www.ralfy.com re-reviews and considers the changes with Whisky Review 432 – Caol Ila 12yo malt re-reviewed

Springbank Distillery 21y/o 46% 2014

Colour: Pure Gold

Nose: A creamy delight. The soft richness of this classic dram provides the backdrop for toffee and cereal notes, interspersed with bursts of freshly picked strawberries and ripe watermelon.

Palate: Robust and steadfast. A dry creamy oiliness points to the Fino Sherry casks used in maturation while background maritime influences demonstrate this is a true Campbeltown Malt. Sugared almonds are heavily present as well as a dash of cinnamon.

Finish: Creamy with an evolving length which coats the mouth and finally gives up it’s peaty origins.

 
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Late February Outturn Offerings

Cask No. 121.65 $130

A well-oiled Baseball glove

Highland, Island

There is right at the start a musty note of fermenting grapes which is soon replaced by sweet aromas of fudge, molasses, caramelised Demerara sugar and treacle. In addition some spiciness and the vinous character reminded us of a Muscat wine or Oloroso Dulce Sherry. The taste split the Panel; some got struck matches followed by cooking Sherry whilst others enjoyed flavours of hazelnuts and roasted chestnuts combined with dried apricots and bitter orange chocolate. With water; lighter fluid and lamp oil moved quickly on to nut oil, stewed red fruits and honey on baked pears. The taste is salted liquorice, raisins, duck terrine and a hint of turmeric; someone described it as a ‘well-oiled Baseball glove’.

Drinking tip: Watching the ‘World Series’ of the MLB

Colour: Vin Santo Italian dessert wine

Cask: Refill Sherry butt

Age: 14 years

Date distilled: July 1999

Alcohol: 58.3%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Cask No. 23.73 $110

The Vital Spark’s engine room

Islay

Mineralic and nose-drying (a dry beach), then scents of mouthwash, bandages, antiseptic cream which increase in strength until they become a full-blown First Aid kit, while at the same time becoming sweeter, like salt-water taffy. The taste, straight, is very dry after a sweet and salty start, with a spicy finish. Water introduces a grubby, old-fashioned engine room (maritime, with exhaust fumes). ‘Hard salt Swedish liquorice’ was also noted. The taste is now lightly sweet and salty, with a whiff of holy smoke. From the distillery which brought us ‘Yellow Submarine’.

Drinking tip: After an industrial accident

Colour: Golden sunlight

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 11 years

Date distilled: July 2002

Alcohol: 61.5%

USA allocation: 90 bottles

Cask No. 48.37 $95

Real Old Fashioned Lemonade

Speyside, Spey

First to note is the oiliness of the sample with very slow thick legs almost hanging on the side of the glass. Initially a very dusty sour dough rye bread developing with time into a freshly baked fruit malt loaf. Further aromas are of an earthy garden theme at springtime with bursts of angelica and fresh mint leafs appearing. The taste carries on with this sweet herbal theme; cinnamon sticks in dried oranges, nutmeg and an empire biscuit decorated with a glace cherry. With little water sweeter and fruiter like a lemon cordial or a lemon drizzle cake and the additional freshness of a bar of Mint Aero. The taste is now a lemon meringue pie and real old fashioned lemonade.

Drinking tip: When the sun is over the yardarm

Colour: Olive oil

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 9 years

Date distilled: March 2004

Alcohol: 58.6%

USA allocation: 72 bottles

Cask No. 64.46 $120

Rice Pudding with clotted cream

Speyside, Lossie

The first impression neat on the nose is of fresh cut grass and morning dew on green leaves in early springtime. Fruity and sweet notes develop; apple bubble gum, raspberry cream cheese tart and strawberry jam doughnuts. In the taste crystallised sweet pineapple cubes, candied orange and citrus peel and pink grapefruit sprinkled with sugar. In the medium length finish there is a bitter but pleasant aftertaste some describing it as the quinine in tonic water others as a soluble Aspirin. With water the aromas are less intense, unripe blueberries, an empty sweet jar and apricot jam. The taste is best described as minimalistic but very pleasant, sweet like a rice pudding with clotted cream and a very dry finish.

