Whisky Intelligence has reproduced (with permission) The Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter for August 2005; a small sample of scotch whisky archeology. The author, Chris Goodrum, has some excellent insights of whisky, which makes for excellent reading on a Sunday. Enjoy!
Dear Whisky Customers
Far be it from me to blow my own trumpet, but I think that we are maybe beginning to be taken seriously in the whisky market. I say this because I was contacted by the independent bottling company Dewar Rattay (more about them later) who were most enthusiastic about their single cask whiskies and wondered whether I would like to taste some of their stuff. Well I think you can guess what me reply was!
The other event was that Murray McDavid have released the latest Misson range, nothing unusual in that I hear you say, but, apparently I am the only UK merchant that has been given advance samples. Certainly this is an honour and I would like to thank them for that and now I need to convince you lot to buy them!
Other gems include, as promised tasting notes on the updated John McDougall range, and the Blackadder range, both of which are of their usual high standards. Also along with the Misson V samples I was given a sneak preview of the Bruichladdich 3rd Edition 20 year old. As you will remember the 2nd Edition bottling which was rather good, and which incidentally we still have stock of, flirted with a mourvedre cask and generated a lot of column inches because of it. So in their spirit of adventure the 3rd Edition had an ‘ encounter’ with a Madeira cask! Also for fans of the Bruichladdich Links series, there is a new bottling.
JOHN McDOUGALL – GOLDEN CASK SERIES
HIGHLAND
Balblair 1990 (15 year old) 62.1% £39.95
Clean, very pronounced aromas of sherry fruit, rich marmalade, slightly creamy with notes of earth, vanilla and fresh pine. Superb depth. Dry, med bodied with oodles of fresh, drying sherry fruit, spices. Sensational, intense alcohol, lovely creamy, sweet and luscious mid palate with a fruitcake finish. A drop of water really brings the nose to life, evocative and aromatic, the rich fruit exudes from the glass. On the palate it brings out the oiliness making it super smooth and glorious.
Glen Moray 1990 (14 year old) 62.1% £39.95
Quite a lively, soft, earthy, summery apricot fruit scented bouquet. Lots of earthiness, a touch waxy and subtle Bourbon oak (much less than on the previous bottling). Luxuriously smooth and complex on the palate, full of rich apricot fruit, earth, cereal, fudge and restrained Bourbon oak. Adding a touch of water reveals hidden dimensions to this glorious malt, emphasising its apricot and yellow fruit and brining out the most glorious perfume hints on the nose. I loved the earlier bottling of this malt, but this is even better.
Macallan 1992 (13 year old) 57.1% £38.95
Bourbon Hogshead.
Clean and very, very fruity, buckets of ripe, juicy oranges with earthy notes, very deep and uncluttered. Water makes the nose delightful, perfumed and slightly creamy. Dry, light-med bodied, rich, slightly sweet with juicy spiced orange fruit, tangy alcohol and a very long length with spice and earth notes in the finish, water makes it silky smooth and creamy.
ISLAY
Bowmore 1999 (6 year old) £34.95
Clean, pronounced, very youthful with an abundance of cereal, ripe fruit with a delicate smokiness and a hint of salt, peat, perfumed violets. Quite leafy and foresty. Dry, very smoky yet softly so, a touch of obvious immaturity, but it is wonderfully complex, the coal smoke builds and builds until it fills the mouth, then fades leaving a suggestion of floral herbs, forest floors and sweet fruits. A drop of water tends to emphasis its immaturity but also brings out its perfume ? Certainly not one-dimensional.
MULL
Tobermorey 1996 (6 year old) 60% £34.95
Clean, very youthful and fresh aromas akin to a gin with a floral/ botanical edge, then the clean vanilla oak with its creamy richness forces its way through with hints of citrus fruit, earth, salt and a winey note – Amazing a bottling that doesn’t smell like it just came off the still or of wet cardboard! Dry, quite oily, light bodied, floral, again gin like, then comes crisp malt, citrus and vanilla oak, tangy alcohol and a very wild, incredibly salty finish. This must be the saltiest whisky ever! Water removes the floralness from the nose and adds a beguiling orange note along with earthy custard creams. On the palate it smoothes out the edges, but doesn’t diminish it salinity.
