Dear Customer

On the run up to Christmas we have a big number of new bottlings, being fifteen (15) from the OLD MALT CASK, with four (4) PREMIER BARREL ceramics- three (3) of them with the new labels, four (4) OLD & RARE, two (2) DOUBLE BARRELs, and four (4) CLAN DENNY Grains.

The Tasting Notes for OLD MALT CASK follow:

OMC 1954 Laphroaig 12 Year Old
Nose: Opens to old style hairdressing – warms sweet ‘n’ peaty.
Palate: Distinctly phenolic, tarry, creosoted – still sweet.
Finish: Ashy, rather sooty – as above, still sweetly phenolic. (F)

OMC 1958 Macallan 15 Year Old
Nose: Honey sweet, floral, lightly oaked, gristy.
Palate: Still honeyed – richly fruited + (dark) spices/molasses.
Finish: Smoke trails through spices and a real barley quality. (F)

OMC 1962 Blair Athol 15 Year Old Sherry Matured
Nose: Opens sweetly – carrying a golden syrup + oranges style
Palate: Warmingly spiced – running to a sweet mocha character
Finish: long, still spicy with a tangy – burnt orange peel – quality (J)

OMC 1947 Laphroaig 17 Year Old
Nose : Big, feisty, salty, ozone-y peaty and Islay in style.
Palate: Opens more softly – then the tar, creosote and phenols hit
Finish: Ashy and sooty – now rather sweet (F)

OMC 1961 Littlemill 19 Year Old
Nose: Spices and fruit abound – warms to barley sugar plus citrus.
Palate: More (concentrated) citrus now apparent + cloves + cinnamon.
Finish: All over spicy and warming. Sweet and appealing. (F)

OMC 1957 Lochside 19 Year Old
Nose: Distinctly citric + light oak, spice and dry barley.
Palate: Gristy and peppery – with more mocha and spice than fruit.
Finish: Warmingly spiced plus that initial citrus returns. (F)

OMC 1950 Glen Moray 19 Year Old
Nose: Creamy, spiced, drying as it warms to whisky warehouse style.
Palate: Gristy – still spiced (specifically camphor), dry, lightly smoked.
Finish: Lingers with that same smoke, camphor, and malt quality (F)

OMC 1967 Dalmore 20 Year Old Sherry Finished
Nose: Fruity and gristy in style + polished oak + a fresh herbal quality
Palate: Tingling, sparkling – running to an attractively spiced dryness
Finish: Medium long – warmingly spiced – tailing to a soft dry style (F & J)

OMC 1969 Aultmore 20 Year Old
Nose: Opens clean & fresh – runs to a freshly cut pine tree style
Palate: Spicy + a fruity sweetness with a late dry malty character
Finish: still spicy – long + oak & fruit intertwining + late ashes (J)

OMC 1964 Rosebank 20 Year Old
Nose: Opens with a herbal quality running to a fruity – vanilla style
Palate: Peaches in vanilla syrup + a green malt quality – still herbal
Finish: Medium long & spicy + more vanilla now running drier. (J)

OMC 1945 Linkwood 26 Year Old
Nose: Gentle, sweet spices preface citrus, grist and light peat.
Palate: Still lightly peated, with juicy barley and soft oak/smoke
Finish: The peat is still there with the same barley + dark sugar. (F)

OMC 1956 Port Ellen 27 Year Old
Nose: A smoking malt kiln + a sweet camphor style + flamed lemon peel
Palate: Still sweet runs to a “Fisherman’s Friend” quality + smoking embers
Finish: Long and carries a burnt cocoa chocolate style + sweet liquorice (J)

OMC 1963 St Magdalene 28 Year Old
Nose: Clean & fresh – carrying a spicy & gristy sweet character
Palate: Opens fruitily sweet (peaches) – running to a honeyed quality
Finish: Round & mellow + a sweet malty style + a late orange tang (J)

OMC 1933 Glenlivet 33 Year Old
Nose: Fresh & lively, gristy sweet with a dried herbal tea character
Palate: Opens sweet & spicy – runs to a milk chocolate & chilli quality
Finish: Llong, still sweet + a dark chocolate & mint style + light smoke (J)

OMC 1953 Auchroisk 35 Year Old
Nose: Wooden fruit box in style + light spice and grist.
Palate: Lightly oaked – still fruity + barley and dry spices.
Finish: Spices dominate the crunched sugar back drop. (F)

Tasting Notes for the CLAN DENNY Grains:

