WHISKY REVIEW OF 2015 – Paul McLean 

A personal view if the whisky industry in 2015 by Paul McLean, owner MCLEANSCOTLAND.COM & WHISKYTOURS.SCOT

Where do I start? It has been a busy year for whisky, so much has happened, lots of news and some seriously strange decisions. Let me start by wishing all distilleries and staff a happy new year and best wishes for 2016, especially the small independents and new start ups, both here in Scotland and over in our Celtic neighbour Ireland. Talking of which, there has been much movement over on the Emerald Isle, an upsurge in Irish whiskey – about time, with lots of new start up distilleries, 2 in Dublin alone. I think there was a heavy bias, or snobbery against Irish whiskey for too many years, myself, I have always enjoyed it, at my local pub here in Perth, Black Bush is my dram and thankfully, Helen & Billy keep buying it in for me specially! To be honest, Redbreast is my favourite Irish dram, but with so many to try, it is a hard thing to stay with just one, I urge you to try the likes of Green and Yellow Spot, The Midleton’s are fabulous, there I go, on a roll again about my Mum’s country drams, if you havnee tried many Irish, please look into it soon!

One bottle I hope to look forward to this year hopefully, is a Daft Mill dram, have been there a few times aye, tasted new make and very young drams, but I can’t wait for a good aged dram from Francis, that would be a highlight. Another vastly underrated distillery is Glen Moray, because of their pricing structure (low) for a quality product, I feel it puts people off trying their drams, how foolish, I took a tour there last summer (one of many), a large group of 28, I couldnee get them all out! The shelves took a battering, specially 25 and 30 year old, say no more, it is one of my favourite distilleries and we like them all there, thanks very much guys! Scotland to me, remains the best whisky producer in the world, ok so maybe we have a few more distilleries available to us, but we have constantly great whisky from all corners of the country. Aye saying that though, I do like very much Japanese and Taiwanese drams and Paul John in Goa is running up catching them with several superb drams, specially their peated.

World whisky has come on leaps and bounds, with Australia, European and Asian drams all good. The one thing that gets up my nostrils – Bibleman and his numpty awards! It is really like a paid advertisement for certain drams, making his best whisky of the year, with otherwise totally unforgettable whisky. I see lately there are lots of a certain Canadian whisky in the auctions, I hope the money paid off with a profit, take it while you cam, because as soon as real whisky drinkers start tasting this stuff, the bottom will fall out of that market (in my own view that is). Harsh? I don’t think so. I also forecast Japanese drams will calm doon in price, right now they are a crest of a wave, it will calm doon by summer and once again good Scottish drams will take top slot. Have you noticed how Macallan have calmed doon? They always used to be number one in auctions, maybe once again.

Awards, are they worth the paper they are written on? And the cost of the actual awards? In my view, no. It seems to me that every distillery/country will get a turn to win something, awards are made up to find a category for some drams, this is daft. And whilst I am on ma soapbox, will distilleries please resist from producing outlandish packaging that no one can afford. If you buy whisky it is to drink aye? Why would we wish to buy a piece of crafted silver, in a handmade wooden box, on a marble plinth with (ok a nice whisky) drams hidden by the packaging? Just sell us a good dram in an affordable bottle – which we throw away anyhow. Rant over.

Festivals and tastings are springing up everywhere, grand! This brings whisky to many people and many who have not tried too many, options are there to research and develop your senses into liking many other whiskies than what you thought you liked. Please don’t forget, whisky is like fine art, liking one or more, is equal to liking fine art, it is in the eye (or mouth) of the beholder. Buy/drink what you like, what you can afford and maybe test a few you havnee tried before. It’s a great game. I will be hosting a tasting myself early February, do I do blind tastings or name them as we go, or both? At the Spirit of Speyside this year we are offering events, one being with our friend Ian Buxton; Does packaging affect your whisky purchases? After working with Liz (biz partner for last 20 years) who used to say “that’s a nice bottle” meaning shape and design, she now buys for the whisky inside the bottle, that made me think, and asked Ian to do this for us, he agreed quickly!

