Ledaig Dusgadh 42 – still life 

The now-retired stills at Tobermory
Every so often, a truly historic bottling comes along. One recent release that deserves that accolade is Ledaig Dùsgadh 42 Year Old.

The Isle of Mull’s sole distillery was reopened under the Ledaig name in 1972 after four decades of silence. Today known as Tobermory, the distillery’s former name is reserved for the peated whisky it produces.

500 bottles of Dùsgadh (Gaelic for ‘reawakening’) have been released, comprised of some of the first spirit to run from the then-new stills. It has been aged in a variety of casks, including the final 12 years in an oloroso sherry cask.

After 42 years, the stills were retired last year and this bottling has been released to commemorate their life. Some of the copper from them has been used in the handcrafted packaging, which includes a card entitling the buyer to a bottle of 10 Year Old Déanta (‘done’ in Gaelic), a whisky to be released in 2024 using some of the final spirit from the same stills.

Let’s see what it tastes like:

Ledaig Dusgadh 42 Year Old, 46.7%

Billy’s Tasting Notes

Nose: Big, rich, elegant and old. Polished oak tables sat on old oak floors, with forest floor notes behind – damp earth, green leaves and bark. Savoury notes dominate, with an umami meatiness taking centre stage, but there’s still a touch of marzipan sweetness with burnt raisins hiding in the wings. As it sits in the glass, some comparatively lighter notes develop, with apple juice, apple sauce and warm leather car seats appearing, along with spiced pastry and red berry compote.
Palate: Sweeter and oilier than expected from the nose, with a thick mouthfeel joined by butter icing, marzipan and candied apple. Spice builds, with clove and cinnamon giving a gentle tingle, before rich raisins and sticky black liquorice take over. From there things go savoury, with wood smoke and the forest notes from the nose balanced by lingering dark chocolate.
Finish: Spice and earthiness, with riverbank loam and green grass accompanied by black pepper. As the greenness hangs around, become sharp, before sweet liquorice builds and then fades, leaving a hint of anise and menthol.
Comment: Dense, with a lot to get through. It’s a dram you can spend a very long time on, and you will be well rewarded if you do. It has layers of flavour, going from the weighty to the very weighty, with a gentle seem of smoke running through the middle. You don’t often get to try a whisky of this old-school style, and it’s always a treat when you do.

I’ve been lucky to try many historic, cult or long-aged whiskies and sometimes they don’t live up to their reputation, but this one does. For an official bottling at more than 40 years of age, it’s reasonably priced, too. A superb tribute to the faithful stills that produced the distillery’s two brands for more than four decades.

MASTERCLASSES RESERVATION ONLINE

We know many of you are eagerly awaiting the masterclass schedule. Well, the wait is over. At ‘July 10’ the schedule will go online. And everyone ordered a Maltstock 2015 ticket will receive an e-mail with a link to the reservation page.

We have fantastic masterclasses lined up for you again. It will probably not be easy to choose your favourites. Simply use the reservation page (which is going to be emailed to all people who have ordered a Maltstock 2015 ticket) to let us know which masterclasses you would like to attend. And we will try our very best to make everybody happy again.

As always, the masterclasses are free at Maltstock.

MALTSTOCK CLOTHING

Do you want to be part of the next big trend in fashion?
Do you want to look just as relaxed as we do?
Do you want to look 10 pounds lighter?
Or do you just want to help us organizing Maltstock.

Then a good quality Maltstock polo must be something to your liking!

In about 2 weeks we will email the size options and other information.

The price will be only 32,49 euro.

More info will follow. Keep a close eye on your inbox.

BOCKJE BATHMEN BATTLES

Last year’s blind bottle battle was a relaxed success, “almost too” many bottles entered. This year we are back with another blind bottle battle! On top of that we have a second competition for you to participate in as well.

Competition No. 1
Bockje Bathmen Blind Bottle Battle
– All bottles can compete
– pre selection off 6 bottles by a counsil of wise men and women (other bottles are returned to their rightfull owners of course)
– Blind tasting by a jury of guests (details on how to apply will follow)

Prize: Braes of Glenlivet 25 years, Carn Mor
(sponsored by: Slijter Bockje uit Bathmen)

Competition No. 2
Bockje’s Fast Speaking Contest
Utter or sputter: ‘Bockje Bathmen Blind Bottle Battle’ as quick as lightning, flawless, three times in a row, and go home with !

Prize: a beautiful bottle of champagne
(sponsored by: Slijter Bockje uit Bathmen)

Agenda:
Festival season is over for us. However you still can have a dram with us at one of the Woest Genoegen Club Meetings in Nijmegen www.hetwoestgenoegen.nl for more info.

