Scapa 2001 / Bot. 2016
A 2001 vintage Scapa, filled from cask in 2016 by Independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail. Previous bottlings have been very good, expecting more of the same from this release, bottled at 43% vol.
Poteen – the spirit of Saint Patrick’s Day
Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day, and while I will inevitably drink a pint of Guinness and a shot of Jameson, I try to spend the day looking at another side of Irish drinks. Last year I delved into the world of Irish cream liqueurs, but this time I’ve decided to step further back into Ireland’s drinking history and look at the original Irish spirit – poteen aka poitín.
These days, whiskey is the best-known spirit produced in Ireland, but back before commercial distilling, poteen was what people made and drank. Poitín, pronounced ‘potcheen’ and often anglicised as poteen or potcheen, is Irish for ‘little pot’, in reference to the small stills in people’s homes that were once used to make it. With advent of licensing, stills moved to more rural areas and poteen’s reputation as an underground spirit began.
Things have moved on over the past few hundred years
With the current rise of Irish spirits, it was inevitable that commercially produced poteen would appear, and while it’s still a young category, there’s already considerable variation between the small number of releases. I recently tried a few while visiting the Irish Embassy, and while there were no Ferrero Rocher, the poteen did impress me.
First up is Bán, pronounced ‘born’. This is the second edition of the company’s poteen, produced at Echlinville distillery in Northern Ireland. While the distillery hasn’t released any of its own whiskey yet, as it won’t be ready until at least August this year, the owners have let the folks from Bán use its equipment to produce a spirit that’s very different from their usual fare. While traditional poteen used grain as its base, over the years other sources of sugar were used by illicit distillers, depending on flavour, availability and cost. Bán has embraced this heritage and use a mixture of malted barley, sugar beet and potatoes, which makes for a complex spirit:
Nose: Sour cream, cinnamon toast and plasticine to start, with rich bready notes underneath – freshly sliced white bloomer and heavy German rye. The yeasty, bready notes grow, accompanied by black-pepper spice and sweet lemon cream.
Palate: Oily in texture and laden with sweet spice off the bat – cinnamon toast, clove and mace. Creaminess builds, with sweet milk chocolate and milky coffee balanced by underlying barrel-char and coffee-ground bitterness.
Finish: Creamy and clean, fading quickly to leave a hint of lemon Fondant Fancy.
Comment: Unexpectedly spicy and complex, with rich creaminess and carefully balanced sweetness. A tasty sipping spirit and one that I’d like to use to make sour cocktails.
At the other end of the poteen spectrum sits Glendalough. It is mainly known as an exciting new whiskey producer, with its own spirit still maturing and its award-winning releases using casks sourced from Cooley, but it also produces a range of bottlings that challenge the nature of poteen. While it is traditionally an unaged spirit, and Irish law both restricts the length of time it can be stored in wood to just 10 weeks and specifies what can be said about the ageing on the label, Glendalough proudly calls its aged expression Sherry Cask Finish Poitin.
Glendalough’s poteen spends some time in sherry casks after distillation, giving it a very different character and colour to other poteens.
Nose: Cherry jam, menthol, strawberries and black pepper. Sweet medicinal notes – cough linctus and red Strepsils – are joined by red and black liquorice, fruit and malt loaves, and spicy cinnamon fireballs.
Palate: It starts with rich and spicy fruit cake – Dundee cake with dates rather than almonds on top – and rich Christmas pudding. The cherries from the nose then rush in, along with bitter liquorice pastilles and sweet Bertie-Bassett-shaped Liquorice Allsorts. Behind the sweet and fruity notes is a layer of charred oak bitterness, rich earthiness and hot cinnamon spiciness.
Finish: Dry spice, stewed apple, dates, Ryvita and cinnamon gobstoppers.
Comment: It may have only been in a cask for a short time – I suspect for longer than the 10 weeks the law allows – but it’s picked up a lot of sherry character.
As more new distilleries appear, I expect we’ll see many more poteens appearing – they are the equivalent of the gin and vodka being made at new distilleries elsewhere in the world. However, with years of tradition to draw on, I expect the differences to continue and look forward to a rich and varied category as Ireland’s distilling boom continues.
You can find these and more St Patrick’s Day ideas over on The Whisky Exchange website.