So, my own whisky awards … as guests of Chivas recently, Ian Logan gave us (Liz and myself) a dram of Glenlivet 50 year old, I couldnee open my mouth or eyes after it, I couldnee find the right expression or words to qualify! Kavalan Solist range – great. Balvenie 40 year old, Redbreast Sherry bottle, all great and how can I leave out others? Well there is also one NOT from a distillery, my pal Tim (in Moscow) distils his own, he gave me a 40 month old whisky – sublime. Corriemhor too, the list could go on and on. If I had to sit doon with just one bottle, it would be Tim’s. Have a happy and rewarding 2016 everyone! Should you wish a fantastic whisky tour, look at our website www.whiskytours.scot.

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #121

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries a 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 Blood Oak – what a great name! – is a vatting of triple distilled Auchentoshan matured on bourbon casks and French red wine casks. The result, bottled at 46% ABV, is a fruity, spicy and warm liquid.

https://youtu.be/oNY7s-MMiWg

United States – Kentucky

Old Forester Signature 100 Proof Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whisky (750ml) $19.99View

Scotland

Bowmore 10 Year Old “Devil’s Casks” 2nd Edition Islay Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $99.99 View

1995 Caol Ila 20 Year Old K&L Exclusive Signatory Cask Strength Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $139.99 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

Imperial 20 Year Old

1995 vintage of the lost Speyside distillery from Signatory Vintage. Matured in hogshead casks and bottled November 2015.

Buy – $62.47

Imperial 20 Year Old 1995 vintage Speyside single malt Scotch whiskey. Matured in hogshead casks #50229 & #50230 of the lost Scottish distillery. Bottled November 2015 by Signatory Vintage for the Un-Chilfiltered Colection.

Imperial Distillery was designed by Charles C. Doig and established in 1897 by Thomas Mackenzie at Carron in the heart of Scotland’s Speyside whisky region. Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and a huge golden crown was placed upon the pagoda roof of one of Imperial Distillery’s two malt kilns to commemorate the occasion. Imperial Distillery was equipped with four huge stills but closed in 1998 and is now a closed Scottish malt whisky distillery.

United States – Kentucky

Knob Creek Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $22.99 View

Scotland

Monumental Blend Alexander Murray 30 Year Old Scotch Whisky (750ml) $139.99 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

The Whisky Exchange Vinopolis – My Memories

Ten years after opening in London Bridge, our Vinopolis store closed for the last time on Christmas Eve. We will be announcing its replacement very soon in the same part of town, and in the meantime, our new Covent Garden store is open for business. Alex Huskinson managed our Vinopolis shop for nearly six years, and he shares his memories of running the premier destination for whisky lovers in the capital.

The Whisky Exchange store at Vinopolis – a treasure trove of whiskies

As a cocktail bartender for many years before working in the shop, I had a big interest in spirits, but my only real experience of whisky was bourbon. I then started working part-time in the Vinopolis wine tour (back when it was good) just as they had the Diageo whisky room built and I was introduced to Talisker 10 Year Old. I fell in love.

I was then lucky enough to have The Nose – Whyte & Mackay’s Richard Paterson – come just a few weeks later and do a talk for us and I tasted the legendary 62 Year Old Dalmore (with accompanying bells, whistles and party poppers). It started an obsession.

I was first employed in the store part-time to teach the whisky geeks there about other spirits. The wealth of knowledge was more than extraordinary when it came to malts, and I was privileged to learn from them. Saying that, they knew nothing of Tequila, so it was a fair swap.

Alex Huskinson ran our Vinopolis shop for more than five years

The first tasting I went to was Mickey Heads and the launch of Ardbeg Almost There, which is still my favourite young Ardbeg. A real baptism of fire, with six-year-old Ardbeg all the way to one from my birth year.

One of the first events I organised was a gin tasting. It was a learning curve as I decided to think of the best tasting I could and just do that, irrespective of the amount of work involved. We did eight gins – all neat, and with a cocktail, and paired off against each other so you could see how they compared. Ninety people attended, which works out at 720 cocktails – in an hour-and-a-half. It was presented by Desmond Payne and Jared Brown and it took us four days to clear up, but it was fantastic.

