How many times have you been in a situation, with a group of friends normally in the pub but certainly with alcohol involved to a grater or lesser degree, and the topic of conversation turns to one of invention, or to put it simply “why didn’t I think of that”. It’s a common happening for sure but I suppose the outcome and idea all depends on who you have gathered around you at the time. Trouble is, most good ideas and solutions to life’s little issues remain firmly where they were born – n the pub, never reaching beyond the embryonic state, most never making it even past the next round.
But the Swedes do think a little differently don’t they. Dynamite, the adjustable spanner and the three-point seat belt are just three wonderful additions to our world thanks to forward thinking Swedes. And of course Mackmyra Single Malt Whisky.
Founded in 1998 by the eight friends who had asked that fateful question “why is there not a Swedish whisky?”, the distillery produced it first drops of new make on 18th December 1998 with the first official releases of Mackmyra Elegant and Mackmyra Smoke coming to the market in 2002. Fast forward 6 years and the first Swedish whisky is `produced in large volumes .The “First Edition” is produced using Swedish ingredients and no additives.
The latest edition to join the ever popular range is Mackmyra The Swedish Whisky “Brukswhisky” where the website has the following information on it: Mackmyra The Swedish Whisky is made from our soft elegant recipe matured in bourbon casks. We then spiced it up with a special combination of large and small casks: rich sherry and a touch of our fresh Swedish oak. For a light hint of juniper smoke, we added some of our smoky variety. Sounds fun right? well, lets give it a go.
Mackmyra The Swedish Whisky Single Malt
No Age statement
Ex Bourbon/Sherry cask with Swedish oak
ABV: 41.4 %
RRP £36.00
Appearance: Pale young straw
Nose: Light vanilla with young malt and newly painted wood. Fruity notes of lemon curd and grapefruit peel and slices of fresh quince are muted behind a muslin cloth. In the background, a curious note, not unlike a cold caramel latte and that fresh painted wood has become more polished now.
Palate: A balance of light woody vanilla and lively citrus grip before turning richer than expected with warming spices of clove, mace and white pepper. Rounded sweet fruit elements help bring the two characters neatly together.
Finish: Lingering cinnamon dusted pear with a malty custard cream on the side. That slight coffee not pops up at the very end again.
Summary: LIght on the nose, this whisky certainly delivers more on the palate, dancing around in quite an unexpected way. If you have yet to try a Mackmyra whisky, then this is certainly a good one to begin with. And remeber, when you do raise a glass, ask yourself “Why didn’t I think of that”
Tags: 09, age, alcohol, barley, best, Cask, cave, chill, cold, colour, dran, european, filtered, friends, Glass, good, handy, limited, live, Mackmyra, malt, matured, New, non, notes, oak, region, release, sample, scoltand, Scotland, Scottish, show, single, special, started, strength, swede, sweedish, tasted, tasting, vintage, warm, whiskey, whisky, wine
Having just returned from the recent “Warrior Release” of Highland Park, I wasn’t quite expecting another release to follow so soon, nor was I prepared for the intriguing manner in which this latest HP expression has made its way out into the world. 
My postie is a very nice lady but she does have a habit of arriving at an ungodly hour and on this occasion remarked with her usual cheerfulness “Oh you are dressed!” which nicely set the discombobulated tone of the day as I struggled to wake up and remember if I had been inadvertently naked when I last saw her! The mystery continued when I opened the delivery to find an intriguing unmarked black box and the black envelope within holding a disc of paper on which were printed strange symbols and letters. It took a while for me to work out that it was actually a flexagon which when refolded in certain ways would deliver different messages. Three in fact. The crossed legged man wrapped in a serpent, and the lines “All is not what it seems” and ” A serpent stirs in the smoky shadows”. Had I upset someone so much they had sent some kind of death threat to me? Friends in the industry were also sent the same package and as we “tweeted” our thoughts, we tried to work out who it was from and what it was all about. The image did seem familiar and after a little more searching we found out it was to do with the second in The Valhalla Series from Highland Park- “Loki”
Got to love Google.
So this morning, a second parcel arrived. Similar black box, similarly plain looking package and yes I was dressed. Inside was a tube, with an origami serpent guarding a small bottle. Fortunately this time, the mystery was solved – the bottle had a label on it.