RARE MOTHBALLED/ CLOSED DISTILLERIES
Glengarioch 1984 (21 year old) 53% £?54.95 (*)
A clean surprisingly youthful nose, I?d swear it was only in its teens! A superb depth of earthy vanilla, orange, white chocolate with a delicate floral edge. Dry, light-med bodied, slow to build with an initial floralness giving way to delicate spice and tangerine, tangy alcohol and a very long length. A drop of water emphasises the white chocolate and vanilla aromas, while on the palate it softens and brings out the lush creaminess and orange citrus fruit, as well as increasing the spicy length.
BLACKADDER
SPEYSIDE
Linkwood Raw Cask 1989 (16 year old) 59.3% £46.95
Cask No 1832
Clean, bracing, youthful aromas of custard creams, salt. Smoke, citrus fruit, toffee, bourbon oak and earthy notes. Bracingly dry on the palate with a wonderful oily texture, med bodied with tangy toffee fruits and vanilla custard. Water brings out a floral orange fruit note and emphasises the toffee and spices, helping the flavour to gloriously mingle ? A lovely crisp, tangy speysider.
Strathisla Raw Sherry Cask Distilled 1989 61.3% £47.95
Cask 9413
An absolutely stunning bouquet, rich, layered and bursting with extremely rich, sherried fruitcake, a profusion of almond, milk chocolate and oranges when a drop of water is added. A big wow as this whisky passes the lips. Rich and decadently sherried, yet well balanced Dry, soft and silky, full bodied with gentle peat, rum like dried fruits, molasses and moist fruit cake. Water brings out the rich, dark, spicy flavours. Very long and very classy.
HIGHLAND
Aberlour Raw Cask 1990 (12 year old) 60% £45.95
Cask No 3319
Quite floral and youthful on the nose with a perfumed malty character and an apple blossom note. Light-Medium bodied, quite soft and a bit winey. Very different from the distillery bottling, full of malty/ cereal flavours, lovely soft and sweet middle with a long rounded finish. It takes a drop of water to tease out its complex aromas and flavours ? a floral, winey vanilla note on the nose and sumptuous oily fruit, rich dark chocolate, peat and salt on the palate.
Craggenmore Raw Cask 1989 (15 year old) 57.9% £48.95
Cask No 1970
A clean, extremely saline nose, it hits the senses as straight as an arrow with fresh citrus, vanilla oak along with a touch of earth, herbs and slight toffee. Very dry and intense on the palate, lovely soft, oily exotic fruit, malt and coal smoke, water makes the fruit even juicier and really brings out its saline character. Very long finish with coffee notes.
ISLAY
Caol Ila Raw Cask 1990 (15 year old) 57.3% £50.95
Finished in ex-Glen Grant Sherry Cask. Cask No 4162
Superb nose. Clean and very soot, bracingly coastal fresh, oozing sherry richness with peat and a superb depth of earthy fruit. Water brings out the spicy orange fruit along with a chocolaty richness and heather aromas. Dry, soft and silky (even without water), full bodied, the sooty-peat flavours hit the palate first followed by floods of fruit and coastal bonfires, bacon and roasted meats, water softens it even more, really bringing out its fruitiness and coastal notes, pushing the smoke and peat into the background. Superb length and complex, a thoroughly engaging dram.
