Brendan McCarron is Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks for The Glenmorangie Company – makers of Ardbeg and Glenmorangie – and heir apparent to the company’s whisky creator, Dr Bill Lumsden. We spoke to him at the launch of Ardbeg An Oa, his first addition to the Ardbeg range.

How did you get involved with the whisky world? I did chemical engineering at university and I started out making drugs on the south coast of England but my girlfriend was homesick and wanted to move back to Scotland, so I went to Diageo to work on a project in kiln efficiency – real sexy stuff. Three months in, Diageo decided to build its first single malt whisky distillery in 30 years: Roseisle. The guy running the project asked me to come and work for him.

Roseisle was when the spark went off. I think I had two months’ experience, six weeks’ experience. I didn’t know what draff was; not a clue what wash was – I’d been working in a maltings. The next most inexperienced person on the project had 19 years. I was just like a sponge, soaking up all this information.

Then I went to Leven [Diageo’s experimental distillery and bottling plant], where I did blending. Physical blending: not like [Johnnie Walker master blender] Jim Beveridge, but actually getting the physical casks out of the warehouse and pouring them through filters into vats. Then I went to the USA where things were totally different.

I started applying for real jobs and was lucky because I went for a job that I had no chance to get, at Oban – I was distillery manager when I was 28. I was there for two years and then got promoted. Oban is on the west coast and my boss hilariously said ‘I’m moving you out west.’ I thought I was off to America again, but no. Islay. I was in charge of Caol Ila, Lagavulin and Port Ellen maltings. I was there for an amazing three years, then Dr Bill Lumsden tapped me on the shoulder.

When is Bill Lumsden retiring? There are no plans. I’m three-and-a-half-years in and the learning has been amazing. I’m cocky as hell, so I’m like ‘I’m ready now!’ And Bill’s like ‘You’re ready never!’ He’ll be here for at least five years, but probably way more than that – it’s too much fun! The longer he stays, the more chance me being a success is.

They called it the Son of Bill project. I thought that was amazing – ‘That’s cool, I’m the Son of Bill.’ But someone wrote it in an email, and when you write it as an acronym it’s SoB, and that’s not so good.

What do you day to day? I am Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks. Our business cards are A3 – it’s the only way to fit on our job titles. I do everything that Bill does, and he lets me work on certain projects: Ardbeg An Oa, Glenmorangie Astar, Glenmorangie Grand Vintage 1990. He’ll just say ‘Go and put the casks together, put together the recipe, put this together, that together.’

I also work on less sexy parts of the business: working out how full our warehouses are; where should certain casks go, where should we build new warehouses, how much spirit we should distil next year…

How did Ardbeg An Oa come about?

It’s been just shy of three years I’ve worked on that. We’ve always wanted to add to Ardbeg’s range as it’s only had three [whiskies in the core range]. It starts with taking samples of everything we have in the warehouse – every type of cask we have.

Ardbeg An Oa: Brendan’s first addition to the Ardbeg core range

There’s this overly used marketing story of the distillery manager walking through the warehouse and stumbling over a cask of 40-year-old whisky. I’m cynical about that, but genuinely, I went to Ardbeg and there were casks coded as sherry casks, but Doug the warehouse manager said they were PX casks. Sherry is oloroso and PX is called oloroso on our coding system. Fully matured PX! It tasted unbelievable. It was like rum-and-raisin ice cream: sticky, balsamic vinegar, slightly burnt brown sugar. It was perfect, but the smoke was so discreet as the sherry was covering it, that it wasn’t really Ardbeg. You can’t launch a permanently available Ardbeg that isn’t smoky.

I also had some new charred oak casks there which were about the same age, a little older, actually. They give vanilla, but not the same way that vanilla goes into Glenmorangie Original. There’s a bit of vanilla, a bit of roundness, a bit of creaminess. But the main thing is that it doesn’t interfere with the smoke, so you get that massive smoky note. Then at the same time there’s a hibiscus note and herbal notes of rosemary and sage. I thought it was a beauty. In the end, it came down to using the PX casks and the new charred oak, but hanging in the middle is Ardbeg 10 – Ardbeg from ex-bourbon is the spine, and these two other things are draped on top of it.