In 2011, Chris and I got involved with The Whisky Show, running the first one in Vinopolis, with help from Emma Pineiro and the wonderful Martine Nouet – one of the most inspiring people in whisky. This was another tight learning curve, but most thought it was a success so we did the next three there, only moving out in 2015 when the Show became too big for the venue.

The aim with TWE Vinopolis has always been to create a store with character and personality while maintaining great customer service borne out by a love and passion for the drinks themselves. It was a lot of fun, and the people really made it special – both staff and customers alike.

Happy New Year from Whisky Enquiries. 

Some Industry Facts 

· The Industry earns £125 every second by exporting Whisky.

· 99 million cases were exported Worldwide in 2014. If we laid these bottles end to end they would stretch for about 30,000kms or the distance from Edinburgh to New York six times over.

· More than 10,000 people are directly employed in the Whisky Industry.

· Over 40,000 jobs in the UK are supported by the industry.

· Some 20 million casks are maturing in warehouses throughout Scotland.

· Scotch Whisky sells three times better than its nearest rival Whisky.

· More Scotch is sold in France in one month than Cognac in a year.

· Aberdeen University was the first in the UK to establish regular Medical Teaching in 1494, the same year as the earliest written reference to Whisky in Scotland.

· Andrew Usher was credited with producing the first Blended Whisky in 1853.

· The construction of the Usher Hall in Edinburgh was funded by Andrew Usher, he donated £100,000 to the city specifically to fund a new concert hall.

#WhiskyEnquiries

Contact Michel Hanratty of Whisky Inquires whiskyenquiries@hotmail.co.uk

William Grant & Sons partnered with Rugby World Cup 2015

Earlier this year (2015) William Grant & Sons partnered with Rugby World Cup 2015 as Official Spirits & Champagne Tournament Provider. The tournament has been hailed the most successful Rugby World Cup to date, with 2.47m consumers attending 48 matches, across 13 national venues and a record 120million viewers tuning in to watch the final match.

Through William Grant & Sons global partnership with Rugby World Cup 2015 we reached over 140m adults via our integrated campaigns. In the UK, our #RaiseEmUp2015 campaign offered fans the chance to win tickets and exclusive merchandise to matches. Around the world we have seen a William Grant & Sons ‘airport takeover’ at Auckland International, a Tullamore D.E.W. Facebook campaign in the USA as well as Grant’s and Glenfiddich activations in Australia and South Africa – all giving fans the once in a lifetime chance to win tickets to the final.

Gary Keogh, Marketing Director, William Grant & Sons UK said: “We have been honoured to be at the heart of the action, celebrating the great sportsmanship that has been on show. We hope that all our activations, offered fans something special and added to their experience throughout a great Tournament.”

Well-aged whisky with Balblair, Old Pulteney and AnCnoc

For our final tasting of 2015, we welcomed Inver House Distillers to showcase some of their whiskies, focusing on an aspect of whisky that most companies are not talking about much these days: long ageing.

Lukasz, looking dapper for his final tasting of the year

With whisky’s popularity at an all-time high and the spirit taking years to mature, it’s understandable that we’re seeing younger whiskies appearing on the market. Nice as younger drams can be, there’s something special about whisky that’s spent years in a cask.

We were joined by Lukasz Dynowiak, Inver House brand ambassador, to walk us through well-aged drams from three different distilleries: Knockdhu, Old Pulteney and Balblair.

We started at Knockdhu, on the east edge of Speyside – a Highland distillery by mere yards. Its whisky goes by the name of AnCnoc, to avoid confusion with nearby Knockando – Knockdhu means ‘black hill’ in Gaelic, but the hill that gives the distillery its name is the biggest in the area, so the locals just call it ‘the hill’, an cnoc. The distillery’s range starts with 12- and 16-year-old whiskies, we jumped in straight in at the top, and tried the 18- and 22-year-old drams.