So who is Loki? From Norse mythology, he was a helper to the gods, but also a shape shifter and trickster seemingly causing them more problems than helping. I always thought, taking the word of the great Stan Lee, that he was the brother of Thor and the son of Odin , but apparently not and his name is set deep into ancient writings far beyond the modern portrayal of him. Anyway, with glass in hand it was easy to see why this slithery character was chosen as this whiskies name sake as the nose, palate and finish seems to shift and change at every approach. stirring stuff indeed.
Gerry Tosh, Global Marketing Manager says, “Thor was the first of its kind, a true quality malt built around an individual’s personality. This proved massively successful and it sold out globally. Loki will continue to take Highland Park and The Valhalla Collection into new territory.
While everyone will recognize the definite ‘Highland Park-ness’ of this 15 Years Old Single Malt, it will be the unexpected and surprisingly smoky dynamics that will really get palates excited and mouths talking. This is unlike any expression that has come before and will beguile and fascinate with its complexity and trickery. Remember, all is not as it seems.”
Highland Park “Loki” 15year old
The Valhalla Series
47.8% ABV
European cask and peated cask.
Limited to 21,000 bottles
RRP £170
Appearance: Rose gold with like honey.
Nose: Artist oil paint, fresh squeezed orange juice, hessian cloth, fresh hay, linseed oil, warm honey blossom, rich malt, licorice root and a note of perished vulcanized rubber. Smoke never really appears, taking the form of the rubber note instead. Well developed but very complex.
Palate: A syrupy and rich beginning with burnt butter, walnut oil, busts of peat smoke and charred meat making up the start of the palate. Vanilla sauce over dried tropical peels of grapefruit and papaya, woody birch sap honey follows with ginger spice and ends with molasses licorice and lime preserve coated with peat smoke.
Finish: Dried peel, chunks of charred wood and earthy spices all fight for palate possession as the smokey finish grips in.
Summary: From first nosing this whisky, to the initial taste, then going back to it after a few minutes it had become three very different drams. Unmistakably Highland Park, yet at the same time layered with citrus and a level of peat smoke far greater than normally expected. But give it a minute and it switches round, the smoke dies, the warm spices emerge and the citrus calms. Then try again. Nothing is as it seems.
Tags: 15, aroma, barrel, Cask, character, distill, distiller, distillery, dram, european, fact, favourite, fiction, film, flavour, Gerry, global, god, heavy, Highalnd, holywood, Lee, light, limited, Loki, malt, marketing, mystery, New, Norse, nose, notes, nothing, oak, Old, Orcadian, origami, Orkney, Park, peat, Peated, release, review, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, seems, seprent, series, Serpent, Sherry, single, smoke, smokey, smoky, Stan, taste, tasting, Thor, Tosh, truth, unknown, Valhella, whiskey, whisky, year
Glemorangie have added a new expression to the Private Collection range. The collection, comprising of Sonnalta PX, Finealta and Artien will now be joined by the Ealanta which means “skilled and ingenious” in the Gaelic tongue. Dr Bill Lumsden, Director of Distilling and whisky creation at Glenmorangie found this newest experiment shortly after joining the team and carefully watched over it, moving the casks to another location within the warehouse where he felt they might benefit more until their release.
What most unusual about this 19 year old whisky is that it has been fully matured in brand new American oak cask which, having had no previous spirit in which to calm the flavours are typically full of buttery vanilla. Its a brave move as most in the scotch industry will avoid the use of such cask mostly due to the youthful and full force character found within. A few years holding bourbon and it calms, softens and is gentler to the scotch which will eventually fill it to the brim. Of course, there is another reason- cost. New casks are expensive and we (us canny Scots) tend to purchase 2nd hand from the bourbon industry, but of course, this is Glenmorangie- a company renowned for its fine wood selection as it has shown before with releases such as the Quinta Ruban (port finish) so its safe to say I was approaching this one with some delight indeed. If anyone can get this right, its the good doctor.
And oh how right he has!
Leaving it non-chill filtered and with an abv of 46% there is plenty of juicy mouthfeel and a full palate to handle the expected vanilla and new oak abundance. But there is so much more going on.
Glenmorangie Ealanta Single Malt Scotch Whisky
46% ABV
Non Chill Filtered
Virgin American Oak maturation
19 years old
RRP: £69.95
Appearance: Antique gold with bright brass.
Nose: Immediately rich with orange citrus, flamed orange peel and concentrated oils laid over butter, vanilla creme brulee and maple syrup. Lots of stewed fruits rise behind the initial bright citrus, calming everything and allowing the real depth of this whisky to talk. Butterscotch Angel Delight and Cornish clotted cream.