Drinking tip: As an aperitif instead of a Fino Sherry

Colour: Polished new brass

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 12 years

Date distilled: March 2001

Alcohol: 56.7%

USA allocation: 90 bottles

Cask No. 70.8 $90

Youthful and zesty – yet complex

Highland, Northern

Youthful whisky at its best – nosing of cut grass, delicate florals, dry white wine and lemon sherbet – attractively spring-like, but also complex – pencil shavings, clove, vanilla, crème brûlée and eventually liquorice. The palate showed a good personality – marzipan and honey sweetness, grapefruit and lemon zestiness, plenty of fruit (apple, grape, blackcurrant) some slate mineral notes and substantial heat leaving a mellow after-glow. The reduced nose seemed sweeter – pear juice, American Cream Soda and Jolly Ranchers. The palate increased the wood and flint notes but became milder, the heat more a tingle and less of a nip. Nearest distillery to Glenmorangie.

Drinking tip: The attractive, light zesty character would make this a good spring or summer aperitif

Colour: Buttery, lemon gold

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 7 years

Date distilled: May 2006

Alcohol: 59.4%

USA allocation: 102 bottles

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society at http://www.smwsa.com/

Whisky Tasting 

WHAT 5 choice drams from William Cadenheads new bottling program, all single cask, cask strength, non-chillfiltered and naturally coloured 

WHERE at The Kilderkin, 65/67 Canongate, Royal Mile, Edinburgh 

WHEN on Friday 21st February at 7.30pm 

DETAILS  £22 for first timers and members or £25 ffor returning non-members, membership cost £10 for 13 months 

Auchentoshan 21yo 1992 – 02/14 162 bottles 51.8% Bourbon barrel

Canadian Indian Corn from Potters Distilling Company, Kelowna, British Columbia 24yo 126 bottles 56.5%

Laphroaig 22yo 1991 – 02/14 168 bottles 49.8% Bourbon hogshead

Tamdhu-Glenlivet 22yo 1991 – 02/14 258 bottles 57.0% port cask

Glenlossie-Glenlivet 20yo 1993 – 02/14 Bourbon hogshead 252 bottles 53.3% 

http://www.jollytopertastings.co.uk/

UK vlogger Joe Ellis from Whisky Wednesday reviews Bruichladdich The Laddie 10

http://youtu.be/9TXcfdqx8fE

http://Facebook.com/whiskytube

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

A wee story by Paul McLean, of MCLEANSCOTLAND & ANGELS WHISKY CLUB  on his journey to Finland, for the Helsinki Uisge whisky festival 2014.

I left Scotland at 5.30 Wednesday morning from Aberdeen airport, flying to Frankfurt – if you can help it, do not ever fly there!  The airport is so large and so much walking, stairs up and down between gates for connecting flights, you do not get enough time to get from a to b! Crowds of people fighting to get into a lift, to save them walking 3 flights of stairs! A nightmare, compounded by some German travellers who were really rude and pushing into lines awaiting check in, I almost had an argument with one rude pusher – inn!  Never again will I use Frankfurt! – having all of 15 minutes to get to another part of the airport for my flight to Helsinki.  I must also state the refreshments on Lufthanasa are shocking. A two hour flight; we were given a stale, hard piece of pizza on crisp bread (that you could crack a window with) and a drink. Goodbye Lufthanasa! On my return flight we had a sandwich, one round of bread cut in two with cheese salad. Anyhow, I arrived into Helsinki, much better airport, to find my friend Mika waiting for me. A taxi into the city took half an hour and I checked into the hotel, before sharing a drink or two in the Irish pub next door. Molly Malone’s pub, I ordered two pints of Kilkenny beer, shock horror – it was a Scouser (Liverpool) behind the bar! Good lad so he was. But – 15 euros for 2 pints!!!  That evening I met up again with Mika, who took me along to a pre planned whisky tasting event.  It was a tasting of 8 drams, all winners in their festival event, some faces I knew, well attended, from tours to Scotland. Also there Ingvar Ronde, editor of the Malt Whisky Yearbook, first time we had met, he was a good guy, we got on famously! A good night, the surprise of the night; Famous Grouse naked, won the blend! The Naked Grouse is a blended Scotch whisky matured in the very best first fill sherry casks. The label was removed from the bottle with the grouse left subtly embossed into the bottle to allow the naked stock to speak for itself.

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Day 2; Thursday the festival starts. I was there early with Ingvar (we shared a table) to set up our stand, we arrived at 1.30, plenty of time to set up and donder around seeing who else was there … och I knew a few people, the first I spotted was Stewart Buchanan of BenRiach, I know Stewart from years ago, a good Muilach (person from the Isle of Mull) presenting drams from Glenglassaugh, BenRiach and GlenDronach, I did partake! Lots of others there I said hello to, before the “gates opened” at 3pm. Saying that, at 2pm VIP and media came in.  Ending at 10.30 it was a busy day! Back to the hotel, a chat re a forthcoming tour with Ingvar and then away to ma bed!  The feet were happy to do this.