Smoking Islay 55% £37.95 (*)
This is a mystery single cask bottling. Technically it is a vatted malt from an Islay distillery and quite interesting it is too. Quite intense
earthy-peat bouquet with smoke, candied orange, clean oak, barley sugar & a slight floral violet note. On the palate there is a depth of smoky bourbon oak, cerealy fruit, reminiscent of ‘off the still’ Bruichladdich and a return of the smoke and peat on the middle. A drop of water smoothes out the spirit and brings forth sweet citrus fruit, apricot, barley, malt and spices. Lovely length and tangy finish.
Blackadder Peat Reak 46% £26.95
Heavily Peated Coal Ila.
Very clean and floral with youthful violets, peas and juniper aromas, with lots of peat, smoke, coal and ground coffee. Dry and youthful on the palate with peat, peat and more peat, plus a bit of smoke for good measure. Intense and tangy, it does exactly what it says on the tin!
MULL
Ledaig Raw Cask 1992 (13 year old) 46.1% £42.95
Cask 123
How did it get down to this abv in 13 years? A beguiling, quite oily nose with lots of wood aromas ? coconut, banana followed by oily spiced fruit, a mere whiff of sweet peat and vanilla oaked citrus fruits. Med-dry on the palate again quite oily, med bodied with the wood flavours initially dominating ? toffee, spices, coconut, then comes the citrus fruit and it begins to remind me of the linseed oil flavours of Guyana Rum. Lovely length with a delicate peatiness, tangy alcohol and a long length with dried fruit and coffee notes
ARRAN
Lochranza Arran Raw Cask 1996 (8 year old) 55.8% £39.95
Cask No 34
Light, clean and youthfully playful on the nose. Floral with violets, malt, orange, coastal and earthy aromas. Dry, light bodied initially a fleeting sweetness gives way to crisp malt, citrus lime, butter-cream and nutty flavours. Very smooth alcohol with a slight twang of sea air. Water really brings out its perfumed, nutty, floralness and emphasises its butter/ cream/ toffee/ salty character
JURA
Jura Raw Cask 1990 (15 year old) £50.95
Finished in ex-Longmorn Sherry Cask. Cask No 1640
Quite a shy, backward nose, there is an impression of a weight of big, juicy, sherried citrus fruits and smoke waiting to scream “You’ve been Jura’d??” A drop of water unleashes the aromas, bringing about a dramatic transformation, and boy are they expressive and voluptuous. Soft, med-sweet on the palate, juicy, spiced sherry, earth, smoke and a gentle peat build to a tangy crescendo, leaving mouth watering spicy fruit and smoke lingering. Water softens and pacifies this wild beastie, mellowing its spicy fruit and bringing out its smoky side.
DEWAR RATTAY
Dewar Rattray was founded in 1868 by Andrew Dewar and William Rattray in Glasgow. The company originally imported French wines, Italian spirits and olive oils as well as holding stocks of both malt and grain whiskies which were the basis of its two Scotch Liqueur whiskies, Hero and Glenburn. It also acted as West of Scotland Sales Agent for a number of Highland Malt Distilleries one of which was Stronachie.
In the early 1950s the company moved away from bottling wines and spirits and its primary purpose today is to blend and store bulk Scotch Whisky, primarily malts which range from the 1989 distillation. Today Dewar Rattray is in the capable hand of Tim Morrison, who after the sale of Bowmore to the Japanese a couple of years ago decided to resurrect the Stronachie blend.
Morrison enquired about the Stronachie trademark and found that it had fallen into abeyance, so he bought the rights to the name. By coincidence an original bottle of Stronachie 12-year-old 1904 appeared in the salesroom of McTear?s in Glasgow in 2001. The story became more complicated than a normal bidding ceremony, as the bottle had been dropped and damaged by the auctioneers, who had to purchase it from the owners. So Morrison was able to offer McTears “a sizeable four-figure sum” (at the upper end of this price scale) to take it off their hands. As far as he is aware, this bottle is one of only three in existence (the other two are in Japan and Germany).
Small samples were drawn from the 1904 bottle, tasted and given a detailed flavour profile. He then had to find a good replica that bore some resemblance to the spirit he had tasted. He analysed hundreds of casks and conveniently found a 12-year-old single malt from another Highland distillery in his filling stocks which was similar to the original Stronachie.