Palate: Its bursting with vanilla and sweet fruity notes, raisin, golden sultanas soaked in light rum. Some dryer wood notes creep in, holding everything in place before turning nutty- Brazil, macadamia and a light toffee sauce coating.
Finish: Its a long lasting playful whisky, tipping between edgy rich citrus, butter and nuts.
Summary: Certainly there is no doubt where this spent the last 19 years, and true to form Dr Lumsden has indeed looked after this well. For those who are already fans of the lighter style of Glenmorangie at its younger age, you might find this a challenge but for all the right reasons you should keep coming back to it.
Tags: American, Atrien, Bill, Cask, chill, collections, collector, distiller, distillery, Dr, dram, ealanta, filtered, Finealta, Glenmorangie, Lumsden, malt, mature, New, notes, oak, perfect, private, Quinta Ruban, review, reviewed, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, select, selection, single, Sonnalta, taste, tasting, type, Virgin, whiskey, whisky, wood
I’m not one for the normal marketing bullshit as you may well know. Marketing, in the most part is needed in this fast-moving world of information but of course this sometimes leads to an added spin to try to lift a brand image higher out of the pool of competition. With this in mind, I was delighted to receive a bottle of Deanston 12 year old single malt at the Dramatic Whisky offices.
The story is simple,clear and the product speaks for itself. This whisky does not have its roots in the by-gone eras of whisky history, no tales of bootlegging and illegal stills hidden amongst glen and atop Munros, but is born from a passion (and business mind) to produce a good product from the off.
The Deanston distillery was, unlike many others in Scotland, not built to distill whisky. In 1781, a cotton mill was built on the river Teith which is about 8 miles from Stirling in the central belt of Scotland. The location at the time was key as shipping along the busy canal that ran from Glasgow to Edinburgh would no doubt aid distribution at the time. Continuing as a cotton mill until the mid 1900′s and the decline in the cotton trade the decision was taken to switch the mill over to a distillery in 1965 to capture the ever increasing demand for whisky. However, like most good things, it didn’t all run so smoothly and in 1983, as the sales in whisky dropped, the distillery was mothballed until its acquisition by Burns Stewart Distillers in 1990 and production begins again. The demand for whisky was on the increase once more and Deanston was a soughtafter by many leading blends, as well as Burns Stewart’s own Scottish Leader blend.
Powered by its own hydro-electric plant using water from the Tieth, Denston actually produce enough power to give back a proportion to the National Grid, making its production very green indeed. Couple this with the fact that Deanston only use Scottish products and its barley is certified organic, this low impact whisky is unique amongst other whisky producers. And it does not stop there as thankfully, the non-chill filtered, non coloured whisky found inside its attractive yet simple packaging is at a chewy 46.3% ABV helping retain as much of the natural feel of the dram.
The 12 year old is the first in the range of whiskies produced, again showing that time and patience, along with some canny knowledge and the best ingredients is all you really need to produce something great.
Deanston 12 year old Single Malt Whisky
Non-Chill Filtered
46.3% abv
No added colour
American ex-Bourbon cask
RRP. £29.65
Appearance: Honey gold with bright yellow
Nose: Light lemon curd, peeled granny smith apple and malty richness followed by soft vanilla and buttery rich cream. and honeysuckle.
Palate: The strength is well masked with generous white fleshed fruits and rich vanilla turning to caramel. Chewy malt and light oaky-wood spice help maintain a well-rounded and complex taste for its age.
Finish: A touch drying, but still plenty of character with malt lasting all the way through the thick buttery fruit palate.
Summary: A very easy drinking dram indeed. Just enough of all the right component parts to satisfy most palates and certainly one to always have to hand.
Tags: 12, ABV, belt, blend, central, chill, cotton, Deanston, distillery, dram, edinburgh, electric, filter, filtered, flavour, Glasgow, Green, higher, hydro, leader, malt, marketing, mill, mix, non, nose, notes, Old, organic, package, packing, palate, power, quality, Scotch, Scottish, single, stirling, style, taste, tasting, whiskey, whisky, year
It’s been a busy time for Dramatic Whisky and aside from all the tasting events and filing, the samples and invitations to new launches have been flowing through. Most notable is the fact that we have been really spoiled by the quality. Grants 25, Bunnahabhain 40, Balvenie Liberated Casks, Wemyss Single Cask Aultmore to name just a few and the most recent, the Balblair 1969 vintage. I have had the pleasure of visiting Balblair distillery and sampling the core expressions if the 2002, 1975 and a sneak preview of the 1969 vintage here. There was also a recent travel retail release of the ’96. But it was the official release of the 1969 bottle (our sample at the distillery was from a single cask!) that found me at the Soho Whisky Club earlier this week and is some rather fine company.
