Blended Scotch

“Isle of Skye, this 8 year old offering from Ian Macleod is one of the most complex, masterful blended whiskies ever produced. Hints of smoke wafting through a Chinese tea house delight the palate before settling in for a surprisingly long finish for a blended scotch whisky. An absolutely delightful dram, well suited for special occasions but modestly priced to allow you to enjoy regularly.”

http://cocktails.about.com/od/scotchwhiskyreviews/a/scotch2010_picks.htm

Also visit Ian Macleod Distillers at http://www.ianmacleod.com/

Back home after a visit to Alberta and BC, taking in the Edmonton and Victoria Whisky Festivals. The former being its inaugural and was a great success with the evening public session packed with knowledgeable whisky enthusiasts.

The Victoria Whisky Festival is of course well established and provided us with a great platform to showcase our products and discuss their merits with a very appreciative audience. In addition to the public session I had a master-class in the afternoon and on the previous evening had made a “guest” appearance at the Dewar Rattray session which was featuring a Glenglassaugh independent bottle.

 The distillery has not re-started production yet which is planned for this week and we will then work through until the end of June with a small break around Easter.

With no production we have taken the opportunity to start re-decorating one of the cottages on site with a view to providing accommodation for visitors. We are planning to start whisky schools which we know have proved popular at other distilleries and with access to Graham Eunson and myself as well as the rest of the team we feel that they may prove popular here too.

Plenty of other interesting things happening at the moment and which I will be able to provide more detail in due course. Firstly we are planning to convert our old office block into a small visitor centre and to introduce more frequent tours, especially during the summer months but much of this will depend on the length of time the application takes to proceed through the planning process with the local authority.

On the subject of local authority applications we have at long last had our off-sales licence granted and can now sell all of our products over the internet as well as at the distillery to visitors. There are some changes being made to our web site over the new few weeks and so the new on-line shop is not yet available however we can now accept telephone orders.

We hope to have some announcements over the next few weeks of confirmed new markets where our products will be available and also some additional events where either Graham or myself will be attending in the next few months.

Since returning home the weather has become milder in Scotland and although still cold and small falls of snow occurring it is not at the levels seen in previous weeks. So from a wintery but sunny Portsoy, cheers for now.

As always any and all questions and comments are welcome.

In deep discussion at the Victoria master class

Mark from WhiskyCast reports;

As I reported in the last episode, Maker’s Mark is working on a new bourbon. This time around, Master Distiller Kevin Smith sits down with me to taste “Profile 51”, which will be released this summer. That’s the unofficial name for the new whiskey, which will be bottled at a higher proof than Maker’s Mark and will have a completely different taste. In the news, new whiskies from Glenfiddich, Tullibardine, and The Glenrothes, support for Haitian earthquake relief, and Chivas may need years to recover from the damage caused by this winter’s storms. Finally, there’s a new contest for WhiskyCast newsletter subscribers!

Visit WhiskyCast at http://whiskycast.com/

Whisky Intelligence has reproduced (with permission) The Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter for February 2006; a small sample of scotch whisky archeology. The author, Chris Goodrum, has some excellent insights of whisky, which makes for excellent reading on a Sunday.  Enjoy!

Dear Whisky Customers
 
I hope you all had a good Christmas and enjoyed a few choice drams. If the amount of whisky we sold this Christmas was any indication then some of you will have had some very nice stuff indeed.
 
So what’s in this months newsletter? Well it has been brought to my attention that I haven’t mentioned Bruichladdich/ Murray McDavid for awhile and I know the guys read the newsletter and get upset when I’m um how should I say it……….. critical?  anyway they kindly sent me some samples of their new range of rxm’s that they have recently bottled and ………….. well you’ll just have to read my review.
 
I do like this time of the year, with shelves looking rather bare it gives me a chance to have a good fiddle with the list, and to that end, my good friends at Duncan Taylor and at Bladnoch have sent me down some samples for me to take a look at, which I have reviewed.
 