DEN 00056 Invergordon 44 Year Old
The nose is sweetly spiced, carrying a vanilla and milk chocolate quality – reminiscent of a box of pralines plus a fruit box quality. The palate carries a round & mellow sweet character plus light oak, running to honey and spicy flavours. All of these are replicated in the finish and slowly fade out in a moreish way. (J)

DEN 0057 Strathclyde 33 Year Old
The nose carries early fruit with a deep, warming quality plus rich spices and a barley sugar aspect – revealing elements of its sherry heritage. The palate reflects aspects of the nose with a dark chocolate/red fruit style and a leather & spice character. The finish is surprisingly long carrying a sweet, spicy quality. (J)

DEN 0054 Cambus 45 Year Old
Carries old fashioned bubble gum early on the nose – it is at once spicy sweet with even more overtly sweet muscovado sugar tones. Attractively oaked – buttery, even creamy – it carries summer fruit and gentle ginger/spices all on the palate. The finish points towards burnt sugar and dark fudge, before its fast fade. (F)

DEN 0055 Caledonian 45 Year Old
Rich, round and sweet initially on the nose – it heads as it warms to honey – crunched sugar – and a light oakiness. It carries an interesting early palate – with a distinct citric tang – then heads to a Hot Toddy style plus barley sugar. Typically, the finish is short, yet distinctly fruited. (F)

The OLD & RARE Tasting Notes:

OAR 0112 Bowmore 23 Year Old Sherry Matured
Big, phenolic, maritime, smoky, beachy – and self evidently from Islay on the nose – the only hint of Sherry is evident from its colour. Very interesting on the palate by way of its overtly perfumed spiciness – initially dry with even some Wright’s coal tar soap (!) plus yesterday’s ashy bonfire. Its finish starts to show only now – some late sweet Sherry beyond its Islay style. (F)

OAR 0113 Macallan 33 Year Old Wine finished
On the nose this wine finished Macallan carries a dry, red fruit influence – plus some nutmeg, cinnamon and even liquorice – ahead of its sweet barley quality. Palatewise, it opens with a mature fruit “tang” – then turns honeyed, fruity – still with some late liquorice and more malt/barley, all running to a rather spiced finish – camphor in particular – ahead of its ongoing honeyed gristiness. (F)

OAR 0111 Bunnahabhain 36 Year Old Sherry Matured
On the nose detect alcohol soaked in fruit – heavily spiced – plus distinct toffee and orange pith aromas. Palatewise it is still massively spiced – with vanilla evident in its fudge which is lightly salted – also lightly peated – carrying attractive and delicate oceanic flavours too. The finish carries ginger, pepper, light oak, black coffee and more marinaded dark fruit (F)

OAR 0114 Probably Speyside’s Finest 45 Year Old Sherry Matured
Opens warming and richly spiced on the nose, running to toffee and a caramelised, spiced orange character before a soft leather quality appears. The palate is rich and mouthcoating and the orange style returns – now in a sweet & spicy liqueur style – before running drier. Walnuts and chewed leather run on the long and dry finish – think of extra rich dark chocolate. (J)

The PREMIER BARRELs taste something like these fun and “wordy” indications:

PBR 0088 Ardmore 7 Year Old
I ‘arbour, ardent, ardour for this Ardmore! For ‘tis palatewise probably a paradigm of palpably percolating peated panache with pep – yet its seductively sugary swirl symbolises Speyside (F)

PBR 0089 Laphroaig 10 Year Old
A litany to the lustrous – lusty – laudable – lavish – lovable – lenitively lubricating liquor – the Laphroaig of Lore. What the “L”!?! (Tremendously tarry too). (F)

PBR 0086 Bowmore 12 Year Old
Beware – a boon of a Bowmore! – with its suffusion of sumptuously seaweedy smokiness – saliently and sympathetically spiced – yet full bodied, first rate and frightfully fructiferous! (F)

PBR 0087 Highland Park 12 Year Old
Your Highness – ’tis Highland Park! – with its overtly ozone-y , oceanic overture, overflowing into a cunning conclusion of cultivated credentials ……. a citric, creamy canon of credence. (F)

Quite a big selection we believe for Christmas consideration and we hope they may be seen by you as potentially interesting stock additions. We wish you good luck for some good sales that you will have over the next few weeks and beyond into 2011 with these and our other Whiskies!

Best wishes

Fred Laing

Visit Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd. at www.douglaslaing.com