Milroy’s October 2022 Tastings – Whisky Tasting News
MONDAY 3rd October 2022 – 6:30pm – Soho
There are many distilleries in Scotland which started life as mills, but none of them had quite the scale of Deanston. This huge plant was constructed on the banks of the fast-flowing River Teith in 1785 by Richard Arkwright who used it as one of the sites for the development of the Spinning Jenny. It also had what was claimed to be the largest water wheel in Europe. It can claim to be one of the greenest distilleries in Scotland. All of its power is generated by a turbine house which processes 20 million litres of water an hour. Brendan McCarron will be coming down in this particular evening taking us through the line-up below:
Deanston Virgin Oak
Deanston 12 Years Old
Deanston 2000 Vintage organic
Deanston 2007 Calvados
He will also bring a special cask sample to share with all of you!
MONDAY 10th October 2022 – 6:30pm – Soho
Masataka Taketsuru was born in 1894 into a sake distilling family that resided in Hiroshima. In 1918, the young Taketsuru embarked on a trip to Scotland to learn about the process of making Scotch whisky. He was fascinated by whisky and was excited to learn more. He enrolled at the University of Glasgow, taking chemistry classes. He also apprenticed at multiple distilleries. These distilleries include Longmorn, Hazelburn, and James Calder.
Taketsuru met and married a Scottish woman named Rita, and in late 1920 the couple returned to Japan. In 1923 he signed a 10-year contract with Kotobukiya Limited (Suntory). This position saw him direct in the construction of Yamazaki, the first whisky distillery in Japan, and subsequently, become involved in the production of Yamazaki whisky.
Taketsuru left Kotobukiya in March 1934, and later in the year established his own company: Dai Nippon Kaju Co,. Limited (later Nikka). The company was based in Yoichi in Hokkaido. Yoichi Distillery started distillation in 1936. In 1940 the first Nikka Whisky was launched.
In this particular evening Nathan Shearer will be taking you through the history of Nikka and the different expressions that characterises the distillery.
Nikka Super
Nikka Coffey grain
Nikka Miyagikio
Nikka Yoichi
Nikka Taketsuru
Nikka Tailored
MONDAY 17th October 2022 – 6:30pm – Soho
The Glen Grant distillery is nestled in Scotland’s bucolic Speyside region. Rivers brim with cool, fresh water fed by hundreds of natural springs, and the fields boast the ideal conditions for growing barley. That is why Speyside is the undisputed champion of producing premium single malt Scotch whisky. The Glen Grant’s Scotch Whisky distillery is located in the northern end of the village of Rothes in Speyside. In this particular evening there will be Chris Dennis the BA for Glen Grant distillery, which will take us through the drams that characterise the distillery, the line-up is going to be:
Glen Grant 10years Old
Glen grant 12Years Old
Glen Grant 15years Old
Glen Grant 18Years old
Glen Grant 12years old non-chill-filter
Mystery dram from the distillery!
Glen Grant and their team has also organised an incredible ruffle for the evening, where the lucky person will be taking home a nice and special gift from the Distillery!
MONDAY 24th October 2022 – 6:30pm – Soho
The original distillery held a set of pot stills with rectifying plates in their necks (also known as Lomond stills), allowing different flavour streams to be produced. Expansion in 1990 saw a second pair of the same design being installed, before the distillery installed two continuous stills three years later in which to make its own grain whisky. Two ‘traditional’ swan neck pot stills were added in 1998, before an additional continuous still, set up to produce grain whisky from a 100% malted barley mash, was installed in 2007. With the recent addition of two more Lomond stills, Loch Lomond has the capability to produce 11 different distillates for its whisky brands (not including the spirit coming from Glen Scotia). Wine yeasts have also been used to help create different flavours. In many ways it is more akin to a Japanese approach to distilling than a Scottish one.
In this particular evening Gary mills will talk us through their expressions with a real breadth of flavours!
Loch Lomond Peated Single Grain
Loch Lomond 12 Years Old
Loch Lomond 12 Years Old Inchmurrin
Loch Lomond 12 Years Old
Loch Lomond 14 Years Old
Loch Lomond 18 Years Old
And a special dram to finish of the evening direct from the distillery!
MONDAY 31st October 2022 – 6:30pm – Soho
Co-founders Bill Dobbie and Alasdair Day first met in 2013 and formed R&B Distillers with the common goal of building Scotland’s leading artisanal distiller. Focusing on local production, provenance, quality and doing things differently. By 2015, they had identified the Isle of Raasay as providing the ingredients for the perfect dram, and planning permission to begin work revitalising the Isle of Raasay’s nineteenth century Borodale House into a state-of-the-art distillery, visitor centre, and luxury accommodation was granted in 2016. Starting with a blank sheet of paper, they set about designing a distillery to create exceptional whisky that develops elegance, complexity, and depth early on in the maturation process that encapsulates Raasay’s style, character and impressive geological variety. On the 31st of October we will be taking you through a journey of Single Cask Sample from the Raasay Distillery and the line-up will be the below:
Unpeated Ex-Rye Single Cask Sample – Cask Strength
Unpeated Chinkapin Single Cask Sample – Cask Strength
Unpeated Ex-Bordeaux Single Cask Sample – Cask Strength
Peated Ex-Rye Single Cask Sample – Cask Strength
Peated Chinkapin Single Cask Sample – Cask Strength
Peated Ex-Bordeaux Single Cask Sample – Cask Strength
