Whisky Intelligence has reproduced (with permission) The Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter for October 2007. The author, Chris Goodrum, has some excellent insights into the whiskies being commented on which makes for excellent reading on a Sunday. Enjoy!
Dear Whisky Customers
A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO SCORING WHISKY
As I said in my last, brief newsletter, the Whisky Magazine asked me to be a judge on their annual Independent Bottlers’ Competition. So I was given the task of evaluating samples from Speyside and the Mainland, which seems like a catch-all category for Campbeltown, Grains and a swathe of the Southern Highland. Each region was broken down into three categories: 12 years old and under, 13-18 years old and 19 plus years old.
As a rule I don’t tend to score whiskies, no reason why, I just haven’t felt the need. They are either worthy of adding to the list or they are not. So never having done this before I felt I needed to do some research and something struck me as a bit odd. It seems to me (and I could be wrong here!) that when looking at the scores attributed to various malts and then reading the tasting notes, it seemed that reviewers were often more lenient with regard to faults. Thus a malt could be awarded between 7 and 8 points, yet the tasting note would indicate some fault or other. Then at the upper end of the scale when reading a tasting note that pretty much said that this malt was the best thing since sliced bread it never warranted a score above 9 points. For me the main criterion was balance. What I want is a harmony between the wood and the spirit, I don’t mind a sherry casked malt as long as the cask doesn’t over power the spirit (and unfortunately a number of the Speys were just like that). No doubt some of the other judges might like sherry monsters but they are just not my cup of tea – I want finesse, elegance, balance, character and complexity – Not too much to ask for is it?
Now the event has been done I have reviewed my scores and well would you believe it I was less lenient to faults and prepared to score above 9 if the whisky so deserved it! (not a surprise I hear you say!). Simply put I used this simple scoring chart:
1-2 Nasty (the polite way of putting it!)
3-4 Unimpressive (or marginally better than nasty!)
5-6 Average
7-8 Very Good to Excellent
9-10 Stunning, must buy, etc
MAINLAND
The 12 years and under category was the smallest with only five entries and probably the least impressive. Of those five samples, one was nasty, one unimpressive and the rest barely average. In my opinion none should be given a gold medal as the highest I rated any of them was 61/4. I imagine that at least three may have been young Springbank and you are well aware about my thoughts on mid 1990’s Springbank (for those of you who are not I suggest that you have a look at Whisky Newsletter No15 from March 2006) and another one of these was so ruined by sulphur that it could have been from the moon as far as I could tell! Whoever decided to bottle it and then enter it into a competition should be…….. well………..ashamed!
I would also hazard a guess that many if not all of these were single cask bottlings (as is the Independents forte) and maybe this is a true representation of the character or the lack of it of spirit from ‘mainland’ distilleries. I mean if it was a distillery release then they would add a dollop of older spirit in order to make sure that it had some character, However as we have seen with the new 10 year old Springbank this doesn’t appear to be the case. My guess is that as the price for aged whisky and the demand has increased then distilleries are less inclined to use precious stocks of mature spirit to bolster their younger stuff. This is all well and good if you are being asked to spend less than £20, but with it being a single cask, etc, the price is nearer to £40, and it just doesn’t seem like good value for money in my opinion. So if this is the state of play with regard to entry level malt whiskies form the Independent sector then my advice is to keep your money in your pocket.
The 13-18 year old category was a rather mixed bag. Of the eight samples, one was unimpressive (and that was being generous – it was a soapy mess actually!), four were average and three were very good to excellent. The highest rated sample was I would imagine a 15 year old Bourbon casked Springbank, which warranted an 8 and was wonderfully balanced, just edging out what I think was another 13 year old Springbank, which was wonderfully bog myrtly and rubbery! And we’ll forget about the sulphury sherry cask shall we.
All in all things were looking better. It will be interesting to see if my assumptions about them being Springbank were correct or not!
In the 19+ category, this is where the Independents really start to come into their own. Of the seven samples, only one was unimpressive (a vegetal, sulphured sherry cask!), one average, five were very good and one was stunning! – I’m going to stick my neck out and assume that this was probably a Duncan Taylor old grain whisky, possibly a 45 year old Invergordon, and damn it was amazing, my tasting note read:
Nose: Oh my this is big. Huge, monstrously grainy. Very Bourbon-esque, no it is Stagg-esque! There is a huge array of dried fruit, sultanas, figs, candied citrus fruit, chocolate and coffee. The balance is sublime as it has an amazing freshness!
