and Kentish Ale can only be made in Kent using the local water and locally grown hops as it has been since 1698 at the Shepherd Neame Brewery.
So is there legislation in this country to govern product labeling of Scotch whisky?
The answer is of course yes, and for this we must turn to the Scotch Whisky Association, arbiter and upholders of all things whisky related. Back in 2004 they set in motion a series of consultations with their members and the whisky industry as a whole to create just that – A draft to present to the UK government setting out the exact boundaries of the whisky making areas of Scotland. This led to the ‘The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009’, which replaced the earlier Scotch Whisky Act 1988 and the Scotch Whisky Order 1990. Whereas the previous legislation had only governed the way in which Scotch Whisky must be produced, the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 now sets out rules on how Scotch Whiskies must be labelled, packaged and advertised, as well as requiring Single Malt Scotch Whisky to be bottled in Scotland from 2012.
But I digress. If you turn to Regulation 10 - Locality and region geographical indications, it states the following:
(5) The protected localities are –
(c) “Speyside”, comprising—
(i) the wards of Buckie, Elgin City North, Elgin City South, Fochabers Lhanbryde, Forres, Heldon and Laich, Keith and Cullen and Speyside Glenlivet of the Moray Council as those wards are constituted in the Moray (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006(b); and
(ii) the Badenoch and Strathspey [including Grantown on Spey] ward of the Highland Council as that ward is constituted in the Highland (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006(c).
So I believe that I can now create the definitive list of working and mothballed Speyside distilleries, which I have broken down by ward. I have also listed their postcodes so if you like you can look them up on multimap!
BUCKIE
Inchgower. – Banffshire AB56 5AB
ELGIN
Benriach – Morayshire IV30 8SJ
Glenlossie – Morayshire IV30 8SS
Glen Moray – Morayshire IV30 1YE
Linkwood – Morayshire IV30 3RD
Mannochmore. – Morayshire IV30 8SS
FOCHABERS LHANBRYDE
Glen Elgin – Morayshire IV30 3SL
Longmorn – Morayshire IV30 8SJ
FORRES
Benromach – Morayshire IV36 3EB
Dallas Dhu – Morayshire IV36 2RR
Glenburgie. – Morayshire IV36 2QY
HELDON & LAICH
Miltonduff – Morayshire IV30 8TQ
KEITH & CULLEN
Aultmore – Banffshire AB55 6QY
Glentauchers. – Banffshire AB55 6YL
Glen Kieth – Banffshire AB55 3BU
Strathisla – Banffshire AB55 5BS
Strathmill. – Banffshire AB55 5DQ
SPEYSIDE GLENLIVET
Aberlour – Banffshire AB38 9PJ
Allt a Bhainne – Banffshire AB55 4DB
Auchroisk – Banffshire AB55 6XS
Balvenie – Banffshire AB55 4DH
Benrinnes – Banffshire AB38 9NN
Braeval – Banffshire AB37 9JS
Caperdonich – Banffshire AB38 7BN
Cardhu – Morayshire AB38 7RY
Craigellachie – Banffshire AB38 9ST
Dailuaine – Banffshire AB38 7RE
Dufftown – Banffshire AB55 4BR
Glenallachie – Banffshire AB38 9LR
Glendullan – Banffshire AB55 4DJ
Glenfarclas – Banffshire AB37 9BD
Glenfiddich – Banffshire AB55 4DH
Glen Grant – Banffshire AB38 7BS
Glenlivet – Banffshire AB37 9DB
Glenrothes – Morayshire AB38 7AA
Glen Spey – Morayshire AB38 7AU
Imperial – Morayshire AB38 7QP
Kininvie, – Banffshire AB55 4DH
Knockando – Morayshire AB38 7RT
Macallan – Morayshire AB38 9RX
Mortlach – Banffshire AB55 4AQ
Speyburn – Morayshire AB38 7AG
Tamdhu – Morayshire AB38 7RP
Tamnavulin– Banffshire AB37 9JA
Tomintoul – Banffshire AB37 9AQ
BADENOCH
Dalwhinnie – Inverness-shire PH19 1AB
Speyside. – Inverness-shire PH21 1NS
STRATHSPEY
No distilleries.