But firstly a bit of fun. Last year I told you of the best selling whiskies of the year and after checking last years list, there is surprisingly no change at the top. Many people thought that the Penderyn sold well last year due to it’s novelty value and that it wouldn’t sustain a high level of sales once that novelty value had worn off. Well they were wrong. Sales have continued because customers liked it, and it goes to show that it has sustained these sales due to the very high quality of the spirit being produced. Springbank 10 year old and Bruichladdich 10 year old are always of a high standard, and are go-to malts in the 30 region. It’s nice to see a couple of Duncan Taylor bottlings in the list, and as they read the newsletter as well, I hope that they will be chuffed. The rise of the Bruichladdich Infinity has probably had an impact on sales of the 17 year old and on sales of the Lagavulin 16 year old. With the release of the second edition 15 year old Bruichladdich it has had an obvious impact on sales of the first edition. In fact if you add sales of both of them together it would have just piped the Infinity to fourth place. There is no surprise to see the Laphroiag Quarter Cask in the top 10 as it is a superb malt and with it being the cheapest malt in the list, will it top the chart next year?
 
GAUNTLEYS TOP 15 WHISKIES OF 2005
(Last years position in brackets)
 
1. (1) Penderyn Welsh Whisky
2. (2) Springbank 10 year old
3. (3) Bruichladdich 10 year old
4. (-) Bruichladdich Infinity
5. (-) Duncan Taylor Auld Reekie
6. (-) Duncan Taylor Invergordon 1965
7. (-) John McDougall’s Bladnoch 1988
8. (-) Laphroiag Quarter Cask
9. (-) Balvenie 12 year old
10. (5) Bruichladdich 17 year old
11. (-) Murray McDavid Mortlach 1993
12. (8) Lagavulin 16 year old
13. (6) Bruichladdich 15 year old 1st Edition
14. (-) Edradour 10 year old
15. (-) Macallan 10 year old Fine Oak
 
New Stuff from Duncan Taylor

The more samples I taste of their range the more impressed I am, Highland park withstanding. This batch of samples included a 31 year old Glen Craig, which was rather thin and had probably spent just too long in the cask, a 29 year old Glen Mhor which was ok, gentle and soft and with a finish that reminded me of vodka. I ummed and contemplated it but at £72.95 I didn’t think it was really worth it.

Next up was a 26 year old Pittyvaich which as a distillery is one of the ‘bad three’ according to Jim Murray. Incidentally while on the subject of Jim Murray, his 2006 whisky bible is now out, and at £9.99 is a cracking read, and we should have some copies available in February. Anyway I quite liked it, although there isn’t a huge amount of fruit the quality of the wood is lovely – one for the oak lovers!

Next up was a 29 year old Dallas Dhu which was a superb, mature malt followed by a 14 year old Glentauchers and a 11 year old Mortlach which were delicious. The Mortlach is just so clean and crisp, a classic Speyside. Tasting notes follow.

WHISKY GALORE RANGE

Glentauchers 1990 (14 year old) 46% £30.95

Clean and slightly oily aromas of tangerine, vanilla oak, oily spices and dusty orange fruit. Dry and clean on the palate opening with dusty spices and delicate fruit, then, bang, out of nowhere comes the lovely hard, crisp barley, more spices and a hint of juniper. Very long with the gin-like botanicals lasting , along with the spice!

Mortlach 1993 (11 year old) 46% £26.95

Clean, crisp aromas of earthy malt, orange and apricot fruit, with grassy, barley sugar notes – lovely depth and crispness. Dry and crisp on the palate with apricot, malt, earthy spices and a soft natural character. Medium bodied, faultlessly clean, great delicacy and a touch of spice on the middle with white fruit and salt notes to finish. This is an absolute bargain!

PEERLESS RANGE

Inchgower 1968 (36 year old) 46.3% £99.95

Wow, great nose. Mature with light malt and alcohol laced orange marmalade (I can see Jim Murray having this on toast for breakfast!). It takes awhile to really get going, but it is worth the wait. Lovely mature, oily mouth feel, restrained sweetness of old natural honey, lots of malt and a touch of spice. Great intensity with a mouth watering finish with the mature fruit flavours shooting off everywhere. Very long with Cognac-esque (or old Grain) dried fruit notes in the finish. A big wow factor.