Aside from this he has selected a number of single casks which he believed were of a significant quality to bottle under the Dewar Rattay label. As you will see from the tasting notes below some are exceptionally good and I have decided to shoe horn them into the range. The only couple I have not chosen to list is their 15 year old Mortlach, which was pleasant, but possibly a touch on the simple side, and their 16 year old Macallan. This wasn’t omitted due to quality, it was quite interesting but having several Macallan’s in the list I couldn’t see any room for it. So on to the ones that made it.
Benrinnes 14 year old 59.3% £39.95
Clean, quite a floral lowlandesque nose with citrus fruits, and grass, slightly spirity with nuts, creamy vanilla and a winey note. Dry on the palate opening with crisp, clean malt, grass and citrus fruits. The oak arrives on the middle and finishes with a lovely nutty finale. A touch of water brings out an aromatic creamy lemon note along with hints of spice and salt. On the palate it sweetens it, giving depth to its delicate flavours. A lovely aperitif malt.
Benraich 15 year old 59.9% £38.95
Clean, fresh and youthful aromas of perfumed, spicy orange fruit and dusky spices arise from the glass. This whisky is quite light but has a superb depth with earthy nuances. It has a deft balance of dry-sweet aromas and liquefied orange fruit. Med-dry on the palate with a rich entry of cereal and malt. Deep and viscous, loaded with naturally sweet citrus fruits, honey and spices, which build nicely. Soft yet tangy alcohol and an intensely spicy middle. Superb length with a drying finish. Water bring out a touch of oak on the nose but doesn’t really add much to the already complex palate, thus ideally it should be drunk neat.
Strathmill 15 year old 63.5% £39.95
Wow, a lovely nose, slightly youthful but showing signs of mellowing. Awesome amounts of juicy, sweet liqueur like orange fruits, quite oily with a slight floral/ grassy note. Considerably more delicate than the Duncan Taylor bottling, but just as good. Med-dry on the palate with lots of spices – cloves, cinnamon, then comes waves of intense, drying orange fruit, cereals and more mouth watering spices, finishing with a touch of vanilla and a dry wineyness. Water emphasises its winey character and brings out an earthy note. On the palate it softens it, but retains its refreshing oily freshness.
Invergordon Single Grain 40 year old 52.1% £84.95
Wow, wow and again wow! It has been awhile since I was truly blown away by a whisky, but this one does. Oily, lusciously fruity almost Bourbon whisky like. Is this really 40? The aromas are so extraordinary and complex they are quite difficult to pin down, but here goes (deep breath!) – sweet corn, very creamy apricot, new oak-ish aromas, it reminds me of a heavily oaked desert wine, hugely spicy with natural caramel and coconut. This was an incredibly cask. On the palate it is med-dry, crisp, mature, again quite Bourbon like with cereal, corn, lovely soft, mature dried fruit, a touch rum like on the middle, tangy yet soft alcohol, lashings of oily orange, apricot, late harvested oaked fruit. A simply superb length, luscious, sweet and lasting. I think I can still taste those spices.
BRUICHLADDICH LINKS SERIES
The latest release in the Links Series is the ‘St Andrews Swilcan Bridge’, and once again has a lable bearing the art of Greame W Baxter, the world’s leading golf artist. Not being a golfing person the lable dipicts the Swilcan Bridge looking up towards the 18th Hole. The whisky is bottled in 500ml bottles and is a mix of lightly and medium peated malt of varying ages which has been matured exclusively in bourbon casks. This bottling is limited to 6000 bottles, but unlike the earlier ones, it will not be numbered. It will retail for ?20.95, and at the time of writing I have not tasted it but I would imagine that it will be of their usual high standard.