The final flourish is all Bill – I’d love to take credit for it. He said it needed time to marry. It’s like it’s almost there but is frayed and needs time to knit together. That’s why we put it in a huge French oak vat in the Gathering Room, as we call it. It sits there for about three months and rounds off: lets the sherry come in, the smoke come back and the sweetness come in. Then finishes again with the smoke. That’s how An Oa came about: with great difficulty and lots of sampling over three years.

Why is the latest release called Ardbeg Twenty Something?

I work with a guy called Marcus: he’s an accountant, so he loves a spreadsheet. He looks at the stock in a black-and-white, litres-of-alcohol way, then I look at it from a quality point of view. Between us, we build up a list of how much stock we have and how much we need to distil.

Ardbeg Twenty Something (it’s 23, but doesn’t like to talk about it)

Ardbeg has been going for 20 years and we had some stock from before we bought it, so we were looking at older casks that we have and I was drawing samples of them. There was some that was 21 and some that was 23. He was going into a meeting and needed to mention it, so wrote down Ardbeg 10, Uigeadail, Corryvreckan, An Oa and Ardbeg 20 Something. Everyone went ‘That’s amazing. This is it.’ It was going to be called Ardbeg 23, but now it’s called Ardbeg Twenty Something.

What’s next for Ardbeg? A big focus for next year will be Ardbeg An Oa. Because that’s the first batch that’s out, and we’ll be making sure the second batch is as good as the first, and the third batch as good as the second.

But I’m going off message here, and someone will probably murder me for this, but I also want a permanently available, aged Ardbeg. Aged, older Ardbeg. Not because I think age is important or age is better; but the reason I want the age to be declared is that Ardbeg turns on its head when it’s older.

Ardbeg 10yo is big smoke, intensity, saltiness, rawness. And then underneath it, if you look hard, there are limes and pastilles and citrus. Over time, the smokiness drops. The smokiest Ardbeg you’ll get is the spirit running off the still. And from that day on it decreases; what increases is the fruitiness and citrus.

That’s why I want an aged Ardbeg, so people know when they pick it up it’s going to be less smoky. It’ll be like a blanket of smoke with wine gums, fruit pastilles and sweetness on top. It will be more expensive, because its older, and that’s rarer and there’s less of it, but I’d love to put something up there that’s aged, older and permanently available. It’s not guaranteed, but if I get my way it’ll be there, or I’ll be fired.

Brendan’s Ardbeg An Oa is now available, as is his first major project, the new release of Glenmorangie Astar.

A New Cask of a Limited Edition Rye for the Holidays

Whistle Pig 10 Year Old “K&L Exclusive” Single Barrel Cask Strength (116.2 proof) Straight Rye Whiskey (750ml)

($89.99)

With cask number one already done and gone, it’s time to introduce you to our second Whistle Pig cask of the holiday season. This particular cask, our second in the series, yielded less than 140 total bottles and comes in at a whopping 58.1% ABV, accentuating the peppery potency of this whiskey. Whereas the last cask had loads of graham cracker sweetness and oak, this barrel has classic rye whiskey character in spades: hints of dill and herbaceous notes on the nose, more savory spice on the palate, and crushed black pepper on the finish. The oak and vanilla accents are abundent, but they play second fiddle here, allowing the true nature of the grain to shine. The richness from ten years in wood works like a background harmony, coating the palate with ample vanilla, but never moving too far into the spotlight. The finish lights up the palate like a packet of firecrackers, exploding with more savory spice, hints of sweet oak, and a resurgance of dill. Rye fans will rejoice.