RAREST OF THE RARE RANGE

Dallas Dhu 1975 (29 year old) 47.1% £75.95

Lovely nose. Clean, honeyed orange fruit and soft spices rise from the glass. This has a superb depth of mature fruit, earth and vanilla. Delicate, soft, succulent and mature. Full of honeyed malt fruit and a hint of wood tannins. Lovely mouthfeel, delicately oily with gentle spice and a lively finish.

 Pittyvaich 1979 (26 year old) 45.9% £51.95

Clean, soft aromas of deliciously creamy oak and mature oily fruit. The oak is so soft and sweet its just lovely. On the palate the oak is not so dominating allowing the quite salty, soft, mature white fruit to come through. Delicate and long with vanilla oil and Alsace-esque slightly spiced and smoky white pear and peach.

VERY SPECIAL BOTTLINGS BY BLADNOCH

Raymond at Bladnoch has produced two new bottlings. The first is a Bladnoch 15 year old Rum Cask Finish and the second is a special bottling of a couple of casks of 12 year old Craggenmore which Raymond has selected, along with these samples they kindly sent me a sneak preview of the peated Bladnoch which is currently 5 years old, and I imagine won’t be available for at least another 3 to 5 years.

Bladnoch Rum Cask Finish 15 year old 57.4% £45.95

Clean, aromatic, light and grassy with citrus fruit, vanilla oak and a very slight sweetness from the rum cask, maybe there is a hint of Demerara sugar. The finish is so subtle it’s almost unnoticeable. Dry on the palate with oily golden apricot fruit followed by delicate spicy malt and grass/ hay. Superb mouthfeel, rounded and sweet with the vaguest hint of rum/ dried fruits on the finish. The rum cask has certainly given it quite a full body and added a subtle sweetness. Superb length with the oak flavours holding on. Water emphasises the clean oak on the nose along with the mellow apricot and slight tropical spiciness. On the palate it brings forward the rum/ dried fruit flavours. It shows up its superb balance and creates waves of spice, oak and citrus fruit, along with garden flowers and juniper notes. This is soft and divine and floods the mouth with flavours. This could be the best finish I’ve tasted, maybe even better than the Mission series port finished Macallan.

Raymond’s Craggenmore 12 year old 62% £TBC

Stunning, absolutely storming. Breakfast cereal with crushed bananas sprinkled with delicate sweet spice, a touch of orange fruit and lashings of the cleanest oak this side of the Mission Series – Jim McEwan would have loved to get his hands on this. Awesomely deep, it blows the distillery bottling out of the water and I haven’t tasted it yet! Wow, lovely soft entry with oily malt and serious banana, tropical fruit and dusty spices. Wow, it gets better. Very intense and tangy middle leaves the tongue tingling, great length with a touch of botanicals and clean oak. A drop of water brings out the citrus orange and tangerine, but on the palate is where it really does it for me. Softens and sweetens, this is stunning stuff, dripping with honey glazed cereals and fruits, the oak is glorious too, soft, creamy and to die for. Hats off to Raymond, this is stunning, and if Jim Murray doesn’t give it a 95+ I’ll eat my hat!

Peated Bladnoch, currently 5 years old

Quite obviously it has that ‘off the still’ note, but is beginning to mature. The light, medicinal peat aromas greet the nose first and underneath lurks the citrus bladnoch character. On the palate is again displays its youth and has not quite melded together. The peat is delicate and trying to merge with the oily fruit and malt. it has a lovely sweetness and there is not much in the way of oak influence at present. As an experiment I tasted it against the 4 year old bottling of Inchmoan, the peated malt from the Loch Lowmond distillery, and on the nose the Inchmoan is as hard as nails with more coal smoke and positively revels in its rawness, where as the Bladnoch is soft and subtle and more beguiling with a lot more of a fruity character. In the mouth the Inchmoan is more tart and full of coal dust and again hard as nails, raw, edgy, forceful and complete, it was certainly able to be bottled at four years of age whereas the Bladnoch is going to need a bit more time, and although it is a bit of fun to occasionally drink and be assaulted by the Inchmoan I would choose the Bladnoch, even in its current state.

