A new bottling of GlenDronach from the distillery that was purchased a short while ago by the nice people from BenRiach whom seem to have made a career out of rescuing closed distilleries. Comes in a striking blue tube and non chill filtered, natural colour and from exclusive maturation in Oloroso sherry casks. A damn fine start.  The nose is sharp with a background of sweetness, apricots, light citrus (lemon) and then Christmas cake followed by spicy wood notes and a hint of diesel plus some meatiness intermingle with some very light heather, also some hints of Lovage (Levisticum officinale). Excellent so far. The taste is very sherried and dry at first followed by some very good spice and brown sugar. The sherry and the spice, along with black pepper, are the dominate characteristics. There is also some mild hints of bung cloth and pine resin This is excellent whisky. The finish is of more very dry sherry, spicy wood notes, is very chewy with a touch of marmite in the background. After a short while it becomes drier and even spicier as the sherry influence drops off, bitter chocolate and cold unsweetened black tea at the very end. The finish is quite long.

£45 at Loch Fyne Whiskies

Score 89 Points

http://www.glendronachdistillery.com/

Mortlach 12yo 1994/2007 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, Ref#3554, 654 Bts., D07/’94 B05/’07)

An individual cask bottling by Douglas Laing under their Old Malt Cask label; matured in sherry casks. The nose is at first slightly closed with background hints of clove and spice. After a few minutes the sweetness begins to emerge along with warm brown sugar, orange peel and some oak notes. This is followed by some good sherry and slight hints of bees wax. With time and a little hand warming more sherry notes emerge. The taste is dry at first followed by the orange and the sherry along with some very gentle cured tobacco, resin and marmalade. There is also some sweet dried fruits, and bitter dark chocolate. The finish is long and assertive with lots of bitter dry wood notes, Christmas cake and oak along with marmalade once again. After a few minutes the finish is very dry with some slight hints of malt.

Not a dram to rush….but quite delicious. A great example of a  really sound sherry cask.

C$150

Score 89

Visit Douglas Laing & Co at http://www.douglaslaing.com/

Tomintoul 12yo (40%, OB, Oloroso, +/- 2008)

A limited edition bottling from Tomintoul distillery finished in Oloroso sherry casks for the last 18 months. The nose is of cereals and barley, pizza dough and warm bread with a back bone of sweetness that takes some gentle hand warming to bring out. There is also a very slight hint of soya sauce, which is a bit of a surprise. The overall nose is very gentle and is not aggressive. The taste is once again quite gentle and very smooth, the sweet sherry notes are this time more dominant that the cereals that were present on the nose and the overall taste is quite delicious. The taste is dramatically different from the nose; was this already mentioned? It’s very good and gentle and malty and sweet. The finish is of oranges, dark chocolate, malt, sherry, very mild oak and some more chewy malted barley. It’s quite long and very good. After a few minutes the sherry raises its head and smacks the other notes down. There is also a wave or two of the barley. The finish is loooonnng for such a gentle dram.

An impressive whisky and a great one to introduce to those who have very little experience with single malts.

£28

Score 84 Points

Visit Tomintoul Distillery at http://www.tomintouldistillery.co.uk/

An independent single cask bottling from Murray McDavid Mission and bottled at Bruichladdich on Islay without coloring, chill filtration and at cask strength; a good start. The color is a very dark mahogany with red highlights, much like an American whiskey. The nose if of sweet fruit and Christmas cake, rich dried glace fruits, furniture polish, light coal smoke, oak, wood shavings and a very slight trace of the sea; it’s very nice and extremely inviting. After a few minutes in the glass there are some slight hints of citrus and increased woodiness. After some further moments it changes again to become herbaceous intermingled with brown sugar. The taste is strong and warming with some characteristic & distinctive Springbank notes that is reminiscent of wet cotton or Hessian and smoke along with dry woody notes followed by more sweetness (dried fruit, apricot, fruit cake & winey).  The finish is quite dry with cold unsweetened black tea, cedar and some mild smoke and medium in length that trails off to become focused on the dry woody notes. Not the complicated finish but still nice. After 10 minutes the finish is exceedingly dry and slightly bitter.

What of the Chateau Lafite influence; perhaps the fruit is the influence? A good solid whisky without any off notes.

C$115

Score 83

Visit Murray McDavid at http://www.murray-mcdavid.com/

A bottling from Duncan Taylor’s NC2 Range (non-chillfiltered and non-coloured). The nose has a problem but there is some sweet malt, mild smoke which is good, however these characteristics are marred by damp funky cardboard. With water the smoke and the sweetness are in the fore and the disappointment comes in the form of some mild soapiness. The soapiness vanishes after a short while and the sweet smoke struggles free, which is nice. Water improves the aroma significantly. The taste is very good with none of the unhappiness of the nose and there is really good integration of the malt, the sweetness and the gentle smoke along with hints of dark chocolate. A huge relief after the unhappiness on the nose. With water it is much the same as the undiluted sample but becomes syrupy, definitely better without the water although perhaps a small amount wouldn’t hurt. Again no further appearances from the unhappy aroma gang. The finish is sweet and smoky with loads of chewy malt and some slight ‘green’ hints along with some dry oak. The finish is quite long and there is loads of malt and smoke.

A malt that saves it self.