Palate: Monstrously huge and quiet leafy, again very Bourbon-esque. Powerful yet soft and playful on the tongue. A riot of dried fruits, raisins, sultanas, cinnamon of bucketfuls of gingery spice. My, one word – Stunning!
Finish: The intensity carries right through to the end. It is simply stunning with a lovely coffee after taste.
Conclusion: This has quality, character and class by the bucketful It has a perfect balance of all it’s components. Yes it is probably expensive, but worth every penny!
Well worth 91/2 in my book! I could be wrong about which distillery it was but I’m convinced it was a Duncan Taylor grain. In actual fact the runner up which I gave 83/4 was another grain and to be honest almost as good. In actual fact from time to time we have had bottlings’ of the Duncan Taylor Invergordon in stock and every time I have tasted it I have been impressed, so when we get some more in I’ll let you know. I can’t imagine that they have many more casks left now, lets hope I’m wrong, but either way if you want my opinion – if you find one, buy it!
SPEYSIDE
Ah Speyside, the heartland of Scottish whisky production, home to a million and one different distilleries. And you will not be surprised to learn that there were a lot more samples for this region – 38 in all! Once again I was looking for balance. From experience Speyside whiskies tend to be fairly light with citrus fruit, and/or mineral/ granite, herbaceous notes. Many are routinely aged in sherry casks, why? Could it be that maybe some lack character (ooh possibly being a bit unfair there!). I mean I just love old Glen Grant and Glenrothes which are often sherried, but time and balance are the key to a great sherry casked Spey. Too young and the cask swamp’s the spirit, too old and it’s just a woody, tannic mouthful. It’s case of finding that moment of harmony and capturing it at the right time.
And…… I have to say that this category on the whole, quality wise was a lot more successful that Mainland. Of the nine samples of 12 years old and under all fell in the average to excellent category. With the best showing a lovely maturity and complexity beyond it’s twelve years of age. It displayed everything you could want from a Speyside whisky – Beguiling honied citrus fruit and herbs, liquid honey, dusty spices and icing sugar coated fruits along with a touch of earthy peat, cinnamon and dried spices by the bucketful! This consistency was carried into the 13-18 year old samples with just one of the fifteen samples falling in the unimpressive category, and that was only because I suspect it was some sort of wine finish, which obliterated any spirit character.
Of these fifteen, eight were obviously sherry casked and were thankfully blemish free. They ranged from the Oloroso sherry monster, which was all cask and no trousers through to a divine 14 year old, 59.7%, which displayed all the things I would look for in a whisky of that type – Integration, complexity, maturity and balance. My Tasting note read (just to prove that I’m not biased against sherry casked malts!):
Nose: Great nose. Full and coffee infused. Nicely integrated sherry cask with oodles of developing spice, cinnamon and cumin. Finally there is a surge of mature honey and floor polish. This is superb and dripping in natural honey. Water brings forward the spices and shows an earthy note.
Palate: Enormously juicy and fruity. Loaded with spices – cinnamon, clove. Cumin, coffee and liquorice. Water really reveals this malts depths, the honey is soft and sumptuous, the spices, dust and glorious. Absolute heaven.
Finish: Without water it is intense and alcohol dominated with water it is wonderfully long.
Conclusion: A brilliant sherry cask malt. It has balance, maturity and complexity.
Was it the best? Well……… no! It was trumped by a Bourbon casked one! A 17 year old 55.7% one. I agonized over those two samples, and of course after a taste off it edged it by only just half a point, and my it was close:
Nose: A damn fine nose! Gently aromatic with beguiling orange, peach and tangerine. Distinctly orange Muscat like (Strathmill?) It’s amazingly powerful yet delicately balanced with scrumptious spice and honey notes
Palate: Delicate and spicy, yet powerful. There is an abundance of mouth filling, juicy, spicy orange and peach flavours. The depth is superb, the flavour gently caresses the tongue – Heavenly
Finish: Good length. The alcohol somewhat dominates but it is wonderfully spicy. A drop of water harmonises and lengths emphasising the dry spice.
Conclusion: Superb. Great depth and delicacy, yet there is power present too. Definitely the best!