The distillery manager, John MacDonald was there to guide us through the tasting, and hanging on his every word were whisky writers, bloggers and retailers such as Neil and Joel from Cask Strength, Billy from The Whisky Exchange, Becky from The Spirits Business, Laura from Imbibe Magazine, Ian who wrote 101 whiskies to try before you die, Olly from Just Drinks and the list goes on.
As I said we began with the fresh and lively 2002, moving to the richer 97 then to the 89 which all revealed an incredible change in character, before the 1975 vintage which was a heady combination of all elements found in the previous vintages and beautifully balanced. Finally, the 1969 vintage.
Balblair vintage 1969 single malt scotch whisky
Distilled 1969 bottled 2012 (43 years old)
A marriage of only 6 casks 41.4% abv
Non chill filtered, natural colour
2nd fill American oak hogshead cask
RRP: £2,500
Appearance: Honey gold with warm amber
Nose: Orange blossom honey, wax candle and denta-stix. Warm brioche with baked apple, soft toffee sauce over tropical fruits of banana and pineapple with hints of cider, leather and mint.
Palate: Big rounded warm spices take hold, calmed with a touch of menthol (eucalyptus oil) struck match, red berry compote and liquorice root. Ample vanilla to round out the oak, not allowing it to overpower but compliment instead. Toffee apples dusted with cinnamon and caramel wafers complete the palate.
Finish: Complex, generous and lingering. The balanced honey/spice keeps delivering more and more.
Summary: An outstanding whisky which shows just how well this brand lasts. It is unusual to find a brand how simple relies on the age of its whiskies to make up its core expressions rather than playing around with various types of wood maturation and marriages. As a consumer, Blablair is a great choice. Get stuck into the current vinategs and start your journey towards the superb 1969. Best of all, you have a bit of time as the Balblair 1969 will be launched in the USA this year at $3500, then released in 2013 in other focus markets including the UK, France, Russia and South East Asia. Enough time to save up also!
Tags: 101, 1969, 1975, 2002, 40, alcohol, America, American, Aultmore, Balblair, Balvenie, before, blog, bottled, Bunnahabhain, Business, buxton, Cask, Club, die, distilled, distillery, dram, drinks, exchange, first, fresh, fruit, Grants, hand, imbibe, journalist, just, London, looy, luanch, magazine, malt, members, notes, oak, release, retail, review, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, select, selected, single, Soho, spirits, strength, tasting, travel, tropical, try, vintage, warehouse, Wemyss, whiskies, whisky, wkiskey, Years
You know that feeling of panic that sets in when you loose something like a set of keys and you are on a tight schedule, slapping pockets, turning over sofa cushions in a frantic attempt to discover their hiding place. Horrid isn’t it, but when you eventually find them the rush of relief is great. Or when you remember about a possession you haven’t seen in a while, you know you have it, but its just not been in your life and when you do stumble across it again, its welcomed back and put to good use.
So imagine if you happened to stumble across a cask of 40 year old whisky that you didn’t realise you had. Just how would that feel? Well, you could ask Ian MacMillan, Master Distiller at Bunnahabhain because thats exactly what happened to him when he found some ‘Turney’ casks, which were filled with Bunnahabhain whisky over 40 years ago by Glasgow wine merchants J G Turney. I suppose its difficult to imagine how you ‘forget’ a few casks, but as Bunnahabhain store around 21,000 casks at the distilleries warehouse on Islay, (some of which will make its way into the superb Black Bottle blend) it becomes a bit easier to understand.
Bunnahabhain has long been a favourite of mine and I have used a number of bottles including the duty free releases of Darach Ur in my Dramatic Whisky events to show people that not all whisky from Islay is peated as is the popular misconception about whisky regions. Therefore, I was more than delighted to reciev a sample of the newly discovered 40 year old Bunnahabhain which was accompanied by a illustration from the label created by Iain McIntoshScots illustrator, which depicts the journey this rested malt has undergone.
Bunnhabhain Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40 Years Old
Limited release of 750 bottles
ABV 41.7% vol. Un-chillfiltered
RRP: £1999
Appearance: Burnished copper with rose gold
Nose: Candied orange, vanilla wax cande, nougat and heather honey. Light earthy spice, ginger bread and balsa wood all very well integrated and still lively. Waxed leather saddle with lavender and violets round off the nose.