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Day 3; Friday – the busiest day of the festival, it was packed out, from 3pm to 10.30 rushed off our feet, so many questions, so many faces, people I did not know, some I did from past tours, some fun with them at least broke the hard work!  Plenty of sampling took place, we were given a 15 year old Tobermory for our table, we had to “sell” drams for vouchers, I must admit, 3 euros for a 1cl dram seemed a lot to me, but – maybe we sold half a bottle?  Thing was, anyone could get the same dram on the Interbrands stand at the same cost. The whisky is matured in Gonzalez Byass Oloroso sherry casks and the casks mature on the mainland before travelling back to Mull for the final year before bottling. It was a long day broken by some ventures out into the fray, Ingvar and I took turns to wander about, we also had help on the stand from the people next door; Malt Whisky Association of Finland, a big thanks to them. At the end of the Friday, stand came down and I headed back to Mika’s house for the next 3 nights. Very good of him! With so many brands and stands, including rum, there were many people I made new contacts with, too numerous to mention and it would not be right as some were better contacts than others.

Teerenpeli Distillery, Finland. Produce a couple of single malts, I brought a very good sherry finish home (or should I say a sherry Finnish?), a 10 year old single ex bourbon @ 58.5% living cask. www.taivaanranta.com/teerenpeli_tislaamo  They also produce good beer!  Tried it! Teerenpeli means “mating game” so I was told.  I also tried the Swedish whisky; Mackmyra – it would start with a “mac” eh! They focus on care, craftsmanship looking beyond the traditional approach, another good dram I tried.  Mackmyra Whisky is the new generation of Swedish whisky, made using Swedish ingredients without additives. Small casks of 30 and 100 litres create an intense maturation while the Swedish oak contributes prominent spice as we store whisky in a constant temperature, 50 meters deep into the ground in the Bodås mine.

Many others were good Scots and Irish drams, a Japanese and some others lost in my mind! Some highlights; Weymss whole range, Bowmore Devils dram was excellent, they ran out!  Being an Angel myself; I just had to try it! The Devil himself once visited Islay and hid in a Bowmore church. But, because the Devil is silly, he hid in a round church which had “no corner for the Devil to hide in”. He was chased out and ran to the Bowmore distillery where he hid inside a barrel on its way to the mainland. So now his spirit haunts the spirit in this bottling! Tasting of Christmas cakes. Warm dark fruits and chocolate. We take tours to Islay of course, including the kirk.  Jamesons, the lovely Caroline gave me a dram or three, I do like Irish whiskey – and the coleen’s. Kilbeggan was also sampled (a large one). The Highland Park Freya was making its world debut at the show, it was a really nice dram, but I think a wee bit costly.  Martin was kind enough to come over with a slug of it for me to try.  By the way, the food was very good at the event. Valhalla Collection, the latest edition has now arrived – Highland Park Freya.  After Thor and Loki, the folks at Highland Park decided a softer approach with Freya. Highland Park refer to her as ‘The Fair One’, and look to the aspects of her character focused on love and wisdom. She’s also a war goddess who rode out to battle to choose half of the warrior dead to join her in the afterlife of Fólkvangr rather than Odin’s Valhalla. Highland Park have focused on her feather cloak, said in some texts to be the cause of the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis. So, what will be the final dram? Valhalla itself? Odin??? Who knows?

I returned home to Scotland on the Monday. But before I left I shared a few days out with Mika and Anders, seeing more of Helsinki and surrounding areas, many thanks to both of them.

Summary of Helsinki whisky festival;  It proved expensive for a poor Scot, prices are high for everything. I saw many weird and wonderful facial hair styles in Helsinki, Charlie Maclean would have been proud of them! Plaited beards, weird handlebar tashes, if I go again I would choose summer, even the water surrounding Helsinki was frozen! Ma poor feet took a battering, it would be nice to see more world whiskies there next year. All credit to Mika for organising this event, it went smoothly and very well. I would recommend anyone to attend.

Paul McLean; www.mcleanscotland.com  www.angelswhiskyclub.com

www.ralfy.com examines the branding of official bottling flavour profiles with Whisky Review 431 – Caol Ila 25yo single malt @43%