And so onto the last category, the 19 years plus. Like the Mainland category, this was hugely impressive. Of the fourteen samples seven scored 8-9 points and two over 9, with just the one sulphorous sherry mess! Just like in the previous category it came down to a shoot out between a Sherry casked 36 year old 54.7% and a Bourbon casked 38 year old 54.7% – I ruminated long and hard over these two I can tell you. They were just out of this world, sublime expressions in their own right and in the end there was no clear winner, they both deserved a whopping 91/4 points and I left it in the hands of the gods to see which would be the ultimate winner, and no, as yet I have no idea!
Ones tasting notes read as follows:
38 year old 54.7% – Bourbon casked
Nose. Awesome! A nose to die for. So complex and balanced it’s almost ethereal. Crisp and lively with rich dried fruit, mature honey and leather, lanolin, nutmeg and fresh vanilla pods. The mature Bourbon aromas lavishly coat the fruit. Incredibly complex.
Palate: So rich, soft and mouthfilling. Fruity and multi-dimensional. A stunning integration of Bourbon oak, mature honey, dried fruit, maple syrup, vanilla dusted tropical fruit and the sweetest spice. Awesome!
Finish: Very long, soft and luxurious with oodles of nutty flavours on the finish.
Conclusion: Magnificent. A drop of water makes it even better, bringing out notes of cherries, straw and hay. A sumptuous and amazing dram.
36 year old 54.7% – Sherry casked
Nose: Dark amber in colour. Very clean with rich honey and sherry laced Cognac-esque dried fruit, cinnamon, raisins, sultanas and herbs. This is awesome. It has a lovely youthful touch and a beguiling sweetness. The balance is almost perfect. A drop of water makes it truly divine, smoothing and bringing it all together. The ultimate sherry cask.
Palate: Pretty much like the nose, the complexity is stunning and it is truly a magical combination of spirit and cask.
Finish: With water you could almost mistake this for an old Cognac. It is that good! Long and fruity.
Conclusion: Absolutely awesome. Stunning depth with flavours that you just want to dive into. Almost perfection in a glass!
You can see my dilemma then!!!
I have to say it was an amazing experience and a whole lot of fun and I have to say a big thank-you to Rob Allanson at the Whisky Mag for asking me to take part.
Right now it’s time to sell you stuff, with my round up of new releases. Yes I did have time and yes my liver has recovered!!!
BRUICHLADDICH
Bruichladdich 14 year old Carnoustie Links 46% £37.95
Bourbon/ Chateau Haut-Brion
A pleasant, crisp, classic Laddie nose of honeysuckle, green apples and costal notes along with a touch of cereal. There is very little of the wine cask evident on the nose, just a slight suggestion of herby red fruits and ginger spice. The palate pretty much mirrors the nose. The finish is very subtle and almost unnoticeable as the waves of costal fruit crash into the mid palate. Nice length with the coastal fruits gently ebbing away.
Bruichladdich 18 year old 46% £TBC
Bourbon/ Willi Opitz Zweigelt Pinot Noir Trockenbeerenauslese
Ah ha! Another Laddie for the girls I think! After the relative success of the ‘flirtation’ the guys have decided once more to ‘pull the birds’ – so to speak!!!
The nose takes awhile to get going and as you would expect it is very sweet. I think I can just detect some floral spirit beneath the rich spicy apricot, peach, toffee and vanilla. The palate is much like the nose, very sweet and almost a like a liqueur with the tangy coastal spirit just about making an appearance in the end. In fairness this whisky is definitely not aimed at me and for what it is, it is very good.
DUNCAN TAYLOR
I had a visit from their sales rep recently (HI Jacque!) who wanted to educate me on the rest of the Duncan Taylor range. Apart from their single cask offering in the Rare Auld and Rarest of the Rare range, they also do a range called NC2. In this range the malts are not coloured or chill filtered (hence the name) and range from 10 to 16 years old, mainly bottled at 46%. I tasted a 1993 Mortlach from this range and was quiet impressed. It was a classic Mortlach – fruity, citrus with a touch of nuts and a nice length. Hopefully I’ll be sent some samples from the rest of the range and I will let you know my findings in due course (hopefully in time for Christmas). Another range is called the Lonach Collection. The premise for this range is that they occasionally, for one reason or another find the odd old cask which has slipped below 40% and thus they vat it with one or two other casks from the same distillery. I tasted an old bottling of 1972 Caperdonich 43.1% and I wasn’t that impressed with, it had that unpleasant decaying rose petal aroma and a tired rubbery-ness to the palate.