United States
Michter’s US #1 Sour Mash Whiskey (750ml) $39.99 View
Canada
Whistle Pig 12 Year “Old World Marriage” Rye Whiskey (750ml) (1 bottle limit – ships as 1.5L) $119.99 View
Scotland
2000 Highland Park 13 Year Old Alexander Murray Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $89.99 View
K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
Whisky Ramblings Via Video #124
Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries another duty free expression from his favorite distillery. Auchentoshan recently launched two new expressions in the Global Travel Retail segment. A no age statement Blood Oak and a 24 Year Old Noble Oak. The Noble Oak – another a great name! – is a vatting of triple distilled Auchentoshan matured on bourbon casks and oloroso sherry wine casks and is the successor of the celebrated Silveroak. The result, bottled at 50,3% ABV, is a fine dessert dram from the Lowlands
New Visitors Center Hours and Upcoming Events:
As of March 1st, we have been staying open until 6PM for those of you who can’t stop by earlier in the day. We’re open daily from 11AM to 6PM, except on Sundays when we open at 1PM. On Friday, April 1st, we will launch “First Fridays”, where we will stay open until 8PM on the first Friday of every month. Be one of the first to experience our new monthly cocktail menu! As some of you know, we change our cocktail sampling menu every month, going by the season based on what is locally available. Stay tuned as we post more information on our special kick-off to First Fridays. Join us this Saturday, March 12th, for a special St. Patrick’s Day celebration featuring some good ‘ole Luck of the Irish at the Visitors Center from 11AM – 6PM. We’ll have Sweethaus Bakery’s mini Grasshopper Mint cupcakes on hand (they taste just like a Thin Mint) and the first 100 guests wearing their St. Patty’s Day green will get a free cupcake! Singer, songwriter Matthew McAllister will be performing (1-4 PM) and South Fork Food Truck will also be on site (11-5 PM) offering up a special St. Patty’s Day tasty surprise in addition to their regular menu of delicious Southern-style cooking. We’ll have our famous cocktail, The White Winter, all decked out with green shamrock sprinkles for extra festive spirit. Sláinte!
We’ve partnered with Poplar Forest on March 25th and March 26th for a series of tours involving beverages and spirits served during Thomas Jefferson’s time. These tours are at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s summer home. Explore early-19th-century Americans’ beverages of choice on a guided tour that begins in Jefferson’s kitchen and progresses through the house, with stops along the way to sample different beverages and share insights into the types of foods enjoyed on the plantation. Following the tour, our team will provide a whisky tasting and whisky primer.
The Poplar Forest tours are available Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. each night. Admission is $25 per person and tickets can be purchased by visiting here or by calling the Museum Shop at 434.534.8120. Visitors under the age of 21 are welcome; non-alcoholic beverages will be available on the tour. Visitors 21 and over must present valid ID. We’re working on creating lots of fun events for 2016. Follow our events page for the most up-to-date information.
The Virginia Whisky Experience — Tours!
After many months of planning, we’re getting closer to the launch of our full tour program, The Virginia Whisky Experience. Included in the tour will be a museum and video experience, along with a walking tour of the production distillery, giving visitors a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at whisky-making in action. The tour will conclude with a tasting in our cask warehouse, allowing guests to see and smell our whisky as it ages. Of course, a cocktail sampling will also be part of the experience! We’ll keep you posted as we’ll soon announce the first day of tours along with all of the fun festivities surrounding it.
We’re working on releasing a special limited series of our whisky later this spring. It’s still in the works, so we can’t say much for now, but be sure to follow us on our social channels– Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and keep an eye out for our newsletter to be the first to know!
This week Joe Ellis reviews the Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt.
AUCTION NOW LIVE
Place your bids!
Whisky Hammer is delighted to announce the launch of its inaugural auction which is now live with a selection of whiskies in over 200 Lots.
See the auction now at
www.ralfy.com revisits an auld acquaintance with Whisky Review 574 – Bunnahabhain 12yo re-reviewed 2016
Elements of Islay – the peat generation
Our fortnightly London tastings follow a theme, often a single type of spirit or a range of products from one brand. Sometimes it coincides with the launch of a new product, as was the case for our recent Elements of Islay tasting with occasional blog contributor Oliver Chilton, where we were treated to the first public outing of the brand’s new blended malt: Peat.
