Yet another hotly anticipated new release from Bruichladdich Distillery on the Hebridean Isle of Islay; the first release from bourbon casks bottled at a very high ABV and at a whopping 131 PPM (parts per million). An in a vodka style bottle to boot, what’s the whisky world coming to? Bruichladdich simply don’t care; charge on with the next hotly anticipated bottling and leave the critics bewildered in the dust. The nose deceptively subtle at first, creamy buttery peat, a deep waft up the nose strikingly reveals the alcohol. However the aroma is very pleasant despite the high strength. A little water will help? Most definitely, increased and new aromas of wine coal smoke, roofing tar, iodine and of course peat smoke. The taste is at the same time creamy and filled with loads of peat smoke and honey but still very strong despite the veritable swimming pool of water dumped in. A secondary taste of malt and peat smoke, much like when one breathes in malt dust when shoveling the malt from the kiln. After a few minutes the malt is dominate and the peat smoke is a close second. Perhaps a few more years in the cask will coax out new aspects but at the moment it’s a bit of a bruiser in the mouth that peat heads will love. The finish is very long and is a follow through of the nose and taste, peat smoke, malt and sweetness but the creaminess is sulking in the corner. After a few minutes there is a very slight hint of coal soap however it’s not unpleasant. Perhaps a tad waxy? The finish is long, about as long as Star Trek reruns….surrender is conceded, off to lunch.

Good fun and well worth a try.

C$180

Score 88 Points

Visit http://www.bruichladdich.com/ for more information

This Vintage edition of Benromach has “been aged for many years in the finest oak casks” which is an accurate statement considering the whisky is at least 39 years old and is an extraordinary dark color; the gleam of polished very old mahogany. The nose is a delight with rich Christmas cake, dark rum gorged plums, apricots, mild orange, toffee and honey intermingled with sherry and dry oak. The taste is quite strong at first and quite extraordinary with some surprising light smoke, over steeped black tea, mild tobacco with an oily mouth feel. Old sherry springs to mind and there is a slight fizziness in the very back ground along with a slight hint of smoke struggling to be noticed in the sea of mild malt, a hint of liquorice and sweet oak. The finish is very long and quickly changes from the characteristics noted above to a slightly different astringent version that is very dry and oaky with fragrant cedar (like the big wooden box your Grandma kept her blankets in) and powdered mustard; but just a flash. After a few minutes there is green grass and bitter tea.

This is a big whisky is all respects and it’s wonderful to see these old drams. The decades in the cask have taken a little off the points and it’s perhaps a touch woody but no matter.  

Score 88 Points

£143 at the Whisky Exchange http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/ and for further details on Benromach Distillery http://www.benromach.com/

A bottling specially selected for Willow Park Wines & Spirits in Calgary, Alberta. The independent bottler Murray McDavid does not chill filter or add coloured and as the back label states “Cask Selected by Jim McEwan” and “ideal drinking strength”. Hmmmm. The nose is quite sweet with honey and vanilla, additionally lychee, raisins (hold on, is this a bourbon cask?), floor polish (like the old type used on cement floors and on a warm day). Very fragrant wood notes, cedar, tea and saw dust like you might encounter in a musical instrument work shop. The taste is soft with an initial maritime hint, more surf than beach followed by a multi layered wood attack; very dry and sweet. The predominate characteristic is sweet very dry wood notes and surprisingly a little flash of curry. This actually quite woody and dry and is actually very nice. The finish is quite long, fragrant, woody and very dry. There is actually a myriad of layers to the dry wood notes. Spicy, cedar, honey etcetera. After a few minutes the finish drops off to wet wood. Warming and soft however a bit made of wood and not steel.

Long gone from Willow Park (from a time when they were the place to buy whisky in Calgary. A small look back at a recent bottling prior to the whisky world charging idiotic prices for older whiskies. A classic, a bit like a wooden boat; lots of lumber but well loved, if you take my point.