GRANTOWN ON SPEY
Balmenach – Morayshire PH26 3PF
Cragganmore – Morayshire AB37 9AB
Tormore. – Morayshire PH26 3LR
This list throws up a couple of interesting conundrums. If you study the labels on bottles of both the Macallan and Dalwhinnie you will see that they clearly state ‘Single Highland Malt’, which of course they are perfectly entitled to, yet as we have seen both are entitled to call themselves ‘Speyside Single Malts’. So why do
they choose not to do so. If we look at Dalwhinnie for example, when it was first built in 1897 the distillery was then called ‘Strathspey’, which should give you a clue to its location, with it becoming known as Dalwhinnie in November 1898 when it was sold to the Dalwhinnie Distillery Company. However this doesn’t answer the original question as to why it is not labelled as a Speyside distillery and the answer to that is plain and simple – the don’t want to!
Nick Morgan, the head of whisky knowledge global (great job title!) at Diageo told me that “In terms of its physical location, Dalwhinnie is located in the central highlands at a considerable distance from the acknowledged geographic reality of Speyside. A 21st century re-drawing of boundaries for administrative purposes cannot undo the realities of geography and culture.”
“Dalwhinnie is a Highland distillery, located at an important centre of the old highland droving industry. Its history, its character and its culture – as well as its physical geography – are of the Scottish Highlands. It is not, has never been and will never be a Speyside distillery.”
The Macallan distillery was a bit less romantic and more forthright with regards to its reasons. “Macallan chooses to continue to use Highland [as its designation] as it has always done.” I was told. Both distilleries took pains to remind me that the Speyside region was just a subset of the Highland region, almost in self defence, if I was somehow criticising them for not using the Speyside ‘appellation’. Which I obviously wasn’t, maybe it’s because I ask awkward questions? Just ask a certain well known author! -
“But I am interested to know on what grounds you claim Tomatin not to be a Speysider, seeing that geographically (just) and style-wise (massively), it is…” – Well we now know that legally it definitely isn’t!
Right time for some tasting!
NEW RELEASES FROM RAYMOND ARMSTRONG
Glen Ord 1990 (20 year old) 54.4%
Puncheon 1160
A high toned and slightly spirity nose with some gentle honey and grass. Quite delicate and mature, maybe just a touch too old as the alcohol gives it a definite nose prickle. However it has a good depth with a mature edge to the honey notes and with time some creamy vanilla oak.
The palate is surprisingly mouth filling, yet still delicate with mature light honey coated fruit, grass, straw oak and plenty of spice. The alcohol is pretty intense and the finish is quite hot with a spirity/ botanical finish.
With water the nose is beautifully grassy, almost lowland-esque. The oak is pushed back and lets some white fruits and flowers come through. Overall it seems fresher now. However the palate has lost its shape and become sugar water. Pity.
Teaninich 1982 (27 year old) 49.2%
Bourbon Cask 7697
Deep aromas of mature honey, floor polish, lanolin and spices. Amazingly it is still a bit gristy with a core of granity hard cereal and hints of wheat flakes. Delicate and elegant, the oak supports well.
The palate is gentle and again surprisingly gristy with a distinct sawdust and pure barley husk dust character. Mellow and gentle with oodles of honey and just the right amount of alcohol to balance the dustiness! The finish is fresh and intense and leaves an oily coating to the mouth and a gentle dusting of dried spice.
With water the honey aromas become more pronounced, yet it has developed a touch of confectionary sweetness. The palate is a touch watery and a bit so-so, but then out of nowhere comes a burst of old rose petals, Turkish delight and spices. Even so I would prefer to drink this neat.