Palate: Orange oil with a mineral note, almost diesel like before rounded malt and ginger spice open the palate up allowing deeper vanilla and earthy spice to grip hold. Seems to sit on top of your tongue for a while before sinking in. Very little wood element which is surprising considering the age.
Finish: Clean yet spicy, again almost a mineral/fuel-like dryness before light oak and vanilla linger.
Summary: Certainly lively for its age and and unsurprisingly complex but its this assertive spice that perhaps shows the greatest departure from the classic Bunnahabhain style. Its heading towards a dryer style of whisky, perhaps held together with the waxy element before becoming too oaky.
Right, I’m off to search down the back of the sofa for my keys again.
Tags: 40, aged, biggest, Black, blend, Blended, bottle, bottled, Bunnahabhain, buy, Cask, cost, Darach Ur, distiller, dram, drink, duty, expensive, found, free, Glasgow, hand, hardest, iain, Ian, ice, illustrator, island, islay, keys, latest, limited, lost, MacMillan, malt, master, McIntosh, Old, oldest, peat, Peated, price, rare, regions, release, released, rest, review, reviewed, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, sinlge, source, tasting, warehouse, water, whiskey, whisky, Years
Last night I was privileged to be part of a very select group that had gathered to witness the launch in the UK market of Grant’s 25 year old blended whisky. The venue was the wine and spirits shop in Selfridges department store London. The store are to have the whisky exclusively until the end of the year.
Brand Ambassador Ludo Ducrocq, a Frenchman with a great passion for whisky and a curious Scottish accent, told us how William Grant began creating his own blend of whisky back in 1887, Christmas day in fact and in 1909 his son-in-law Charles Gordon spent 12 month travelling the world ensuring Grant’s whisky would be a recognised brand in over 30 countries by 1914. no mean feet of logistics in itself at the time. Today, over 54 million cases of Grant’s whisky is sold in over 180 countries and what is equally amazing is that the company is in the hands of the 5th generation of Grant’s family.
In 2009, the 25 year old blend was launched in travel retail to commemorate 100 years since Charles Gordon set out on hie epic sales journey. Brian Kinsman, Master Distiller at William Grant & Sons drew whiskies for 25 selected cask all of which were over 25 years old. In fact, Ludo informed us that Grant’s had only ever blended single malt until 1963, when the Girvan grain distillery was built, with some of the first spirit to run from those stills used in Batch No.1 of which we were about to sample. Batch 2 is currently under production. The unusual thing with blends of this age is that less grain whisky needs to be used as the single malts mellow with time, so does the grain and in Batch 1 there is actually a higher proportion of single malts than grain, eighteen malts to seven grains to be precise.
Now, knowing that there are rare whiskies in a blend is one thing, but picking them out whilst sipping the whisky is a touch harder. Ludo had made life a bit easier for us and had arranged all 25 individual parts of the blend for us to nose and try. This was quite an incredible experience as we moved from one glass to the next, understanding the building blocks, each chosen by Brian for their unique characteristics to carefully construct this fine whisky. The grain, which was approaching 45 years old and had no sign of giving up! Billy Abbot, a fellow whisky reviewer and I were in our own little bit of geek heaven, especially when we found the Clynelish that we both tagged as have been part of the blend. We couldn’t however identify the Ladyburn which was there, a distillery which closed in 1975 and who’s whiskies are extremely rare and sought after but thats probably because I havent actually tried enough Ladyburn to recognise it so easily, and it’s doubtful I ever will. These dearly departed distilleries have left behind only tiny remainders of the gold that once flowed from them. Sadly most remain in the hands of collectors firmly sealed, never to be drunk again.
So, onto the review itself-
Grant’s 25 year old Blended Scotch Whisky
43% abv
Ex-Bourbon/Ex-Sherry Cask
RRP £200 (although Selfridges sell it at a whopping £320!)
Appearance: Burnt Ochre / dark honey
Nose: Vanilla fudge, manuka honey, ripe banana and fruity scented wax candle are first to come alive with deeper notes of toffee sauce, new-buck leather and candied orange peel behind. There is good spice, but it is light such as white pepper and a dusting of cinnamon with a hint of burnt Dundee cake.
Palate: Lightly spicy with creamy toffee sauce again before orange blossom honey and tropical fruit flow in mid palate. Hints of balsa wood and cinnamon with a slightly nutty edge of macadamia. The palate falls a touch short in comparison to the nose.