JULY TASTINGS & EVENTS

Steak & Whisky Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Mon 6 July  More >

Spirit of The Vaults – The Vaults – Fri 10 July   More >

Whisky Sensory Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Tue 14 July  More >

Whisky & Jazz with Stephen Duffy – 28 Queen Street – Fri 17 July  More >

Summer Seafood Tasting – The Vaults – Fri 24 July  More >

New Members’ Tasting – 19 Greville Street – Tue 28 July  More >

Birmingham Preview Tasting – Hotel du Vin – Fri 31 July More >

Durham Preview Tasting – Radisson Blu – Fri 31 July  More >

Stirling Preview Tasting – The Golden Lion Hotel – Fri 31 July  More >

Harrogate Preview Tasting – Hotel du Vin – Fri 31 July  More >

FREE ENTERTAINMENT AT THE VAULTS

Live Music with In The Mix >  Wed 8 July

Monday Night drop-in: Speyside Lovers Night >  Mon 13 July

Browse All Tastings >

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Glenlivet
42 Year Old 1973

Buy – $489.54

Summer’s in full swing and the July Outturn is full of tasty little numbers! Enjoy the bottle notes below and visit http://www.smws.ca/ for the full tasting notes:

Cask No. 123.10  Sweet treats on deck

9 years old; 1st fill barrel; 57.6%; Sweet, fruity & mellow

Fresh linen on board a freshly varnished yacht. Pear with vanilla ice cream and wafers. Butter icing, French fancies, iced gems. Elderflower cordial on warm, newly polished decking. Champagne tea with bread and butter pudding, chocolate truffles. Kick back, relax!

Cask No. 35.114  A Southern gentleman

19 years old; 1st fill toasted oak hogshead; 58.9%; Spicy & sweet

A slow start, then minty, with linseed and coconut oil, and a shake of white pepper – Rye whiskey character, which increases with water (macaroons, Bounty Bar), with spice. A sweet, soft taste (toasted marshmallows) and a warming finish.

Cask No. 121.74  A box of chocolates

14 years old; refill hogshead; 55.7%; Juicy, oak & vanilla

An emersion in sweets: Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers, Newberry Fruits (sugar-covered jellies), ‘mango cream fondant chocolates’, Thornton’s Summer Fruit Chocolates’, Maltesers, Bakewell tarts, croissant with raspberry jam… Finishing with peppermint Aero.

Cask No. G3.6  A fascinating reminder of a bygone era

33 years old; refill hogshead; 53.2%; Old & dignified

Deep aromatic sweet wood and leather aromas make this a very relaxing and comfortable dram on the nose. The taste neat is surprisingly smoky and ashy but soon followed by sweet, soft and floral aromas of chocolate honeycomb and muscovado sugar. Best enjoyed neat.

Cask No. 3.227  Tasty farmhouse cooking

16 years old; refill sherry butt; 56.4%; Lightly peated

Warm and rich aromas of a beef consommé poured into a rabbit casserole simmering on a wood burning stove. The taste is that of a rich tomato soup and honey roasted sweet potatoes. Water adds sweet earthy notes and the flavour is a tender pork stew with herb dumplings.

Cask No. 29.144  You gotta love this one

22 years old; refill hogshead; 51.2%; Peated

Peat smoke emerging from the pagoda and a beach barbecue with langoustines, scallops and crispy aromatic duck. Adding a drop of water and it becomes like a comfort blanket with flavours of tropical fruit salad and clean sweet peat smoke.

http://www.smws.ca/

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (June 30, 2015) – Buffalo Trace Distillery just completed two big construction projects, having finished a 5,500 square foot expansion of its Visitor Center and having completely renovated the historic Old Taylor House, the oldest structure on the Distillery’s property.

The Visitor Center

Buffalo Trace did a vertical expansion of its Visitor Center by expanding upward into the second floor where there is more room to grow as needed.

A newly constructed grand staircase made of white oak leads to the beautiful new space, which is complete with four additional tasting bar areas and a new meeting and event space. At the top of the grand staircase, guests are welcomed to the second floor by a huge mural of a landscape of the Distillery. A collection of historic article clippings and photos from the Distillery archives can also be viewed on the wall at the top of the stairs.

Future additions from the Distillery archives are already being planned for the second floor, including the construction of a vault. The vault will be built into the back wall to hold rare, old bottles and display them in a unique, interactive way for guests to view. Display cases featuring old bottles and artifacts will also be installed on the second floor, including one dedicated to the Single Oak Project.

By expanding upward, the first floor now has ample space for Gift Shop merchandise and features a new checkout counter and dedicated spirits space. Additionally, new bathrooms have been installed on both floors.