We’ve got four new single barrels of Whistle Pig 10 year coming in this winter and each cask is very small, thus very limited. This particular cask, our second in the series, yielded less than 140 total bottles and comes in at a whopping 58.1% ABV, accentuating the peppery potency of this whiskey. Whereas the last cask had loads of graham cracker sweetness and oak, this barrel has classic rye whiskey character in spades: hints of dill and herbaceous notes on the nose, more savory spice on the palate, and crushed black pepper on the finish. The oak and vanilla accents are abundent, but they play second fiddle here, allowing the true nature of the grain to shine. The richness from ten years in wood works like a background harmony, coating the palate with ample vanilla, but never moving too far into the spotlight. The finish lights up the palate like a packet of firecrackers, exploding with more savory spice, hints of sweet oak, and a resurgance of dill. Rye fans will rejoice.

Andrew Whiteley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: December 21, 2017

The Holiday Hits just keep on coming! New cask of Whistle Pig is big, rich, full of great herbal complexity and sweetness to boot. The finish lasts for days. The complexity of baking spices and pepper notes are remarkable. I thought the first cask we brought in this fall was great. But this one is the perfect winter rye, coming in just in time for the solstice!

David Driscoll | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: December 21, 2017

It’s amazing how many emails I received from customers about our first cask, asking whether there were any dill notes, that classic herbaceous character that exudes from a potent rye whiskey distillation. That initial barrel was a round and oak-driven rye whiskey, lots of sweet grains and vanilla, but this second cask release is loaded with dill, lots of pepper, and all of that lip-smacking herbacousness that makes rye whiskey so distinct in the eyes of whiskey aficionados. That’s not to say it’s lacking in oak, vanilla, or richness. There’s plenty of that, but the rye itself is the star here, not the wood. It’s all dialed up to 11 at 116.2 proof as well, so it practically explodes on your tongue.

Ralfy explains the D.E. in Ralfy Review 707 – Caol Ila D.E. 2004/2016 @ 43%vol

Benromach Peat Smoke 2008 Speyside single malt Scotch whisky. The finest Scottish barley is malted with high levels of peat smoke 47ppm. Benromach Distillery was designed by Charles C. Diog and constructed at Forres in the Speyside whiskey region for D. McCallum and F.W. Burickman in 1898. Following numerus periods of closure, it was purchased in 1993 by Gordon & MacPhail who charged up its single pair of stills in 1998 and have nurtured Benromach ever since. Striking new labelling combined with an increasing range of single malts is forging a very popular brand of single malt whiskies which includes Benromach Organic, Benromach Peatsmoke and Benromach 10 Year Old.

Buy – £38.48

Season’s Greetings

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Gordon & MacPhail

Gordon & MacPhail
George House
Boroughbriggs Road
Elgin, MorayIV30 1JY
United Kingdom

Time really does fly.  Our whiskey matures from September onwards. We think both malt and grain will be very good.

Great Northern Distillery
Carrick Road
Dundalk, Co. Louth A91 P8W9
Ireland

We wish you all the best during the festive season.

Whether it’s a taste of something new or returning to an old favourite, it’s the perfect time of year to enjoy Scotch whisky.

Above all, share & enjoy! From all at Compass Box Whisky Co.

KWM Whisky Advent 2017 Day 25 – The Scotch Malt Whisky Society 10.117: Smoky, salty, sweet porridge

As has become a tradition, we are capping off the Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar with a special 100mL bottle from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Why a 100mL? Because you made it through the first 24 days and you deserve it… actually, it is because the Society doesn’t bottle 50mls, but they do bottle 100ml whiskies, and we redesigned our Whisky Advent Calendar box a few years back to accommodate it.

