July 2012 Outturn Offerings
Cask No. 71.34 is President’s Choice
Rabbit, ginger, & treacle tart
Cask No. 71.34
Highlands, Speyside (Findhorn)
Big rich sweet aromas accosted the Panel – ginger cake, strawberry Chewits, treacle tart, cinnamon, malt loaf but also earthy mushrooms, Marigolds (the gloves not the flowers), leather and musky horses; this was when one Panellist pictured herself riding a spice–bag-laden Andalusian horse through orchards wearing leather chaps. Warm, sweet, savoury on the palate, hot and tannic with rosemary & sage, saddle polish, rabbit paella, warm chocolate sponge, dried cranberries and hazelnuts. Diluted, aromas of olive groves, red apples, hay and grilled rabbit with smooth, creamy tastes of oranges, prunes, strawberries, apricots and more rabbit. Founded as Kinflat distillery in 1810.
Drinking tip: While riding through the orchard on hot summer days
Colour: Veiled bronze
Cask: Refill gorda
Age: 13 years
Date distilled: March 1998
Alcohol: 56.8%
$110
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Manuka honey on a razor strop
Cask No. 38.21
Highlands, Speyside (Rothes)
This rare offering, from the distillery originally built as Glen Grant Number Two, had a subtle, unusual nose – initially yeasty (sourdough bread, Hefeweizen beer), then developing leather, plasticine and peeled twigs, fruit skins (especially orange) and eventually, chocolate. The taste combined the dark sweetness of Demerara, toffee and Bourneville, with orange, black pepper and leather (someone suggested ‘manuka honey on a razor strop’). The reduced nose had herbal notes (coriander, nettles) wood polish and sweet perfumes (jelly beans, dolly mixtures, gummi bears, rose hip tea). The palate balanced that jelly bean sweetness with slightly bitter lemons and mild pepper heat.
Drinking tip: Whenever you have a craving for jelly beans
Colour: Auspicious gold
Cask: Second-fill hogshead
Age: 17 years
Date distilled: May 1994
Alcohol: 58.0%
$125
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Manly and avuncular
Cask No. 41.50
Highlands, Speyside
Early vinegar traces evaporated, leaving honey, dates, puff-candy, Christmas cake, ginger-bread and flat coke – one panellist found it ‘manly’ with its leather, brandy and cigars. The palate offered apple and pear cleanness along with a richer seam of coca-cola, ginger beer, dark ale, chocolate gingers and liquorice. Water jazzed up and brightened the nose – crisp fruits, citrus, sherbet and Starburst (but with a thin hint of gym shoes). The reduced palate was fizzy, complex and unusual – ginger, nutmeg and clove spice, dark chocolate, honey, toffee, liquorice and elderflower, with tobacco and leather in the finish. From Carron’s only working distillery.
Drinking tip: A contemplative, end-of-summer kind of dram – be sure to give it time
Colour: Ginger gold
Cask: Refill hogshead
Age: 30 years
Date distilled: December 1980
Alcohol: 53.5%
$200
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Making candles in the art room
Cask No. 44.51
Highlands, Speyside
Warm, dripping candlewax, maybe making candles by dipping wicks. Then the aroma quickly passes through leather cream, floor polish and furniture polish to crayons – a school art room – before revealing a scented dimension (bog myrtle?). We were all reminded of (happy) schooldays. At natural strength it tastes like it smells, with the addition of toasted tea-cake. A splash of water freshens and raises more fragrance – bog myrtle, sage, lemon grass and lemon peel – but the waxiness remains. Now the taste is sweet, smooth and waxy, with some spicy/herbal notes, light eucalyptus and scented sandalwood or cedar wood. Sir Peter Mackie once owned this distillery.
Drinking tip: A school reunion, with good friends
Colour: Pale gold
Cask: Refill hogshead
Age: 22 years
Date distilled: October 1989
Alcohol: 53.7%
$150
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Garry the tank commander
Cask No. 127.13
Islay, Loch Indaal
The boys thought of war-games: 303 gun oil, polished gun-stock, dead fireworks, cordite, bomb sites. The girls were at the play-ground: skinned knees and Elastoplast; matron’s cupboard, Germolene and Calomine lotion. Both parties came together when we tasted at full strength: “hit the dirt” was the cry – a mouthful of charcoal and every exposed part grazed… Water modifies it: flatter and softer, with smoke and salt – “flannelette sheets drying before a cottage fire”. The texture is smooth and the taste sweet then salty, with brown sauce and chips in old newspaper. A classic example from the Islay distillery which has yet to be built.
Drinking tip: With a fish supper after a day’s mountain biking
Colour: Mid gold
Cask: Refill barrel
Age: 8 years
Date distilled: June 2002
Alcohol: 65.7%
$85
Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America at www.smwsa.com for more information.