SPRINGBANK

The distillery has just released its bottling schedule for this year, and in April they will be releasing a 25 year old Springbank. In September they will be releasing a 9 year old Marsala Finished Springbank along with a second release of the famous (or infamous) 8 year old Hazelburn, which according to the distillery will be in a completely different packaging to the first edition. It will this time be bottled in a regular Springbank style bottle and will only have one label featuring a silhouette of three stills. As you will be aware these are limited in number, so if you would like to put your name down for any of them please let me know as soon as possible.

Springbank 25 year old 46%  £161.95

Springbank 9 year old Marsala Finish 46% £38.95

Hazelburn 8 year old 46%£33.95

Clean, quite honeyed aromas of wheaty, earthy citrus, orange cream, vanilla oils and toasty malt. This really is quite delightful, smooth and rounded. Dry on the palate, initially a touch floral with orange flavours and delicate honey and sweet spices. Youthful and gloriously tangy with a long oily, spicy finish. I tasted this against a similarly aged Longrow recently and if you take the peat smoke away there is a very obvious similarity to them. Forget the hype of the first edition, with its collector labels and by a bottle as it is a rather easy going, pleasant dram.

A GENERAL ROUND UP OF TASTINGS

Bruichladdich 15 year old Second Edition 46% £39.95

Ex Bourbon cask, which has spent a further 25 weeks finishing in ex Chateau Yquem casks. Lovely maturing aromas of floral, earthy, apricot, apple, creme brulee,

at this point the newsletter abruptly ends ………WI

Visit Gauntleys at http://www.gauntley-wine.co.uk/

The most ambitious whiskyreviews series ever at ralfy.com with a 12 part commentary at the recent and excellent Victoria Whisky Festival in BC Canada. Each Vlog has been designed to record a different angle on the Event with an emphasis on Canadian Whiskies in their increasing range of shapes and forms. This is an exciting time for Canadian Whisky as the seeds of a renaisssance are being sown inside the copper pots of small artisan stills ….

Find out more at  www.ralfy.com (whisky reviews 104 A – L)

Ralfy is prolific this week and on location at the 5th Annual Victoria Whisky Festival at the Hotel GrandPacific in Victoria, British Columbia Canada.

Visit Ralfy at http://www.ralfy.com/

This time around, I’m on location at the Victoria Whisky Festival in British Columbia, and I’m joined by a panel of whisky experts to discuss some of the issues facing whisky producers and drinkers alike. Jim Murray, Malt Maniac Davin De Kergommeaux, Ed Patrick of Canada’s Companions of the Quaich, Stuart Nickerson of Glenglassaugh, Andrew Gray of Bruichladdich, and Dan Tullio of Canadian Club discuss the state of Canadian whisky, government regulation and taxes, premiumization, and their dream drams. In the news, Maker’s Mark is experimenting with a new formula that may or may not make it to market, and Bruichladdich is experimenting with technology to turn its waste into fuel.

Visit Whisky Cast at http://www.whiskycast.com/

Whisky Intelligence has reproduced (with permission) The Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter for March 2006; a small sample of scotch whisky archeology. The author, Chris Goodrum, has some excellent insights of whisky, which makes for excellent reading on a Sunday.  Enjoy!

Dear Whisky Customers
 
I don’t know where to start there are lots of exciting new things to tell you about, but first time to get on the soapbox……….!
 
I often receive updated lists from various bottling companies and virtually all of them are now offering a bottling of Springbank. Nothing unusual about that I hear you say, but a few years ago virtually the only bottling available were the distillery bottlings. The reason for this thought was that I was tasting a 12 year old 57.5% Springbank bottled by Dewar Rattray which was ok, a bit too young and a bit too soapy and rubbery on the nose and with a price tag around the £50 region, I didn’t think it was good value for money. I compared it to the distillery 12 year old Bourbon Cask bottling of a year or so ago and the distillery bottling was far superior, with a greater depth and concentration, the Dewar Rattray bottling seemed quite anaemic next to it.
 
So the question is are the distillery selling off inferior casks, knowing that independent bottling companies will snap them up or is it that there are a lot of third party casks floating around. So I thought I’d speak to Springbank and ask the question. Pete Curry at the distillery told me that the last cask that they sold was in 2001 and that during the 1980s and 1990s quite a few casks were sold to private individuals. They decided to stop selling casks because they wanted to be able to control the quality of malt that was being bottled as Springbank. He told me that as one of the tasters for Cadenheads there are a lot of inferior casks doing the rounds, this was confirmed by some of my other sources in the industry.
 