C$200

Score 92 Points

For more details on Murray McDavid visit http://www.murray-mcdavid.com/

From the Knockdhu Distillery in the Highlands of Scotland we have a well respected single malt and the malt is pronounced a-nock. On the nose is complex and quite strong for a 40% bottling; mild bees wax, honey, cedar (similar to the thin tube inserts for good quality cigars) and old musical instruments. Malt and lemon-orange but muted; toffee and more wood notes. Dusty malt and no off notes. The taste is as found on the nose with dry wood tastes and the dusty malt layered with fruit and honey, quite delicious. After a minute or two the malt is the dominate characteristic with a very dry woody mouth feel and taste however the lumber does not over whelm. A brief and very slight surprise flash of Tandoor! The finish is quite long with the malt and the dry wood notes elbowing each other towards the finish line to be replaced with more fruit and honey. Actually very long and warming.  

Every single malt lover should have a bottle of this at home.  

C$80 

Score 88 Points

For more information please visit http://www.ancnoc.com/ or http://www.inverhouse.com/ to view details of other distilleries in the Inver House Family.

The hotly anticipated new offering for the famed distillery on Islay; for a distillery of such note the official bottlings have been quite rare (10yo, 10yo Cask Strength, 15yo, and 30yo along with a handful of special bottlings at various ages and vintages). Not a huge ramge but highly sought after! Additionally the new 18yo is replacing the beloved 15yo in the line up; and bottled without chill filtration too! The nose is immediately of peat smoke, delicate coal smoke, iodine and gauze and a faint burnt stick. Mild oak wood dust intermingled with a faint fragrant furniture polish and the ever slightest hint of fruit cake. Very typical of other Laphroaigs. The taste is of sweet strong peat smoke intertwined with malt and oak followed by mild oranges and apricots, vanilla, honey and a light mouth feel. The time in the cask has mellowed the famed Laphroaig attack but this is sensational whisky. Toasted oats? The finish is quite long and warming with more smoke and oak notes followed at the very end by some slight floral notes. Also honey and some more smoke and the slight hints of seaweed and/or the beach. Quite mellow (for an Islay) and lacks any rough edges or elbows. Well integrated bits make this a welcome addition the line up.  

£62 

Score 90 Points

For the full details on Laphroaig Single Malt please visit http://www.laphroaig.com/ and become a Friend of Laphroaig!

Glen Elgin has been a slight mystery; flying below the radar with Official Bottlings so it’s gratifying to see some new official expressions available from this Speyside distillery. The nose is a delight; lightly floral with bourbon, cedar, oak, fruit and elder flower. There are both delicate and rich notes intermingled, this is a multifaceted dram and the aroma is quite lovely, also a hint of peat moss.  The taste is powerful; the delicate notes previously described in the aroma are not in evidence, after a few minutes the cedar and wood notes burst forth. Very warming and succulent at the same time.  The finish is woody, dry and then some sweet malt at the very end. Also very dry tea and a hint of citrus, possibly orange? All in all an excellent dram of a very good quality; well worth a try.

No official website. Bah.

C$82

Score 89 Points

Another excellent and subtle bottling from Balblair with the appearance of pale straw; honey gold. The nose has some ‘green’ aspects (vegetative) with carefully layered citrus, raisins and over ripe fruit. Oak, leather and tobacco in the back ground. With the addition of a little water there isn’t a dramatic change with the vanishing of the citrus to be replaced by a more even distribution of the wood and floral notes. Tea. The taste has some notes of resin and varnish followed by the oak and fruit, warming and biscuity, like Graham Crackers, stewed and then dried pears, , chocolate and toasted malt in the back ground. Cocoa. The finish has later stages of malt and oak, long and smooth, dry at the very end. After a few minutes there is a re emergence of the malt and a very slight bitterness and the green notes initially detected on the nose. Grass.

£40

Score 86 Points

Visit http://www.balblair.com/ for all the details on this exceptional distillery.