The final two ranges are the Battlehill range of malts under 10 years old bottled at 43%, which I tasted the Miltonduff 7 year old (note below) and The Islay Selection, which includes the Auld Reekie and the Big Smoke 40 and 60 (being 40% and 60% respectably). The Auld Reekie is superb being heavily peated Caol Ila and now bottled as a 10 year old (note below). I was less enamored with the Big Smoke offering and like the Compass Box peat monster, could be done under the trades description act!
The Big smoke is far from smoky! Its is undoubtedly moderately peated Caol Ila, with citrus, gentle peat, iodine and coastal orange fruit. A bit more smoky at 40%. All told it is not a bad malt it just I was expecting a big smoky Bowmore rather than this!
Battlehill Mitonduff 1999 (7 year old) 43% £19.95
Quiet a floral nose with crisp honey, youthful cereal and the trademark heather note. Young, pleasant and summery! The palate is pretty much the same as the palate with a lovely juiciness along with the heather, gorse and late spice and coffee notes.
Rarest of the Rare North Port 1981 (26 year old) 52.9% £73.95
Cask 775
Classic nose of crisp lemony fruit, grass, rushes and barley sugar. It has a lovely depth and a deft sweetness to the aromas. On the palate the creamy oak enhances the grass and citrus flavours. A lovely middle with barley sugar and spice notes which linger until the end. Finishes with a grass/rush after taste.
Rare Auld Invergordon 1965 (41 year old) 50.1% £89.95
Cask 15516
Big, juicy aromas of distinctive Bourbon-esque character. No surprise there is a huge array of dried fruit, sultanas, figs, candied citrus fruit, honey and a lovely menthol top note. In fact this is a lot more herbal than previous bottlings. Soft and juicy on the palate, maybe not as full bodied as previous bottling, but it is still delightful. Very complex with and quiet sweet with the juicy Bourbon-esque fruits balanced by a subtle grainy-ness. And not forgetting the riot of herbalists! The length is divine with a touch of salinity in the finish.
Rare Auld Strathclyde 1973 (33 year old) 55.5% £81.95
Cask 74063
There is a slight but not unappealing spirity-ness to this, more whisky-like than the Invergordon with citrus, cereal, light sugar cane and botanical aromas. The palate is a lot more together than the nose again quiet grainy and cerealy with delightfully juicy, soft honey, botanicals and herbaceous notes. It really fills out in the mouth with a touch of tangy tropical fruit and wood notes and a lovely sweet finish
DEWAR RATTRAY
It was nice to receive a package out of the blue from my good friends at Dewar Rattray containing a selection of all their new bottlings. I must say when I saw the sample of Cooley I was intrigued, and when I saw the price I almost fell off my chair and thought ‘this better be good for this price’ and do you know what…………. It was!
Not so good however was a Auchtentoshan 16 year old which was estery and had that aroma of decaying rose petals and on the palate it was down right insipid and nasty and I thought to myself how pretty much every private Bourbon casked Auchtentoshan I have tasted has been pretty insipid, with only the distillery bottling being worthy of mention, and that is probably only because they whack it into Sherry casks in order to give it some character. So imagine my surprise when I looked at the label and saw this was a Sherry matured Auctentoshan! – How? You what?! If there was even the remotest hint that a Sherry cask had been within a thousand yards of this, well I’m a Dutchman!
Equally poor was the 14 year old Bruichladdich, which was just a cardboard mess, the 29 year old Glenlivet which had a nice nose, possibly showing a bit too much oak and frankly just died on the palate and finally the 26 year old Caperdonich which wasn’t poor, it was an enigma! What do I mean by that? Well it had a real feeling of density on the nose but it actually gave very little away and I struggled to pin point any particular aromas. On the palate it again was quiet dense but it was all a bit evanescent and ultimately uninspiring. Maybe I was being a bit hard on it, but with nearly a £75 retail price I know that in my heart I just couldn’t recommend it.
So, onto the ones that I definitely can recommend.