Pete told me that it was practically impossible to get hold of casks of Ardbeg, Talisker, Lagavulin and Laphroaig, yet there are vast quantities of Auchtentoshan, Bruichladdich, Jura and Bladnoch available. He believes that in a few years only the independent bottling companies with strong links to the trade will survive and the rest will either fall or their lists will be made up of the four previously mentioned.
 
So this answers the question as to why there is quite a bit of Springbank available, it doesn’t however answer the question as to why so much of it is lacking in character. I believe that there are two reasons for this. The first is Historical and the second Geographical. What I mean by Geographical is that when a private individual purchases a cask from a distillery part of the purchase price will be for a set number of years storage, therefore many will opt to leave the cask maturing at which ever distillery. When the come to sell it to a broker it will invariably be moved to the brokers warehouse, which will be on the mainland, often in the middle of Glasgow, and it is here that the cask will be left, often for quite awhile. Some may disagree that the air surrounding the cask has no influence on the malt, but as wood is pours and Springbank has the famous Campbeltown salts character from the briny sea air I believe that the environment the cask is stored in has a profound affect on the flavour of the whisky, and if it is sat in a warehouse in the middle of Glasgow it is going to loose its coastal freshness quite rapidly, and especially if it is a well used ex-bourbon cask it will taste like it could have come from practically anywhere, which reminds me of the Cheiftains Choice bottling of a year or so ago.
 
For the historical reasons I had to turn to John McDougall’s ‘Worts, Worms and Wash-backs’, which incidentally is a great read. As you may or may not know John was appointed distillery manager of Springbank in 1986. At his interview with Hedley Wright, the then MD of J&A Mitchell  & Co, the owners of the distillery he asks what budgetary controls were employed by the company. “Budgetary controls, Mr McDougall? The only budgetary controls we operate are that we don’t spend any money.” John goes on to mention that years of under investment in the distillery had left it in a terrible state, there were casks lying all over the place and a lot were stored in the disused malt barn, but had become saturated as the roof had rotted through. Although he dose not mention the state of the warehouse holding stock, you can imagine that they to may have been in quite a poor state.
 
Essentially Springbank had been silent for a number of years, being run on an adhoc basis, similar I imagine to Bruichladdich before being bought by Murray McDavid. Distilling started in ernest in 1987/8 and John being a master at resurrecting distilleries must have known that a large injection of hard cash would be needed, so throughout the late 80 and early 90’s I imagine, although he doesn’t say a lot of the new make sprit was sold off, probably in salvaged casks to anyone who would buy them along with some of the more mature stock. As John says the first spirit to flow was decent stuff, but I believe that the casks may have been somewhat deficient and may not have stood the test of time.
 
So to sum up. I may be making a generalisation but the combination of poor casks and mainland storage may be at the root of some of the poor independent bottlings that I have tasted, and lets be honest there are a lot of poor casks of all number of different distilleries doing the rounds, as Pete at Springbank told me, Cadenheads probably dismiss 18 out 20 casks that they are offered, a claim which has been backed up by others in the industry I have spoken to. In fact if I am honest I have only tasted three independent bottlings which really match up to the majesty of the distillery bottlings, one was a 1991 Blackadder Raw Cask and the other two were Murray McDavid bottlings (look guy’s I’m praising you!) a 1965 34 year old and the 1965/1993 Cuvee they released a few years back.
 
As I said earlier I’m quite excited about some of the new whiskies that we will be getting in so here is a round up.
 
NEW BLACKADDER
 
Sales of the wonderful whiskies from Blackadder seem to be going through the roof, therefore I have had to order more. As is the way with single cask bottlings some have now finished, but it gives me an opportunity to add new ones. So this is what I have added to the list.
 
