www.ralfy.com finds that rare and unusual creature which is an Irish Indi-bottler who ‘craft’ presents their bottling with Whisky Review 562 – Knappogue Castle 14yo single malt @ 46%vol
GlenDronach Single Casks
Glendronach 19 Year Old 1995 #4943 Single Oloroso sherry puncheon bottled exclusively for the United Kingdom market. Glendronach 19 Year Old 1995 vintage Highland single malt Scotch whiskey. Single Oloroso Sherry Puncheon #4943 bottled September 2015. 663 numbered bottles exclusive for the United Kingdom market.
Nose: A perfect marriage of roasted apples and golden sultanas. A drizzle of maple syrup balances with warm oak spices and candied peel to give a well-rounded aroma.
Palate: A crisp citrus twist flows though sherry poached pears and ripe yellow plums. A warming white pepper spice mellows to hints of cedar wood and stewed barley to give a long, ever-changing palate.
Glendronach 20 Year Old 1995 #4074 Single Pedro Ximenez puncheon bottled exclusively for the United Kingdom market. Glendronach 20 Year Old 1995 vintage Highland single malt Scotch whiskey. Single Pedro Ximenez Puncheon #4074 bottled September 2015. 735 numbered bottles exclusive for the United Kingdom market.
Nose: Sugared almonds and glazed dates, dusted with vanilla and cinnamon, which hold a gentle warmth of cracked black pepper.
Palate: Vibrant oak spices flood through rich, dark Mediterranean fruits; waves of treacle toffee and roasted coffee beans add a tremendous sherried depth to the classic finish.
Glendronach malt whisky distillery was established north east of Huntley in Scotland’s Highland whisky region by James Allardice in 1826. The malting floors at Glendronach Distillery closed in 1996 and it was the last distillery in Scotland to heat its stills directly with flames from a coal-fired furnace, until it had to comply with new regulations in 2005. Glendronach Distillery is resplendent with a traditional cask iron mash tun, wooden washbacks, four stills matures its malt whisky in top quality sherry casks. Glendronach Distillery has a distillery visitor centre offering a range of distillery tours and the distillery participates is the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
Andrew Ferguson of Kensington Wine Market Calgary is interviewed about the award winning Crown Royal Northern Harvest on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
Click on the link below…go on, you’ll be amused.
You can follow Andrew on Twitter https://twitter.com/scotch_guy
Compass Box – 15 not out
Compass Box has long been one of my favourite blenders. Founded by whiskymaker John Glaser in 2000, it has gone from strength to strength. The team has been at the forefront of innovation, and is currently campaigning for more transparency in regulations following a recent run-in with the Scotch Whisky Association, which you can find more about on scotchwhisky.com, which broke the story. Five years after his last appearance at Vinopolis, we welcomed John back to host a special 15th anniversary tasting.
Up for a fight. Compass Box’s John Glaser wants the law changed on transparency in whisky
‘We’ve always told people the ages in our blends, the distilleries in the recipes, the types of casks used; we’re completely transparent about our raw materials. People want to know, they have a right‘
‘We don’t know who reported us to the Scotch Whisky Association, or why. We can guess, though!’
‘We believe fundamentally that a whisky producer ought to have the freedom to tell people what is in the blend – not necessarily an obligation, but a right’
‘The first Spice Tree was banned because the Scotch Whisky Association said the technique we were using [extra wood staves suspended in a cask] wasn’t traditional. After many meetings, my final argument was “this is about quality”. Their response was “John, to us, quality is irrelevant“!’
‘I started in the wine trade and moved to whisky and worked for a small Scotch whisky brand you may have heard of called Johnnie Walker‘
‘My first office was under a women’s hairdresser in Marylebone – we shared a bathroom’
‘I decided to begin with something people weren’t familiar with, so I started with grain whisky. Grain whisky is much lighter than malt; a purer, cleaner spirit – it doesn’t mean one is better than the other, they’re just different’
‘Stupidly I named my first blended malt Eleuthera after the Bahamian island – you get it? No? Exactly! My father told me it was a ridiculous name…‘
‘I looked at using Japanese whiskies years ago before it was cool. We’ve been playing around with bourbon, rye and other spirits – the blend between Mezcal and Scotch didn’t work!’
The Compass Box tasting line-up
The tasting concluded with a pair of experiments: firstly a Caol Ila at two-and-a-half years old and around 57%, which was fiery but very drinkable, followed by Scovados, a blend of Spice Tree and Calvados – definitely a work in progress, but you could see the thinking behind the classic combination of fruity apple and spicy cinnamon.
Imyril @Imyril This is Not a Luxury Whisky – Ceci n’est pas un whisky de luxe. Ceci est un whisky extraordinaire. #twetasting @compassbox
To relive the tasting as it happened on Twitter, you can read our Storify post.
It is strange how different whiskies seem to change in taste based on mood, temperature and many other factors. On the night, the whole room was almost unanimous that The Spice Tree showed particularly well. However, Hedonism is always my favourite.