The 18 Year Old is very much a traditional AnCnoc, with honey, spice and citrus, as well as hints of tropical fruit, whereas, the 22 Year Old adds in a few extra years and some more sherry-cask-matured whisky to create something weightier:

AnCnoc 22 Year Old, 46% ABV

Nose: Sweet and waxy with fresh and dried orange peel, floral notes and Love Heart candy sweetness. After that there’s crunchy caramel, lemon sherbert and sweet orange juice.

Palate: Soft and floral, with sharp citrus – candied lemon, orange peel and honeysuckle. There’s some aniseed ball heat, a hint of mint and underlying dried-fruit sweetness – mixed peel, raisins and sultanas.

Finish: Butter and spice, fading to grassy meadows and herbal lozenges.

Comment: An excellent balance of sherry- and bourbon-cask maturation, with the distillery’s character enhanced rather than hidden by the casks.

We then headed up to Wick in the far north of Scotland, to try some Old Pulteney. The whisky is referred to as ‘The Maritime Malt’ in Inver House’s portfolio for two reasons:

1. Wick has a long history that is intertwined with the rise and fall of fishing and working by the sea.
2. it tastes really coastal.

While there’s no actual salt in the whisky, Old Pulteney definitely has a tang of the sea to it – breaking waves, seashores and a touch of brine.

The distillery’s core range consists of three whiskies, and while the 12-year-old is one that I usually have in my whisky cabinet, we focused on the other two. Ever since the 21 Year Old picked up Jim Murray’s top award in the Whisky Bible 2012, it’s become a worthy best seller, but while it is a great dram, it’s the 17 Year Old that I keep returning to:

Old Pulteney 17 Year Old, 46%

Nose: Leather and dried lemon peel, with butterscotch, fruity pears, white pepper spiciness, salty touches and a hint of damp rope.

Palate: Floral and sweet, with some cinnamon heat and lashings of fruit – apples, pears, fleshy mango and a bit of banana. Spice builds, backed up by white chocolate and salted almonds.

Finish: Salted caramel, white pepper and brine, finishing with shortbread and aniseed.

Comment: A careful combination of the 12 Year Old’s seaside brashness and the elegance of the 21.

To finish, we returned south, to Balblair. The distillery bottles its whiskies with vintages rather than age statements, and they regularly produce new versions as they sell out – each new vintage will be similar to the one it replaces, but they are all slightly different.

We tried Balblair 1990 and 1983, very contrasting drams – the 1990 is finished in sherry casks, while the 1983 was matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks. Both are great whiskies, but the 1983 was the one for me – very good spirit, well aged in a cask that doesn’t overwhelm the distillery’s character:

Balblair 1983, 46% ABV

Nose: Toasted bananas, peach syrup and pine needles with a background of creaminess – vanilla cream and creamed coconut. Ground almonds and tropical touches – papaya and dried mango – are joined by waxy polish and a zing of lemon zest.

Palate: ‘Caramel sauce poured over peaches and pears’, my notes say. Behind that are notes of milk and dark chocolate, woody spice, orange and grapefruit zest, and a touch of pith. Sweet spice builds: nutmeg, cinnamon and fragrant cardamom.

Finish: Syrupy to start, turning leafy and minty before hitting a rich and earthy end.

Comment: Stacks of fruit, all balanced by nuts, spice and a bit of creaminess. My favourite style of dram and easily my pick of the night.

We then had one more whisky, chosen to mark three events that called for a special final dram: the last drink of the night, the end of Lukasz’s last tasting of the year, and the final tasting to be held at Vinopolis – both our shop and the neighbouring wine experience have now closed. Don’t worry, as we have opened a new shop near Covent Garden and it won’t be long before we’re back in the London Bridge area.

Our last dram was Balblair 1969, a suitable final whisky – old and elegant. While whisky isn’t all about long ageing, when it’s done right, it can produce something incredible.

If you want to know more about Inver House’s distilleries, I visited them a few years back – find more here: Balblair, Pulteney, Speyburn and Knockdhu.

This week Joe Ellis starts 2016 with a whisky review of The Glen Garioch Renaissance 15 Year Old.

https://youtu.be/kVvc7bARi80

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