1980 Blairfindy (Glenfarclas) Raw Sherry Cask (23 year old) 43% £63.95
Glenfarclas is one of those distilleries which will only allow its name to be used on its own bottlings, hence the name Robin uses is Blairfindy. This bottling has a wonderfully deep and quite perfumed nose with herbal tea, old honey, deep spices, liquorice, caramelised fruit, angelica and oh lots of sherry wood. This one is for all you wood lovers, as the spirit lurks somewhere beneath. Dry on the palate with coffee, caramel, dark sherry spices, prunes, dried fruit and orange and yes you guessed it lots of sherry oak. Very long with oak, oak and more oak. Superb finish with a serious coffee liquor note and creamy aftertaste.
 
1988 Tullibardine Raw Sherry Cask (17 year old) 57.1% £48.95
Clean, crisp and earthy with sherry cask maturing orange fruit which displays a lovely creaminess with toasty vanilla and spice notes. Off-dry with lots of juicy sherried orange and citrus fruits. Extremely spicy middle, lots of power with the alcohol dominating the finish. A drop of water brings out a beguiling cinnamon note and a slight vegetal note. However it really makes the palate superb, it becomes lusciously soft and luxuriant with honeyed citrus orange fruit and a touch of lime, plus bringing out the wood spices which linger on the finish. Lovely length with a warming, earthy after taste.
 
1989 Rosebank Raw Cask (16 year old) 60.1% £50.95
Crisp and clean on the nose with earthy citrus fruits, slightly Sauvignon Blanc-esque with a vanilla note. Lovely and smooth on the palate with clean, crisp citrus honeyed fruit and lots of sweet spices. Great intensity of flavour with a grassy finish and the Sauvignon-esque character on the after taste. Water softens and sweetens the nose, brining out an orange blossom and vanilla note. On the palate it really sweetens it, softens the honeyed fruits, increases the length and brings out a white chocolate note.
 
NEW DEWAR RATTRAY
 
Ok aside from the Springbank I have added the following rather superb whiskies to the list.
 
1985 Glen Grant (19 year old) 58.4% £58.95
A lovely deep nose. Marzipan coated rich orange/ tangerine fruit, slightly floral, sumptuous, rich and lusciously nutty. Lovely complexity with vanilla, orange marmalade and wood spice notes. Off-dry, soft and smooth, very liquor like with orange fruits and wood spices. Quite dry on the middle with the nutty/ marzipan flavours coming through. Lovely length with a soft, dusty finish. Water emphasises the oily/ marzipan character and brings out dried apricot fruit and honey, it certainly doesn’t detract from the intensity. This is a very good cask and the wood spices last for ages – great to drink while listening to Hawkwind!
 
1991 Caol Ila (15 year old) 56% £47.95
Clean, very fresh nose of garden fruits, slightly oily, yet crisp with light tar and light peat plus a slight mint/ menthol and coastal note. Clean and quite oily on the palate with the coal smoke entry followed by clean fruits and more coal. Nice length with a salty-fruitiness. Very crisp with the coal smoke ever present. Water really brings out the garden freshness and mint on the nose. It softens the palate and doesn’t detract from its very smoky character. I like this, it is not the heaviest of peated Caol Ila’s but very delightful nevertheless.
 

NEW BOURBON
 
Now this is really exciting, well the first part of the story isn’t but the finish definitely is. I was asked by a trade customer to find out a price for a specific bottled beer. So I contacted the agents and during the conversation asked what other brands they had the agency for, the reply was Buffalo Trace. So we practically said in unison “So you do George T Stagg” and the second question was; “Can I have some please”.
 
For those of you who are unfamiliar with George T Stagg it has been awarded “World Whisky of the year” in 2005 and 2006 by the renowned whisky writer Jim Murray’s and is extremely difficult to get hold of, but I have some, well three bottles to be precise, so form and orderly queue, and as always it will be first come first served.
 
Along with the Stagg, the distillery do a number of small batch and hard to obtain bourbons, which are all pretty spectacular, thus I have added the following of their speciality bourbons to the list. In fact we were the first UK merchant to be offered the William Laurue Weller wheat bourbon.
 
Eagle Rare 10 year old Single Barrel 45% £29.95

Big, rich and creamy on the nose with honey, rye fruits and hints of Demerara. Initial corn sweetness and peppery spice layered with chewy toffee and caramel. Very long with the vanilla and caramel flavours lingering.

Eagle Rare 17 year old 45% £63.95

A blend of Kentucky Corn, Minnesota Rye and North Dakota Malted Barley.