MURRAY McDAVID MISSON V
Now, as I said earlier I am going to have to convince you to buy these. I know what you are thinking, that these luxury bottlings arrive with an alarming regularity, but if you are a fan of harmonious whiskies that are challenging and all have distinct fazes in the evolution on the tongue. Without exception they all have a discernable start, middle and finish, all set against the cleanest, most enticing oak that I have ever tasted, then you must taste them. Another good reason is the price. When the Misson Series was first released they were coming in at around ?100 per bottle, but know you can pick up the splendid 31 year old Glenlivet for the relative bargain price of ?73.95.
Jim has once again been playing with the wood finishes and I always approach these types of whiskies with caution, because, for me personally sometimes the wood finish tends to completely mask the distillery character. A case in point is the Springbank Port finish, which some people, Jim Murray included seem to love, but it just left me cold, the finish had completely swamped the whisky. When it is subtly done, as in the second edition Bruichladdich 20 year old it can add another dimension to the an already complex malt. So where am I going with all of this, well I have never tasted a port wood finished Macallan or a Grenache finished Auchtentoshan, and I have to say that the Macallan really does it for me, yet I struggled with the Auchtentoshan, I am not sure whether I really like it or not and I’m ashamed to say that I also struggled with the 3rd edition Bruichladdich 20 year old too.
Rosebank 1989 (16 year old) 46% £60.95
Clean and very aromatic. It opens with wild aromas of heathery moorlands, slightly grassy with lots of complex flower aromas, like walking through a cottage garden, followed by apricot, barley and sweet earthy vanilla oak. Dry, light-medium bodied, quite robust for a Lowland. Sweet vanilla apricot and garden scented sweet fruit begin the proceedings, along with waves of delightful oak soaked, almost tropical fruit, pineapple, melon and peach. Very long with a fresh tanginess and a touch of salt. Seamless and complex. I would rate it as the best expression from the distillery that I have tasted.
Macallan 1986 (18 year old) Port Wood Finish £64.95
A clean, subtle, yet immense nose. It opens with lots of ripe, clean cherry fruit floating above a crisp cereal and vanilla base with spices, liqueur seeped stoned cherries, peach, dried fruit, crystallized orange. Complex, you aren’t kidding, all the while the port notes dangle on the edge of this superb malt. Dry on the palate with a sensuous, luscious sweetness, full of soft cherry fruit conserve, a touch of wood tannins, spice and vanilla. The mid palate is truly sensational, all mouth-watering and spicy with a creamy/ glycerol mouth coating intensity and finally the American oak put in an appearance in the after taste. This malt just clings to the mouth and refuses to leave. Absolutely stunning.
Linkwood 1983 (22 year old) 46% £65.95
Wow. This has to be my favourite, especially on the nose. It is inviting, dripping in honeyed cereals, butterscotch and pineapple, along with apricot and ripe pear. Big and sturdy with a slight heathery floralness and loads of sumptuous fresh, homemade vanilla custard. Dry, medium bodied, soft, succulent and very sexy, overflowing with ripe apricot fruit, heather, spices and the mellowest, softest oak imaginable. Absolutely stunning, seamless with a lovely mid palate resplendent with sweet cereal and pure custard. Very long and richly satisfying.
Auchentoshan 1981 (24 year old) Grenache Cask Finish 46% £65.95
Ripe and clean with rich apricot fruits mingling with dusky spices, golden syrup, honey, cereal and sweet vanilla fudge. After awhile plum and wine soaked raisins drift in, but on the edge is this slight vegetal note which detracts a bit. Dry, soft, smooth and extremely succulent. The palate abounds with rich, spicy red fruits and apricot followed by a floral, flower petal intensity (almost like licking rose petals!). Very long and incredibly spicy with luxurious light syrup coated fruits, and a long classy finish. Great quality spirit, just taste it and judge for yourself and make your own mind up.