This bottling is the newest permanent addition to the distillery’s core range and consists a vatting of 80% sherry casks and 20% bourbon barrels which has been bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering. Of the 7,800 bottles produced for the world wide market, a grand total of 180 were allocated to the Canadian Province of Alberta (the remainder of Canada was out of luck). The nose reveals fruit, raisins, Christmas cake and is actually not as assertive as one would expect from an abundance of sherry casks used in the vatting. Some slight smokiness with some very light wood notes. A slight tinge of furniture polish perhaps? Very pleasant. The taste is sweet and luxurious, rich and slightly creamy cooked dark fruits (plums) fruit tart and apricot. The smoke is much more evident than on the nose but not over whelming; also the taste is quite dry layered with toffee and wood notes. It’s very pleasant and whatever amount is in your glass the inclination is to add more. The finish is quite long; at first there are lots of sweet fruit components but after a short time you’re left with a lot of dryness and wood notes. Exceptional.

 C$150

 Score 88 Points

Visit http://www.springbankwhisky.com/ for further details.

The Whisky Exchange “Straight from the Cask” NAS Celebration 60.1% 50cl

The Whisky Exchange in London has a number of small casks in the shop where they will bottle a 50cl bottle for you. One of their current offering is a NAS (No Age Statement) ‘Celebration’ bottled at 60.1%. Further information on the age and distillery is a closely held secret. The nose is not over powering considering the bottle strength and is quite sweet, pleasing with a buttery, creamy back ground. Well integrated with loads of peat smoke that battle with the buttery sweet creaminess, some hints of oak and pepper also. Some later hints of paint thinner or plasticine? Actually very nice on the whole. Water opens up the nose to really increase the peat smoke with a tiny hint of juniper and heather. The taste is strong at first with absolute buckets of smoke and sweetness all rolling around in abandon with a oily syrupy mouth feel, a follow up of more smoke. Water greatly improves the whisky, this is a prime example of a dram that should really be bottled at a lower strength but thankfully it wasn’t other wise we’d never know! The finish is full of sweet smoke and ashes, a full Islay impact; this whisky shares many characteristics with Bruichladdich Port Charlotte or Octomore. Not a lot of malt but a continuation of the peat, ashes, oak and sweetness. A little sweet and sour at the end, like acid drops. After a few minutes the experience is still rolling along with the peat smoke arriving in waves with some very dry wood and malt notes followed by more smoke. After 10 minutes the finish rolls on changing to peat smoke ashes and malt.

A peaty devil this one is but a sweety too.

Whoever chose this cask did very well and despite the mysterious origin and lack of age statement it’s a great dram. Limited to 25 litres total availability at the Whisky Exchange.

Score 88 points

Visit the Whisky Exchange at http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/

This bottling was the Loch Fyne Whiskies bottling of the year for 2008;

This year was a more difficult decision. It was whittled down from either Ardmore OB or An Cnoc 16 to Ledaig CC 1990. All three are worthy of the accolade but the Ledaig wins on unusualness of taste and the unexpected suggestion. The better sell of the three, our customers are very happy with it.

This distillery is now named Tobermory but it was originally called Ledaig and now their peated out put is called Ledaig. The nose is a little stronger than anticipated for a 43% bottling; sharp, a slight bit of cheese and loads of lemon and sharp varnish aromas followed by oak and a wood workers shop but not in an over whelming sense. Sweet wine notes, very pleasant without any smoke. The taste is at first blush a little smokey which builds in the mouth, sweetness and citrus and more smoke with a back ground layer of oak. The flavour only improves with time and is quite complex with smoldering smokiness intertwined with sweet wine notes and then some slight bitterness in the back ground, like a good dark chocolate. Later oily development. The finish is very malty with the previous noted wine notes, the smoke dissipates quite rapidly and then it’s wave after wave of malt and a slight green tinge like asparagus however only a tinge; nothing to become alarmed about.

£29 (Somebody is having a laugh; an 18yo of this quality for this low price!)

Score 87 Points

Visit https://www.lfw.co.uk/ to buy yours or for more information on Tobermory Distillery visit http://www.tobermory.co.uk/tobermory_distillery/tobermory_whisky.htm