Initially it has a quite fragrant nose, and an almost winey character with a fabulous mix of almonds, pecans, brown sugar and stewed apples?  The ideal American breakfast! The body is big and silky and is far spicier than the nose suggests with a superb depth and complexity of maple syrup, vanilla toffee cream, violets, and a very long spicy finish with a hint of old leather.

Sazerac 18 year old Rye 45% £63.95

A blend of Minnesota Rye, Kentucky Corn and North Dakota Malted Barley.

Huge, complex spicy aromas of   crisp grain, oak, molasses, old leather and an abundance of slightly oily, delicious toffee. Thick and chewy with unbelievably spicy and powerful flavours ? mint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, vanilla oak, leather, pepper and violets. Complex and sturdy the flavours come in waves and waves. One to sit and wallow in.

William Laurue Weller 12 year old Wheat 45%£88.95

A blend of Kentucky Corn, North Dakota Wheat and North Dakota Malted Barley.

The initial nose impact is full of cotton candy and black walnuts. It develops into a luscious dried fruit sweetness that is in perfect harmony with soft vanilla, powdered sugar and cinnamon spices. On the palate it boom?s with an explosion of Bourbon flavours, oak and a beguiling smoky sweetness. Its an uncompromisingly hearty dram, but the finish is fresh and invigorating.

George T Stagg 15 year old 70.6% £120.95

A blend of Kentucky Corn, Minnesota Rye and North Dakota Malted Barley.

So why is this World Whisky of the Year? well I leave Jim Murray to tell you why.

“I cannot really find a fault here: the oak is big enough to add a herbal almost medicinal quality, which on its own could be a downer were it not for the extraodinary, just about perfect, counter provided by sharp, juicy rye fruitiness and sweetening corn. Stick your nose in this ? but only after you have warmed it to body temperature and have 15-20 minutes to spare. Really tasting notes are pointless in some ways: look for it and you will find it there. This in some way redefines complexity; the enormity of the age and strength at first wrinkles and shrivels the palate, but when your eyes have stopped watering and you can focus, you will see you?re in Eden. The splendour of the rye leads the way, with a soft, oily body forming from which much more succulent corn springs. The oak is a vaguely bitter pulse somewhere in the background. In the midst of this a buttery, small grain anthem is played over and over again; much quieter by comparison but the fruits remain and now a natural, caramelised corn sweetens the building, coffeed oak. I have tried this with water at varying strengths, but to get the best out of this bourbon you have to be brave. Take at full strength, but only in very small amounts. Such is the enormity of this whiskey it will soon spread around the palate offering its full service. Along with a certain Ardbeg, this George T Stagg is without any shadow of a doubt one of the two best whiskies it has ever been my luck and privilege to taste in nearly 30 years”

JAPANESE WHISKY
 
Like the Stagg, this is really exciting for me (sad me? – my wife would probably say so). I have always felt that this was something missing from the whisky and by chance I have found a supplier. Funnily enough there is an interesting story behind it (well I think so – you might disagree). As you may or may not know I have been having trouble getting hold of Irish whiskey from our usual supplier and have had to look for an alternative source, and what do you know, they have a small range of interesting Japanese Whisky. So if you have never tried them, there will be no excuse, because we will be stocking the following ones.
 
SENDAI DISTILLERY
 
Nikka Miyagikyo 10 year old 45% £45.95
Teasing layers of peat amid ripe fruit – very fruity in fact with fig notes. The flavours come in waves of fruit, peat and gentle smoke. This malt is very deft and complex.
 
Pure Malt Red (Vatted) 50cl 43% £21.95
Firm vanilla gives an oaky lead. Light and malty with lots of vanilla and a dash of honey. This is quite a light malt that appears heavier than it actually is with an almost imperceptible oiliness.
 