Glenturret 1978 (27 year old) 46% £72.95
A lovely shimmering gold colour. Clean and quite weighty on the nose with the rich fruit quick to assert itself, followed by crisp cereal, fudge, natural caramel and vanilla. I could sniff this all day. Underneath the oak lurks a depth of spicy citrus fruit, melon, pear, apricot and cooked apple all lusciously dripping in the softest honeyed vanilla imaginable. Dry and clean on the palate with the ultra clean, soft and smooth vanilla oak engulfing the slightly smoky succulent fruit. Mouth-filling and complex with apricot and natural toffee, along with cooked apple, spice and salt notes in the finish. Very long and very rewarding.
Glenlivet 1974 (31 year old) 46% £73.95
Clean, crisp and slightly estery with light cream and vanilla giving way to the ripest summer berries and barley sugar followed by hints of lemon and lime and an enticing spicy perfumed note, then it is back to the heavier almond, coconut and vanilla notes. Dry, medium bodied, very elegant with a complex intensity of vanilla, soft fruit, spices, coconut and almonds. The spice builds on the middle and fades leaving a soft barley sugar finish with a crisp salty freshness. All the time you are aware of the background of quality American oak. Stunning balance, gentle and very, very complex.
AND FINALLY A SNEAK PREVIEW
So the sneak preview was of two imminent realises, one being the 3rd edition Bruichladdich 20 year old and a 1996 (9 year old) Glen Spey. So what is unusual with these, well this time they have been finished in ex-Madeira Casks, and I would imagine that they once held either Boal or Malmsey Madeira. I have agonised over how to approach this and I have decided to just be truthful. And the truth is that (and I really hate to say this) I am not sure if I really like them. There is no denying the quality of the sprits, I just think that the Glen Spey is like the Springbank Port wood finish – the intensity of the Madeira completely swamps any distillery character. It is not so bad in the Bruichladdich because it has the maturity to push through all that wood character – eventually. Once again I would like to say that I have absolutely no issue with the quality of either of these two spirits, the guys at Bruichladdich would say that it was all about the quality of the wood, but damn it I like a to taste some distillery character in my malts, otherwise it could just be labelled “Madeira/Port/Sherry Cask finished Malt of no particular origin”.
I believe that they will be appreciated by customers who like this sort of malt. All I can say is that I recommend that if you give them a try and draw your own conclusion. I think I’m just going to have to try them again! – just to check, of course!
Bruichladdich 3rd Edition 20 year old 46% £TBC
Clean, obviously mature aromas from the rich Madeira cask greet the nose, displaying a wealth of mature dried fruit, figs and sweet fruit, then the coastal freshness of the Laddie just below the surface with its crisp honeysuckle and clean oak notes. Very soft on the palate, juicy and sexy with dried fruit, figs, California raisins and spiced fruitcake. Oily and weighty with some wood tannins. Then the coastal fresh malt and fruit just about comes through and definitely lingers with hints of herbs, coffee and ginger bread. The Madeira certainly adds a weight to the malt and new flavours kept popping up after I’d finished writing the tasting note. This is very different and a worthy experiment which will interest a lot of customers.
Murray McDavid Glen Spey 1996 (9 year old) 46% £TBC
Clean, very sweet aromas of rich, spiced dried fruit, crystallized oranges, toffee and coffee. Somewhere beneath all this Madeira laden fruit there is some tangy spirit and a hint of vanilla oak. Medium bodied, again rather sweet with the juicy Madeira dried fruit dominating the palate, along with a touch of rich shortcake biscuits and a suggestion of plums and vanilla. It is really quite monstrous, showing great cask selection, and I couldn’t get away from the shortcake flavours. It is definitely one not for the purists, and I suppose that is exactly what the guys want. It is for those who want to experiment and want a sweet dram for after dinner.
Ok that’s it for now. If you have any comments, or would like to purchase any of these bottling, please drop me a line to the usual address.
Sincerely
Chris Goodrum
Visit Gauntleys at http://www.gauntley-wine.co.uk/