About the Scotch Malt Whisky Society: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is the world’s largest whisky club, and also an independent bottler. As a club it has close to 30,000 members all over the world, and branches in close to 20 different countries. It is an independent bottler that has been thrice accorded the honour of Independent Bottler of the Year by Whisky Magazine. It bottles as broad a range of single cask, single malt Scotch whiskies as any other firm, and it doesn’t stop there. It has also bottle Japanese whiskies, Bourbon, Grain whisky, Cognac, Armagnac and Gin. Whether it is a whisky, or another spirit, the Society always bottles the spirit from a single cask, straight from the cask, Unfiltered. Undiluted. Unrivalled.

Kensington Wine Market is proud to be the original home of the Society in Canada, and its exclusive retailer in Southern Alberta and all parts east. Over the last six years we have introduced more than 500 whiskies to more than a thousand Canadian members. Every month we launch at least 6, and usually 7 new whiskies. Membership is easy and gives you exclusive access to the widest selection of single cask single malt whiskies anywhere in the world. We also hold month outturn tastings at the shop. Only Scotch Malt Whisky Society members can buy our exclusive single cask single malt whiskies, but anyone can try them. We’re confident once you’ve had a taste you will want to join the club. For more information on the SMWS you can visit our web page or http://www.smws.ca/ .

For the second year in a row, this year’s Scotch Malt Whisky Society whisky is a cask selected especially for the Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Calendar. Cask 10.117 is not yet available for sale, and will be launched early in 2018. We can’t tell you what distillery #10 is, but there isn’t much you can’t find on the internet anymore. This is the 117^th cask of Distillery #10 bottled by the Society. It is from a refill Ex-Bourbon Barrel, bottled at 61.2%. Its name, is “Smoky, salty, sweet porridge”, a named inspired by the Tasting Panel’s tasting note.

SMWS 10.117 – Smoky, salty, sweet porridge –  61.2% ABV

This Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottle hails from a northern Islay distillery. It is 9 Years Old from a refill ex-bourbon barrel. 

SMWS Tasting Notes

Plenty of peat smoke, chimney soot and tar right at the beginning, but it did not stop there as we discovered an underlying sweetness which needed to be unearthed. In time we discovered aromas of brown-sugar glazed parsnips, honey roasted chocolate peanuts and black currant wine gums. The taste was like a sweet golden syrup, but at the same time, smoky salty austere, steaming hot creamy porridge – most unusual. Water calmed tempers somewhat, on the nose now sweet potatoes and honey glazed carrots whilst on the palate; grilled hot dogs with mango chutney and red onion relish.

Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: peanut brittle and chicken satay on egg noodle; glazed pork, grilled bbq unagi, dried orange and mango salsa; sugary and floral with willow branches. Palate: more bbq unagi, chicken satay and glazed pork belly; fatty, oily and smoky; fresh orange and lime citrus; a shade of dark chocolate and sooty-oil-soaked mechanics rags; becomes tarry and more medicinal with each passing sip, but also more tropical and fruity. Finish: warming, smoky and fruity; the engine-oils coat the mouth with flashes of citrus and more tropical fruits; long, very long. Comment: this is going to be a very popular malt… Society members will be clambering for a bottle; thankfully we have the whole cask!”

Evan’s Tasting Note: “Nose: Oily smoke, earthy peat. Salt, brine, and iodine. Light citrus, bell pepper, laundry fresh out of the dryer, lavender and the slight hint of parma violet. Butter on toast. Chocolate fudge, fennel, sunflower seeds, malted barley, and a squeeze of lemon. Palate: Salt, black pepper and smoke. Spicy up front before it settles in and switches to creamy. Starchy plantains dipped in chocolate, fresh roasted peanuts, oatmeal with blackberries and cinnamon, lemon pepper seasoning, vanilla yogurt plus a dash of honey. Finish: Warming. Smokey and creamy with a dash of salt and a light touch of sweetness all the way down. Comment: Your kids may have gotten up far too early on Christmas morning but feel free to forgo the coffee – this is a delicious way to wake up. Let the kids open their gifts. For you perhaps the presence of this is present enough.”

Merry Christmas and a Peaty New Year from all of us at Kensington Wine Market!