Pure Malt White (Vatted) 50cl 43% £21.95
On the nose it there is soft Islay style peat, gentle oak and glorious orange citrus fruits. The smoky flavour build nicely on the palate along with the sweet vanilla and orange fruit. Great length and depth finishing with a dry, tangy, salty liquorice flourish
 
Pure Malt Black (Vatted) 50cl 43% £21.95
I am going to let Jim Murray explain why you should buy this malt – Take it away Jim! “An exquisitely crafted nose: studied peat in luxuriant yet deft proportions nestling amid some honeyed oak and malt. The balance between sweet and dry is faultless. There is neither an off-note nor a ripple of disharmony.The kind of nose you can sink your head into and simply disappear.. For all the evident peat this is medium weighted, the subtly encased in a gentle cloak of oil; long, silky , fabulously weighted peat running a sweet course through some surging malt and liquorice tones with a bit of salt there for zip. Well, if anyone can show me a better balanced whisky than this you know where to get hold of me. You open a bottle of this at your peril: best to do so in the company of friends. Either way, it will be empty before the night is over.”
 
YOICHI DISTILLERY
 
Nikka Yoichi 10 year old 45% £42.95
A lovely soft, sensuous delicately peaty nose. Sweet and soft on the palate with a gradual build up of peat along with a touch of vanilla and orange fruit. This malt has a lovely balance of bitter-sweet flavours and a long sweet, slightly creamy finish with an ever present soft smokiness.
 
Nikka Yoichi 12 year old 45% £52.95
A big, fresh, clean, spicy Oloroso nose with dried fruit,ripe dates and  sweet, gently smoked malt. A magnificent palate with an intensity of Olorosos dried fruits, juicy malt and gentle smoke. very long finish with oak coming through.
 
Nikka Yoichi 15 year old 45% £60.95
An intensely clean, nutty, malty nose with a touch of smoke and peat. In the mouth it opens with delightfully clean malt. Creamy and quite oily with lashings of vanilla and delicate gapey/ winey fruits. The peat has softened to an almost imperceptible level, but adds a deft level of complexity. Amazingly delicate but all the components, barley, vanilla and peat are in perfect balance. The finish is long, succulent and enormously complex.
 
Well I think that’s enough excitiment for one newsletter. If you have any comments or would like to place an order, you can contact me in the usual ways.
 
Sincerely
Chris Goodrum 

Visit Gauntleys at www.gauntley-wine.co.uk

Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked a new item, ‘Highland Park ‘Magnus”

Long awaited, limited and highly desirable ‘replica’ style Highland Park, don’t hesitate!

Highland Park Magnus 15yo
52.6% abv
£69.90 inc vat
£59.49 ex vat

Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

Like most of the country we have been affected by the winter weather. Here on the Isle of Lewis ferries were cancelled and roads treacherous with ice and snow; But forever optimistic and to welcome 2010, we decided to warm everyone up with news of the release of ‘The Spirit of Lewis’ New Spirit! 

We apologise for being late, but we want to ensure our stock is available for our Single Malt in 2011, that was our priority and we knew that you would agree.  Our philosophy has always been ‘Make sure you’ve made it, before you sell it!’  So we are going to release a limited amount of sample bottles that will be available via registering on the website, that means, for some, you won’t have to come to Lewis to get one! As this is a limited release we will only allow one bottle per person, so please don’t ask for more.

The launch date, registration form and cost of a bottle will be published in two weeks time via the newsletter.  Please fill in the special registration form if you would like one of these historic bottles. Filling in the form cannot guarantee you a bottle, but we will try our best. If you don’t fill in the form we can guarantee you won’t get a bottle unless you visit us!

We are releasing special 500ml New Spirit, sample bottles that will carry the bottle number as well as the cask number, and Marko’s signature of authenticity. They will be the first legal bottles of spirit to be made on our island in almost 160 years!

We have also (at your request) altered our Whisky Experience, it is no longer a requirement to take a cask and participants can go home with a bottle instead, thus reducing the overall cost of the course.  Due to the current financial squeeze we are also offering a course for those on a tight budget, check out our website for what’s on offer.

If you want to get tongues wagging and questions asked why not sport one of our new T Shirts? We are offering a range of stylish quality clothing depicting the Abhainn Dearg Distillery logo and The Spirit of Lewis label. At the moment these items are, like our Spirit, as rare as hen’s teeth so don’t miss out!

Remember to look out for our next newsletter if you want to get your hands on a bottle of ‘The Spirit of Lewis’! 

http://www.abhainndearg.co.uk/