Inchgower 1982 (28 year old) 50.4% £54.95
Bourbon Hogshead 6965
A simply gorgeous nose! Superb depth of garden herb infused honey with a touch of lemon sherbert and old wood spices. Although given time the oak barrels in with lashings of caramel and toffee, the honey is always in charge! The oak is definitely of the sawn/ sawdusty type and the aromas move into a digestive biscuit direction. All this oak and honey is balanced well by the mint, juniper and garden herbs.
Soft, silky and liqueur like with a slight lactose quality. Again the honey shows first followed by the boisterous oak adding a pure vanilla ice cream note before moving into the caramel/ toffee arena. Oooh this is getting richer! We’ve not finished yet! The middle opens to display some brown sugar sprinkled wheaty biscuit before the alcohol cleanses the palate. However the toffee has coated the mouth and it easily sees off the alcohol intrusion. Yes there is a lot of oak but to me it is definitely not unbalanced. It won’t appeal to all palates, but if you love the purity and complexity of good Bourbon wood, then this is your dram!
A drop of water emphasises the light herbal character of the nose, brining out some Sauvignon blanc-esque fruit, grass and citrus. On the palate the oak is subdued somewhat and now kind of lurks at the edges, it allows the icing sugar coated grassy citrus fruit to shine along with the honey and dried flowers/ rose petals. The balance is probably a bit better with water, but either way it’s a superb bottling.
Highland Park 1997 (12 year old) 50% £44.95
Bourbon cask 6259
Quite a pungent and heavily peated nose for a Highland Park. Very fishy with hints of bog myrtle, menthol, heather-honey and slightly gristy barley notes. Youthful and slightly coastal with some late rubber and iodine.
Slightly oily, opening with cereal biscuits followed by heather-honey and herbs. The intense alcohol dies out the middle and the finish. Although it does seem quite full for a Bourbon oaked Highland Park. The peat is gentler on the palate, yet it is quite an oily/ tarry, sort of liquid peat – Pretty wild huh!
With water the nose becomes gentler and slightly candied with the barley taking on a sugar coating and the intense peat retreating into the background. The palate has opened quite delightfully. Like the nose it has become sweeter and a lot more expressive. Gristy and grippy, considerably
more floral and heathery with just a touch of honey and light fishy peat. Delicate (almost!) and complex, this is an amazingly good Bourbon cask (and I don’t say that very often!) The finish just keeps on going, finishing with a smidge of peat smoke and salt.
Craggenmore 1991 (19 year old) 53.8% £49.95
Bourbon Hogshead 1176
A superb nose of complex honey aromas – natural clear honey and macula. Balanced by a slight grassiness and gentle spices. Fresh and aromatic with a lovely poise. With time there is a touch of cereal and banana. The vanilla oak along with some maltiness sits beneath.
Soft and gentle on the palate. Quite grassy to begin with then the complexity of honey unfolds itself before being cut short by the piquant alcohol.
With water, the nose becomes extremely fresh with a veritable fruit basket of zingy citrus before moving into a slightly fleshy tropical fruit direction. There is still plenty of honey although that has taken a bit of a back seat. As expected the palate has opened up beautifully. The honey is cut through with a vein of citrus and the gentle spices come to life. Possibly not as complex as the nose, but still very enjoyable.
Balmenach 1983 (26 year old) 52.8% £54.95
Bourbon Hogshead 2410
An oily and slightly pungent nose of floral scented mature honey along with some old rose petal notes. Over time it becomes liberally sprinkled with pure icing sugar and the oak begins to express itself with a crème caramel note. Superb balance between the oak and spirit.
Lightly oily on the palate with a touch of treacle, light coffee, tar and manure along with the sugar coated mature honey (sounds odd but is quite pleasant!) Mouth watering alcohol clears the way for some old botanicals and a sharp, dry finish. Intriguing!
