Late August Outturn Offerings

Paint your own picture 

Cask No. 53.157                                                          

Islay, NorthShore 

Peat smoke drifts from a nearby island across calm waters – the sun is going down after a hot day on the beach – a driftwood fire is now lit on shingle between rock-pools – barbecued pork ribs, langoustines, lobster, then lemon meringue pie for dessert – nose the dram – ginger, Germolene, tobacco, boxing gloves – paint your own picture – Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction? –  taste it now – root beer, ice-cream, bananas, Old Holborn tobacco, liquorice cigarette papers, burnt heather, barley sugars rolled in ash – this whisky evoked all of these for us – now test your own imagination – it’s from the Sound of Islay. 

Drinking tip: Sunset beach dram 

Colour: Silvery fish in a moon pool                  

Cask: Refill hogshead                                      

Age: 10 years                                                  

Date distilled: December 2000

Alcohol: 58.0% 

$95 

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Feisty and zesty 

Cask No. 76.84                                    

Highlands, Speyside (Dufftown) 

Someone reported a hint of paint at the start, but we mainly identified dried fruit (dates, figs, pineapple, papaya, Christmas cake). We also found orange zest, spearmint, blackcurrant and liquorice. The palate had a nice chewy texture and feisty assertiveness, with flavours of leather, pepper, tobacco, Madeira wine and spicy marmalade on burnt toast. The reduced nose offered prunes, Jaffa cakes and lemon and lime jelly, with slightly burnt fruit-cake. Candied orange, dark chocolate and glazed ham graced the reduced palate, making it mouth-watering, but with a dry finish. King Malcolm defeated the Danes at a spot near this distillery. 

Drinking tip: With coffee 

Colour: Deep copper                           

Cask: First-fill Sherry butt                  

Age: 21 years

Date distilled: August 1989

Alcohol: 57.8% 

$145

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Kerosene delight 

Cask No. 4.153                                    

Highlands, Orkney 

Plenty to keep you occupied – smoked bacon, Golden Crunch Creams, Fry’s chocolate cream, ylang ylang, cherry liqueur, coal scuttles, Eton Mess, glossy magazines, and clean wood smoke. On the palate this multifariousness had become solventy – petrol, lighter fluid, kerosene – but was thick and mouth coating with ginger beer and lime pickle. Water drew forth pink grapefruit, orange, peardrops, Swarfega, coal tar soap, tinned fruit salad, faraway creosote and haggis spices. It had softened but still with a hint of petrol to taste, Lily of the Valley talcum powder and smoke (as if from a really large drawing room fire). From Orkney’s premier distillery. 

Drinking tip: Enjoy while on a camping trip 

Colour: Golden diamond                                  

Cask: First-fill barrel                           

Age: 11 years                                      

Date distilled: October 1999

Alcohol: 58.6% 

$100 

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Yummy and mouth-watering 

Cask No. 39.83                                    

Highlands, Speyside (Lossie) 

The inviting nose was intensely floral (chrysanthemums, dahlias, elderflower, pot-pourri) but an array of other aromas (mocha, almond cakes, Crunchie bars, painted wood, blueberry bubblegum) suggested a coffee shop and book shop combination. The palate was rich and warm, giving thick heather honey, sweet coconut, Sunday roast, flower salad and varnished wood – we were bowled over. The reduced nose continued beautifully perfumed with the coconut of gorse flowers and sweet and sour Peking duck. The reduced palate became yummy and mouth-watering, with vanilla, meadowsweet and perfumed elderflower champagne. The distillery, dating from 1824, sits on the eastern edge of Elgin.

Drinking tip: To share with best friends 

Colour: Rich buttery gold                                

Cask: Refill hogshead                          

Age: 28 years                                      

Date distilled: October 1982

Alcohol: 53.9% 

$180

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America at www.smwsa.com for further information on their single cask bottlings.