Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America July Sale 2011 Outturn Offerings

Garden in the Glen

Cask No. 9.59    
Highlands, Speyside (Rothes)

The unexpected nose said ‘surprise!’ with the rich weighty sweetness of Sauternes fruits (honey, banana, peachy and sugar), brioche and marzipan. Millionaire shortbread brought a traditional bakery alongside custard doughnuts, cookie dough and runny honey. The neat palate revealed a subtle explosion; “malty gold dust” said the Leither. Sweet and sour, the taste was feisty with rhubarb and custard, candy floss, dried raspberries and Edinburgh rock – “all the fun of the fair”. Also Manzanilla sherry and schezuan. The reduced nose became fruitier and floral with elderflower and cherry blossom. The reduced palate was warm with hot chestnuts and German pan fried roasted almonds coated with sugar. Pistachio ice cream and cherry sauce lingered. This distillery is renowned for its beautiful Victorian garden.

Drinking tip: Outdoors in a blossoming garden

Colour: Blonde-gold    
Cask: Refill hogshead    
Age: 13 years    
Date distilled: April 1997
Alcohol: 58.2%

$110

Barley sugars rolled in ash

Cask No. 16.30    
Highlands, Eastern Highlands

The nose delivered dried fruits, treacle, dandelion and burdock, belly pork roasted with brown sugar and much later salt and hot stones; one panellist got a hint of soap. The unreduced palate had sweet tobacco, slightly burnt buttered toast and dark barley sugars rolled in ash; the after-taste was fairly spicy. The reduced nose had crème caramel, Hessian and dark honey. The reduced palate was very sweet but with a darker, drier, tannic edge – lavender, fruity jam, sherry, sweet onion chutney – eventually going back to an echo of the roast pork. The old distillery cat could easily match Mighty Mouse.

Drinking tip: After dinner with coffee

Colour: Deep honey gold   
Cask: Second-fill hogshead   
Age: 22 years    
Date distilled: November 1988
Alcohol: 51.6%

$145

Islay twinned with Algarve

Cask No. 23.67    
Islay, Loch Indaal

The nose whispered delicate perfumes (buttercups, snowdrops, spring flower meadows above sea cliffs); also coconut, cream soda and McVitie’s Gold Bars. Even in reduction we found this nose sexily seductive, with sweet tobacco, sherbet straws, vanilla and mimosa flowers nodding in the warm breeze – like a twinning of the Islay and Algarve landscapes! The unreduced palate had delicious sweet heat – Berwick Cockles and white chocolate with pink peppercorns – we also found heather flowers, bog myrtle, seaweed and white peach. With water it developed Parma ham and leather, salt, smoke, wood sap and Chablis. This distillery’s name means ‘the brae on the shore’ in Gaelic.

Drinking tip: Ideally on a hill, overlooking a beach at sunset

Colour: Platinum gold    
Cask: Refill barrel    
Age: 8 years    
Date distilled: July 2002
Alcohol: 62.5%

$85

Honeyed fruits

Cask No. 125.44    
Highlands, Northern Highlands

Orange blossom, ginger, almonds, and vanilla pods were the Panels first impressions but also notes of leather, coconuts, lily-of-the-valley, fresh herbs – thyme, rosemary and oregano, freshly baked shortbread and white balsamic vinegar. To taste the Panel found a wonderful mix of hot, syrupy lemons, oranges and peaches combined with black pepper, tobacco and nutmeg. The addition of water released the fruits – peaches, apricots, lychees, kiwis (a Del Monte fruit pot someone suggested) all covered in honey; to taste it was sweet, creamy, mouth coating with a lovely nutmeg, root ginger and cinnamon spice. This distillery’s water is drawn from the Tarlogie Springs.

Drinking tip: An anywhere anytime type of dram

Colour: Champagne gold   
Cask: First-fill barrel    
Age: 10 years    
Date distilled: February 2000
Alcohol: 55.9%

$95

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