Elements of Islay was launched in 2008 by our sister company Speciality Drinks. Selected by Oliver, for the past eight years, the Elements range has been a series of cask-strength single malts from Islay distilleries, each approved by a signature from an influential character in the whisky world. This changed last month with the release of Peat, a blended malt from across the island bottled at 59.3%. Even though its drinkablity and moreishness defies the strength, there’s good news for those who don’t like cask-strength whiskies – Oliver told us a 46% version will be appearing later in the year.
While the reason for the tasting was Peat (which you can read more about in Billy’s post), there were seven other bottlings to try on the night – some current and some dearly departed.
We tasted eight whiskies from the Elements of Islay range, including the new Peat
Br6 – distilled in 1992; clean, sweet and grassy Bw5 – a vatting of two vintages, the youngest of which was 1996; complex, fruity and floral Lp6 – distilled in 1998 and finished in first-fill ex-Buffalo Trace barrels for a decade; sweet peat, coconut and vanilla Peat – blended malt with the youngest component aged for seven years; meaty with a maritime character Bn6 – 2001 vintage whisky aged in a sherry butt; waxy texture with peach, butterscotch and ginger flavours Lg5 – bottled in its teenage years; smoked meat and tropical fruit Ar4 – distilled in 2000; big, bold and smoky with bourbon-cask sweetness Oc2 – peated to around 160ppm; balanced by sweetness from ex-Spanish wine American oak
Billy Abbott @cowfish It’s so good, I put my name on it! [Bn6]
Peat showed exceptionally well on the night – the combination of smoky meat (bacon) and coastal character (brine and sea spray) is very well integrated with sweet fruit, the latter becoming more apparent with water. However for me, the star of the night was one of last year’s releases: Lp6.
The Marmite of Scotch whisky, Lp bottlings are known for being big, bold and medicinal. Lp6 was finished in first-fill bourbon barrels.
Nose: Surprisingly restrained for an Lp; needs time for the notes of iodine, brine and black pepper to come through.
Palate: As with the nose, there’s an elegance to this sixth release. The peaty character is very much in evidence, but there’s a hint of vanilla in the background. Water brings this out, as well as pineapple and mango.
Finish: Long and dry, with underlying vanilla spice.
Comment: A versatile dram – if you’re after a big savoury whisky, this is the one for you. On the other hand, if you like more fruit to balance the smoke, then adding water does the trick. Depending on my mood (and the British weather), I’d be happy with either!
Oliver chose eight whiskies to show off the variety of the range, from unpeated Br6 all the way to the super-heavily-peated Oc2. Every bottling was chosen by a guest as their whisky of the evening, and with the aforementioned 46% version of Peat on the way, the series offers something for every Islay-whisky fan.
Ballindalloch, March 2016
J & G. Grant proudly announce the release of the Glenfarclas 50 Years Old, which now joins the special Collector Series as the third edition of this limited family range. This expression represents the third generation of the Grants of Glenfarclas, George Grant (1874-1949), who inherited the distillery alongside his brother John, leading to the formation of their private family company J. & G. Grant at the turn of the nineteenth century.
The Glenfarclas 50 Years Old has been matured in the typical Glenfarclas style in ex Oloroso Sherry Casks, producing 937 bottles to be sold worldwide. A non-chill filtered bottling at 41.1%, on the nose it reveals wonderful fresh sweet sherry with an unexpected youthful aroma from such a whisky of its age. With time in the glass, hints of crème caramel and butterscotch develop. Its flavour reveals an assertive spiciness but never overpowering followed by treacle toffee, chocolate ice-cream and sherry soaked raisins. On the finish, a wonderful balance of sherry, spiced fruits and cinnamon and aneverlasting sweetness which you would expect from 50 years in our finest sherry casks.
The bottle is presented in a black leather box with a silver emblem of George Grant, third generation of the family and features III in Roman numerals etched underneath. As a matter of holding true to traditions, the Grants have created yet another vintage whisky from treasured casks dating back to the 1960s. Bottled in late 2015, this expression is set to create much curiosity and intrigue for collectors around the globe.
George Grant, Glenfarclas Sales Director, comments “we’re very excited to have reached the half way mark in our Family Collector Series. Thanks to my family’s foresight in laying down stock for the future, today we’re able to enjoy impressive age statements which is certainly a luxury worth sharing!”