Water brings out some oily marzipan and the oak grips a little more now, although that is balanced by a fresh edge. The palate is softer and sweeter with some marzipan, rose water and crumbly spices. Definitely mature but still lively. Quite charming.
Glenburgie 1983 (26 year old) 53.7% £67.95
Sherry Cask 9801
A high toned leafy, sweet Oloroso nose. Quite malty and full with distinct green nuts and wood spice notes from the cask. A gentle/ elegant sherry monster! Lovely maturity and the sherrywood spices are divine. With time some liquorice, coffee, tar and a touch of menthol become apparent.
Soft and gentle nutty sherry fruit, a bit more Palo Cortado in style. As to be expected the combination of alcohol and tannins masks the finish although some leafy notes hang in there. The sweetness builds through out and becomes quite candied towards the end.
With water the nose becomes more candied and some orange conserve and sugar coated dried citrus rind appears. It’s definitely a sugar fest now! The palate is showing its age now – mature, poised and gentle with the flavours melding into serene morass. Like the nose it is pretty candied and one for those of you with a sweet tooth. Very long with hints of white flowers in the finish. A lovely mature sherry cask!
THE TOBERMORY TASTING
So could Tobermory do a Tulli? Well…… er……no! Although I will say that the 10 year old has improved a great deal since I last tasted it but overall it is still a very industrial and for me unpleasant malt. It still exhibits that wet cardboard character and occasional butyric note, plus when they add some peat to the mix, as in the Ledaig bottling, well, just read the tasting notes!
Tobermory 10 year old 40% - Distillery Bottling
Bourbon/ Sherry (?)
The nose, although still rather industrial in style has definitely improved. Yes there is still that wet cardboard note but there is some sweet barley, malt and a touch of grape. On the palate it tastes like an innocuous blend component. It’s softly sherried with a touch of malt and again wet cardboard. It’s short and a bit hot on the finish along with some pleasant spices which are unfortunately trounced by a slightly metallic/ tarry after taste.
Ledaig No Age Statement 42% - Distillery Bottling
Bourbon
Good grief this is rough. Industrial isn’t the word for it. Pretty young with plenty of ‘off the still’ marc, cardboard, peat and a butyric edge. Yep it’s that pleasant!
The palate mirrors the nose, some pleasant smoke tries to liven the proceedings but it’s all a bit flat and spirity. Oh and under no circumstances add any water………. It’s toe curlingly nasty!
Ledaig 8 year old 50% - Old Malt Cask Bottling
Bourbon
The nose is quite fishy and only faintly cardboardy. It has considerably more depth the previous bottling and in fact it’s quite refined. Lots of manurey peat mingle with cod liver oil and hints of crispy bacon bits!
A reasonably oily palate with an initial honest gentle peat but still acquiescing to the cardboard notes. The middle is pleasant as the oak arrives with a buttery wave and some pleasant spice. Like the above it’s a bit short, yet it has a agreeable, lingering smoky finish.
Adding water signals the retreat of the peatiness as the cardboard hordes rush in! Flat and a bit sickly sweet on the palate.
Ledaig 9 year old 40% - Glen Keir ‘Treasures’ Bottling
Sherry
Serious baby sick and sherry! Pretty fishy with some wet cardboard/ wet dog aromas going on! Enough said! The palate is thankfully after that nose quite innocuous. There’s some sherry of the candied persuasion, some youthful marc, some oily/ sooty peat and the ubiquitous cardboard!
For some reason we added some water (probably to torture ourselves a bit more!) which emphasised the sherry cask adding a touch of chocolate, but the palate became, dull, flat and watery with a nasty, sugary finish.
Ledaig 1997 (12 year old) 46% - Ian MacLeod Dun Bheagan Bottling
Sherry Butt 800007
An unrefined and torturous nose of murky, earthy coffee and cardboard with added alcohol prickle for good measure! The palate is rough, industrial and totally lacking any cask interaction and features all of the above with some spice and late smoke. A great way to round of a pretty undignified tasting.