Benriach 1990 (16 year old) 53.3% £43.95
I loved their earlier bottling of Benriach at 15 years old and thought this would have to go some to top it and boy does it just. This bottling is heavier and oilier on the nose with a sumptuous array of waxy citrus fruit, a lovely complexity with some dunnage floors, a touch of orange blossom and a light sprinkling of peat. The palate is much like the nose, oily and subtly mouth filling. Creamy yellow fruits meld with the oak and there is a delightful grassy middle. When a touch of water is added the nose gets even better. The orange fruits have taken on a yummy liquid honey veener with no shortage of wonderful malty notes. It really pulls the palate together, now slightly less oily but the wonderful soft citrus fruits bounces over the tongue and the grassy notes return on the finish.
Craigellachie 1991 (16 year old) 60.7% £46.95
A lovely nose! Delicate and deep with bags of character. Dusty spices mingle with rich apricot, tangerine fruit and wonderful mature honey. The complexity of the aromas seems unending, next comes a delicate floral peach note followed by toffee and vanilla cream. The palate is creamy and soft with apricot, peach, tangerine, earth, spices and maturing honey. A lovely intensity which develops a leafy/ botanical note. The finish is long and somewhat dominated by the alcohol. With the addition of water one word springs to mind – Wow! It’s sublime, just like a floral orange liqueur. The palate isn’t bad either! It’s now a wonderful mouthful of citrus/ honied deliciousness and the spices! Like angels dancing on your tongue – Superb!
Mortlach 1994 (13 year old) 58.8% £47.95
Big and fruity. A classic Mortlach with orange, apricot, barley and no shortage of malty notes along with a gentle floral top note. The palate is equally juicy and fruity with a lovely honied entry followed by apricot, malt and juicy citrus fruit, although the high alcohol masks the complexity. A drop of water makes it truly delightful brining out a touch of straw and summer meadow fruits and gloriously creamy oak on the nose, whilst on the palate it unleashes a deluge of mouth filling fruit and deft touches of coffee and straw like nuances.
Craggenmore 1993 (14 year old) 59.8% £51.95
Lovely clean aromas of citrus fruit, toffee, malt and lazy spices. A wonderful depth with a delightful honied note. Slightly oily on the palate. Quiet gristy and malty, with intense citrus fruit and subtle spices. This is a really chewy mouthful although the alcohol dominates the finish. Water emphasizes the oak on the nose and slightly subdues the citrus fruit but it opens out the palate a treat. Soft, pleasant and mouth filling. The fruit now has a lovely juicy sheen to it and the finish is delightfully long with the soft spices lingering. Another private bottling which beats the distillery bottling hands down in my opinion.
Bowmore 1998 (9 year old) 62.3% £40.95
Sherry
Ooh I have reservations about this. Private bottlings of Bowmore are like private bottlings of Highland Park – far too often disappointing. So……… Actually it doesn’t start especially well, there is an initial vegetal note, but I’ll forgive it as it does blow off quiet quickly. It’s a bit of a rowdy brute this one it has to be said, there is no shortage of character here! Iodine, bog myrtle, smoke, soot, peat and pure rubbery sowesters. On the palate it is oily yet quiet dry with rich leafy sherry battling with the iodine, peat, menthol and latex for dominance, and there’s that veggy-ness again on the finish. A drop of water thankfully saves the day. It brings out the toffee infused sherry spices and sort cleans it up a bit, or should that be sobers it up? – I really want to like this. Yes it’s flawed, but by god it has character by the bucket load, and do you know what? It’s kind of growing on me!
Cooley 1992 (15 year old) 58.9% £73.95
And so, saving the best until last! Right nose in glass. Hang on this is Laddie! No, definitely says Cooley on the bottle. This has real depth and no shortage of coastaly rich honied apple, apricot, soft creamy vanilla oak and gorgeous spices. The balance is sublime. Soft and juicy on the palate. Again if I didn’t know better I would swear it was Laddie. This is so good, loads of oily coastal apricot and stewed apple fruit splashed with a sensuous spicy vanilla oak, sprinkled liberally with cinnamon! A splash of water and my this is delicious. The oak is so creamy it’s untrue and the spices are just heavenly. Yes it’s expensive, but as they say on the telly ‘You are worth it!’
Chris Goodrum
http://www.gauntley-wine.co.uk/