Nose: Intense vanilla and coconut with hints of nutmeg and mango.
Palate: Rich and creamy. Vanilla is dominant, with pineapple, black pepper, cherry and cinnamon in the background.
Finish: Medium to long, creamy vanilla is there at the very end, continuing the theme from the first nosing.
Comment: A superb example of grain whisky. This is light and easy drinking, a great choice for first dram of the day, but with enough complexity to keep me interested whenever I drink it. It is sad that grain whisky is rarely seen and often underappreciated, as while it keeps the prices lower, it offers many hidden gems.
Every whisky showed well on the night, with skilful blending as evident in the Eleuthera as it was in this year’s limited editions. If you’ve yet to try any Compass Box whiskies, we have this excellent ‘test-tube’ set of five miniatures of the Signature Range for you to explore them – it makes a great gift, too. It has been an eventful few weeks for Compass Box, and it was refreshing to hear John’s take on the situation. I’m told Compass Box are preparing a ‘revolutionary manifesto’ as we speak in an attempt to get the laws changes, so watch this space.
Sherried, yummy scotch goodness. That is the usual trait of a wee dram that makes its way from the Highland GlenDronach Distillery into your favourite scotch whiskey glass. But with their latest release, there is a brand new chapter to add to their fantastic collection of single malt whiskies – we blogged about these recently too; GlenDronach Octaves & Single Cask. The GlenDronach PEATED is the first ever peated expression to be released from this fantastic Distillery. And it is not just us who were excited about its arrival. Before we even had a chance to examine the label (or the sample!) many of our keen eyed customers had snapped up a fair share of our stock as soon as it …..(please click here to read the remainder of the article)…
Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon – This newest selection from Texas distillery Garrison Brothers is comprised of the ten best barrels they tasted out of the five hundred they used when they started bottling. They were good enough then to hold back, and are even better now for having aged four more years!
Johnnie Walker Rye – Dovetailing with the popularity of Rye whisky, here is a great selection from a great blended Scotch house. Expect a little more spice and depth of flavor from this newest choice of Johnnie Walker Scotch.
Ballotin Chocolate Whiskies – Flavored whiskies are a booming category, and these Ballotin Chocolate whiskies are a cut above. Each flavor is excellent and would make a great addition to pair with your dessert course.
Longrow Red Pinot Noir 12 Year – This year’s Longrow Red is finished in a Pinot Noir wine barrel. These are one and done deliveries, and always highly sought after with scotch enthusiasts. Get them while the getting is good.
Springbank Fresh Fill Casks (Bourbon, Sherry, Rum, and Port respectively) – These are the cherries of the great Campbeltown Scotch distillery that is Springbank. They are worthy selections to add to any Scotch collection or as gifts to your favorite Scotch enthusiast.
Allt-a-Bhainne Single Malt Scotch CWC 1993 22 Year – This Speyside whisky was distilled in 1992 and left to mature in bourbon barrels until 2015, when it was bottled for the Small Batch range. Allt-a-Bhainne was built in 1975 to supply malt from the Chivas blend but has a growing reputation amongst whisky drinkers that have been lucky enough to find it bottled as a single malt. Quite fruity on the nose – strawberries, with a creamy custardy character and sweet spices. More fruit on the palate – peach, lime, and a burst of toffee along with the continued creaminess. Wonderful stuff. 348 bottles were produced.
The Party Source, 95 Riviera Drive, Bellevue, KY 41073.
We are proud to announce that Whisky Intelligence (and editor Lawrence Graham) has once again been nominated in category of “Rest of the World” World Whisky Ambassador of the Year in the prestigious Icons of Whisky competition hosted annually by Whisky Magazine.
The competition is currently accepting votes and you can do so by registering here http://www.iconsofwhisky.com/vote/ with the closing date on Thursday, 26 November (You have 1 days left to vote!)
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Glendronach 2003 Whisky Shop Exclusive
Winner of the prestigious Liquid Gold award in the latest Jim Murray Whisky Bible – scoring 94.5 points: Limited to only 625 bottles this Glendronach 11 year old has been matured in a Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon. It was distilled in January 2003 and bottled in November 2014 from cask number 3568.
Jim Murray: A little maple syrup and butterscotch tries to equal the spices; helped by a superb, entirely sulphur free butt, this malt is as clean as it rich as it is memorable as it is excellent. 53.3%. 625 bottles.
Find out the full review by clicking here:
Glenfarclas 1994 Whisky Shop Exclusive
Winner of the coveted Liquid Gold award in the 2016 Jim Murray Whisky Bible – scoring an impressive 95.5 points: Bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop and limited to only 1200 bottles. Bottled at 43% volume.
Jim Murray: Very close in character and quality to the distillery’s latest official 1994 release. Which means it’s not far off God’s gift to present day sherried malt whisky…
Find out more about this award winning whisky and how to order some bottles by clicking here:
This week Joe Ellis reviews The Macallan Rare Cask.