C$100

Score 80 Points

http://www.duncantaylor.com/

A independent bottling from Douglas Laing & Co under the Provenance series of bottlings by “The McGibbon’s” and two casks married together to make up this bottling. Happily without chill filtration and the addition of coloring. It’s always instructive to have the opportunity to taste different versions of the Macallan, especially if they vary from the official bottlings. The nose both sweet and strong; tropical tinned fruits and then banana followed to a lesser extent by brown sugar, mild vanilla, pine resin; very pleasant. The taste is sweet and of cooked and tinned fruits with the addition of bitter cold tea, some ever slight hint of coal smoke (?), bandages and bitter sweet chocolate. The finish is warming and long while it is also very dry filled with various wood notes and spice. The banana makes a reappearance and so do the bandages.

An unusual Macallan to say the least but really rather good; lots of vibrancy. Intriguing. Tasty.

C$110

Score 84

Visit Douglas Laing at  http://www.douglaslaing.com/

An independent bottling of Macallan selected by Gordon Wright of The Alchemist and this particular example is from a fresh sherry cask. The nose is grassy, of roses, lemon and slight solvent followed by some malt. After a short while the sweetness struggles through the grass and floral and solvent; there is also some light varnish hovering over the malt which continues to pop in and out of the picture. The taste is strong, quite sweet and very malty with a back ground of honey and clove along with a hint of bitter chocolate; there is some marmalade also (the citrus all dressed up). With water the varnish vanishes (it takes a lot of water) and it is sweet and malty, definitely much improved by the addition of water. The finish is very malty along with cocoa powder and very spicy oak. It is very long and the oak is very pleasant, the malt is dominant at this point.

Singularly different from the Official Bottlings and a good example of something unusual from the Macallan Distillery.

C$84

http://www.alc-hem-ist.com/

An individual cask bottling by Douglas Laing under their Old Malt Cask label from a closed Lowland distillery and without chill filtration or added coloring and ‘no nonsense’. The nose is at first fragrant and fruity (citrus rather than field or tree fruit) followed by some light malt. Very light with some hints of heather and very light rose water. Very pleasant and clean. With water it opens up and becomes very sweet with malt, honey and oddly some toasted bread. The aroma is fragrant and flavorful but light. The taste is sweet, fruity and very clean, with the addition of some light malt and nice spice from the oak along with some dryness. A wonderful taste, quite delicious along with some later arrival of cocoa. With water is very sweet and malty but the malt is not over whelming, the sweetness is the larger flavour along with some more of the citrus. The finish is long fruity citrus with some woody dryness and malt.

A delicious Lowlander.

£62

Score 86 Points

http://www.douglaslaing.com/

An independent bottling of Ben Nevis by Duncan Taylor under the Battlehill line. The nose is sweet, fat and oily with citrus, pear and apricot plus vanilla bean, big brown sugar, barley, very slight hints of Marmite and some whiffs of smoke and bung cloth. The taste is gentle at first and rises in strength and is very sweet with the brown sugar making a welcome appearance, stewed fruit, raisins, toffee followed by wood in the form of oak that has some spicy qualities. Very oily in the mouth and syrupy also. Quite and excellent dram so far. The finish is very malty and of the Marmite which is now stronger, no as sweet the nose and the taste but much more of the cask and dry at the very end, just before some more malt arrives plus some really nice smoke. The finish is very long with a continuation of the malt, fruit and mild smoke. It is also very dry and malty after a number of minutes. Good bitter oak delivery.

What a great dram. Try and find a bottle, it’s excellent.

C$70

Score 87 Points

Battlehill Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. Named after the famous 16th century clan battles in our home town of Huntly, Battlehill has been produced as an entry level malt for those consumers wishing to move up from blends. Within the range are our finest 6 to 10 year old single malt whiskies that have been selected for their exceptional characteristics. The range includes whiskies from Imperial, Auchentoshan, and Miltonduff amongst others. The whiskies are bottled at 43% ensuring that they are accessible for all to enjoy. Bottlings available in 700ml & 750ml.

Visit Duncan Taylor at http://www.duncantaylor.com/

Visit Ben Nevis Distillery at http://www.bennevisdistillery.com/

The Inaugural Release from the ‘farm distillery’ on Islay, 8450 bottles world wide  and matured for 36 months in ex bourbon barrels and then finished for 6 months in sherry casks. How exciting! The nose is of rich peat, very earthy and buttery at first with some hints of peanut butter, honey and fruit, a drawing room on a hot day (think of the air in a closed room filled with antiques). Quite nice; where are the off notes? They appear to have stayed home. The taste is not overly strong but immediately of huge peat, fruit and malt. This whisky tastes much older than it is which is quite extraordinary. The taste is quite brilliant and very, very enjoyable, some small amount of shock here….malt, peat, fruit all very well integrated. Rich, loamy peat smoke. More fruit. Some maritime hints. Extraordinary. The finish is of rolling peat smoke, fruit and oak, later arrival of some really clean coal smoke (ignore the obvious problems with that last statement) followed by some hints of shrimp crisps, another round of peat smoke and hugely chewy malt. The finish is very, very long and after a number of minutes it’s all peat smoke and malt, like when you scoop a handful of peated malt from the pile at the distillery.

My God, what a great dram, the distillery must be very pleased that their hard work has paid off so very early.

Score 86 Points

£45 (and recently sold on ebay for £185)

http://www.kilchomandistillery.com/