“We are thrilled to have completed this expansion,” Marketing Services Director Meredith Moody said. “The new space looks beautiful, and having this additional space will allow us to accommodate more guests in our Gift Shop to allow for our rapid growth of tour visitors.”

Old Taylor House

The Old Taylor House sits on the Distillery property today as not only the oldest structure at the Distillery, but the oldest residential building in Franklin County, Kentucky. Constructed in the late 1700s, with the second floor added in the 1800s, the house was originally built for Commodore Richard Taylor who served as superintendent of navigation on the Kentucky River and who was great-grandfather to Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr.

Since its inception, the two-story house has held many different roles, including being a residence, first aid clinic, and even a laboratory for the Distillery.

After a long life of good use, the house had begun to deteriorate, but has now been fully restored to preserve its rich history.

Evidence of that preserved history can be seen in details throughout the house down to the horsehair that was used as a bonding agent in the original construction of the walls.

The renovated house features beautiful hardwood floors and fresh paint throughout, and is lit by hanging Edison bulbs. The second floor lab displays old beakers and artifacts once used in the house.

“We’re so excited to have been able to restore such a significant piece of our history,” Moody said. “The restoration looks beautiful and we look forward to utilizing this space for many more generations.”

The Distillery intends to incorporate the restored house into some of its existing tours.

A joint grand opening for the Visitor Center and Old Taylor House will be held in early July.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1786 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.  Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won seven distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was named Whisky Magazine 2010 World Icons of Whisky “Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year.” Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 200 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com

Happy 4th of July to our friends in the United States of America!

Octomore 07.1 – smoke and mirrors

If you’ve met Bruichladdich’s Jim McEwan, or even heard tales of him, then you’ll know that he’s not a man to do things by halves. His final Islay Festival tasting at the end of last month packed more than 400 people into the distillery’s warehouse, with crowd-surfing the only way to get out once it had started, and he spent the rest of the day surrounded by crowds wanting to get a photo.

Jim McEwan’s final toast. For now…

Now that his retirement is less than a month away, the last releases of his tenure as Bruichladdich’s all-round whisky guy are appearing. The whisky in the distillery’s portfolio that most captures Jim’s attitude to whisky making for me is Octomore, and the latest edition feels like a culmination of his plans.

Octomore is Bruichladdich’s super-peaty whisky. While the distillery is famed for its unpeated spirit, Islay’s reputation for smoke led to the reviving of two old names: Port Charlotte, named after a distillery in the next village to Bruichladdich, which closed in 1929; and Octomore, named after the farm that looks over Port Charlotte, and the source of the water Bruichladdich use to dilute their whiskies before bottling. While Port Charlotte whisky is peaty, Octomore ups the smokiness to ridiculous levels – as Jim told me when I spoke to him recently: ‘I decided to make Octomore to shut everyone up for ever’.

Octomore Farm (Bruichladdich is out of shot to the left…)

Octomore 07.1 is actually a step back in peatiness from the previous releases, with the barley only peated to 208ppm¹, a reduction from Octomore 06.3’s 258ppm. However, as super-fruity 06.3 showed, more peat doesn’t necessarily mean more smokiness in your whisky – how you treat the barley after it has malted can produce a wealth of different flavours. 07.1 continues the trend of the 6th edition, going for complexity and depth of flavour rather than just a slap of peat smoke.

OCTOMORE 07.1, 5 YEARS OLD, 208PPM, 59.5%

Nose: Burning straw, damp grass, freshly crushed grain, liquorice root, sour fruit chews and sweet peat smoke.

Palate: Very sweet, with barley sugar, candy sticks and butter toffee, but also hot – cinnamon, clove and a hint of red chilli. Behind the heat we find the classic Octomore core: maple-glazed ham, baked apple, lime and smoke. The smoke is softer than expected, but covers the whole gamut of flavour: burning logs, peat fires and cold iron stoves.

Finish: Ashy to start, with sweet smoked meat and apple wood lingering.

Comment: Big and smoky on the nose, but much more restrained on the palate, sweetness dominates but is balanced by well-integrated smoke and savoury meatiness.

A fitting send-off for Jim, with the whisky that he created to make a point moving beyond some of the less subtle early releases, and becoming a balanced and complex dram in its own right. Good work, Mr McEwan.

¹ ppm: phenol parts per million – a measure of how much peat smoke has infused into the barley during malting. Most malt used by Islay distilleries is in the 25-45ppm range.

Bernheim Original 7 Year Old Small Batch D&M Exclusive Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey 

The palate is clean with tropical fruit notes, pepper spice and a clean wheat and honey dominated finish. If your part of the world sees a hot traditional summer, this could be your summer jam 

$32.99
Buy Now

Kilkerran Work in Progress 7 – Bourbon Cask

Kilkerran 54.1%% vol. / 70cl