April 2013 Outturn Offerings
The Antagonist
Cask No. 76.85 $115
Speyside, Spey
The intriguing nose had candied fruit pieces, lemon, brown sugar and crushed mint leaves; also figs and dates, sultana cake. Lime and pickles, curry leaves and oxo cubes brought savoury contrasts. The neat palate was hot and sweet – treacle toffee and heather honey; Granny Smith apples brought freshness. With water, the nose became more floral; poppies, elderflower and plum, blackberry jam and maple syrup, banana and walnut oil. Also truffle oil and squash. The reduced palate brought thoughts of the vineyard – grape skins and must, Poire William eau de vie and black tea tannins drying out on the tongue. The distilling water comes from the Conval hills and cooling water from the river Dullan.
Drinking tip: Enjoy with good friends –preferably at a Society venue
Colour: Honey gold Date distilled: July 1995
Cask: First-fill Sherry butt Alcohol: 55.2%
Age: 15 years USA allocation: 168 bottles
A cooper’s apron on a fishing boat
Cask No. 4.156 $145
Highland, Island
We found the nose curious – toasted pine nuts, toffee, marmite on toast, orange, lemon (squeezed over fish?) cider vinegar, forest floor after rain and muted wood smoke. Fruity aromas dominated with water – apricot jam, hard pears and apples – also refreshers, wet sails, oilskins and hemp rope – strangely maritime. The unreduced palate brought a wee tear to the eye with deep resonances of treacle toffee, charred wood, burnt heather sprigs, leather and oak (someone suggested ‘a cooper’s apron’). The reduced palate evoked tobacco, Balmoral sauce, heather, oily ropes and ‘smoked jelly babies’ – leaving pleasant tingles after. The distillery stands above Kirkwall.
Drinking tip: After gardening or before fishing
Colour: Shiny straw Date distilled: May 1991
Cask: Refill hogshead Alcohol: 53.5%
Age: 20 years USA allocation: 114 bottles
Passion-fruit scented candles
Cask No. 26.87 $105
Highland, Northern
Complex, warmly inviting – the nose enveloped us in fresh grass, sea breezes, lemon, honey, white pepper, rosewater, jasmine and ‘passion-fruit scented candles in a wooden box’. The immediate taste had sweet, waxy, lemony, citric flavours, but hot and slightly bitter too, like star-fruit sprinkled with chilli. The nose turned fruitier with water – stewed apple, candied fruits, boiled sweets and ‘banana in a raincoat pocket’. The reduced palate seemed sweeter, with candy canes, fruit syrup, lemon meringue and sweet coconut; still with its refreshing side – green twigs, lime and aniseed tingles in the finish. The distillery name means ‘sloped garden’.
Drinking tip: Between courses at a special dinner
Colour: Ripe pear gold Date distilled: April 2000
Cask: Refill hogshead Alcohol: 58.1%
Age: 12 years USA allocation: 108 bottles
Ducks and geese
Cask No. 39.84 $145
Speyside, Lossie
Scented face cream is soon succeeded by Murraymints, with more than a hint of fennel. The toffee note increases towards ‘glazed duck’, with orange cream dark chocolates. The taste is rich and sweet then dry (‘crispy duck skin’), with traces of tobacco in the lengthy finish. With water the nose becomes fattier (‘the duck has become a goose’), with scents of orange peel and fresh herbs – rosemary, basil, cardamom – now ‘duck a l’orange’? The texture is more viscous, and lightly mouth-cooling, with a sweet start and a bitter chocolate finish, with orange peel and tobacco in the aftertaste. This was the distillery where all the cobwebs were replaced after a still had been repaired.
Drinking tip: Watching cricket after lunch with a good cigar
Colour: Burnished copper Date distilled: October 1990
Cask: Refill hogshead Alcohol: 48.0%
Age: 21 years USA allocation: 84 bottles
Remnants after the Rain
Cask No. 127.23 $90
Islay
He comes across a city in the desert; the tops of the skyscrapers are hidden in a cloud of sweet smelling smoke. He’s had these trainers on a little too long. Steam rises from the streets, the rain has gone. Either side is packed with rundown shops: there’s a fruit stall hawking pineapples, peaches and passion fruits, all just the wrong side of ripe; a Chinese restaurant roasts ducks on a spit; a cart on the corner is piled high with salted cashews and an ice cream van is parked up, its jingle long silenced. He can taste it all. Our hero just puts some sweet tobacco in his mouth and keeps on walking…
Drinking tip: For exploring personalities
Colour: Clarified Butter Date distilled: June 2002
Cask: Refill barrel Alcohol: 65.7%
Age: 9 years USA allocation: 90 bottles
Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America at http://www.smwsa.com/