Finish: LIghtly drying with pepper grip and smooth earthy elements. Lingering tropical fruit.
Summary: Its only when you see the individual elements of a blend as we did this evening that you understand the complex operation that the blenders such as Brian undertake. Some of the samples we tried were not at all something you would enjoy in its own right, yet you can see how certain elements have aided in the construction of the final whisky. Grant’s 25 is an enjoyable and smooth whisky with plenty to sit back and enjoy and certainly makes a welcome addition to the premium blend market and the Grant’s portfolio.
You can read more about Ludo and Grant’s Whisky on his blog.
Tags: 25, Abbot, American, Balvenie, Batch, best, Billy, blend, Blended, Brian, Cask, Clynelish, department, distillery, dram, Ducrocq, european, exclusive, flavour, french, Girvan, glnfiddich, Grain, grant, Grants, Kinsman, Ladyburn, Ludo, malt, notes, Old, premium, quality, retail, review, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, Selfridges, Sherry, shop, single, son, spirit, store, tasting, travel, whiskey, whisky, william, year
It is no secret to those who follow this blog that when a new release to the ever growing whisky world makes it to my desk, festooned in mock highland regalia and images of old Scotland, that my shoulders drop and my enthusiasm wanes. That is not to say that I don’t ever give the liquid a fair and unencumbered review. It’s just the packaging that sets my teeth on edge. So, as the newest release from The Arran distillery came to me, I immediately adopted said pose and mindset.
But wait, Sometimes there is a reason beyond that of trying desperately to hook those in search of the old misty hills of the homeland in the bottom of a glass. And so to The Arran “Robert Burns”.
Since 2000 The Isle of Arran Distillers have been granted life membership of the World Burns Federation – an organisation based in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire which is dedicated to the life and works of our national poet Robert Burns.
Born in 1759 , the Ayrshire boy’s links to the isle of Arran are well know and although he never set foot on the isle, it is certainly visible from Ayr beach. Apparently, to release the daily grind of working on his fathers farm, Robert started to write and in his mid teens produced his first poetry which was dedicated to the main subjects which dominated his life – whisky and women! I think we would have gotten along quite well. Although, during his life Roberts link to whisky was not always favoured as he took up employment for his majesty as a customs & excise man- a post about as popular as a traffic warden in today’s terms. However, he kept writing and his love of whisky remained true. By the time ill health saw his to an early grave at just 37, he was well known, but his work had not yet gained the attention and respect that it has today.
The isle had around 50 illegal stills in operation at the time Robert first put quill to paper and the quality of spirit produced there was claimed to be very high leading to many fine gents “taking the Arran waters” for health purposes. Fast forward a few decades and we have just one distillery in operation.
Independently owned and run, The Arran distillery opened in 1995 on a site picked out for maximum benefit of the microclimate offered by the Gulf Stream and the purest water supply in all of Scotland at Loch na Davie, high in the hills that overlook the village of Lochranza on the North coast of Arran. Using traditional wooden wash backs, dunnage warehousing and choosing to use no additional colourings and many of the releases are non-chil filtered, they are staying true to the natural spirit.
The Robert Burns expression is a marriage of varied years, from both American oak ex-Bourbon casks whith a smaller proportion of ex-Sherry hogsheads and bottled at 43% and is the “Official Robert Burns Whisky”
The Arran Distillery “Robert Burns” single malt
No age statement
43% abv
Colour: Pale yellow gold with light straw
Nose: Vanilla ice cream with slices of granny smith apple with turns to stone fruit and light oak. Malty notes remain and a freshness of New Make lingers in the youthful nose.
Palate: Creamy butterscotch at first, rounded with delicate spices of nutmeg and cinnamon towards the mid palate. Light in its character yet well balanced elements of youthful vanillin, dry wood and warming light spice help build a lingering palate.
Finish: Slightly chewy malt with vanilla cream coats the mouth as the light spice remains.
Summary: A very light whisky, well balanced and offering just enough to be interesting. Doubtful it is close to anything the bard would have drunk back in the late 1700′s as it’s light style was not in particular fashion back then, but I doubt he would complain if a fine lass handed him a glass of this today. He would also be pleased, as a Scotsman, to discover the very reasonable retail price.
Tags: age, American, arran, bard, barrel, Burns, Cask, distillery, dram, eagle, ex, filtered, girls, Glasgow, golden, Highland, history, hogshead, island, Isle, Kilmarnock, lassie, lines, malt, marriage, maturation, mature, museum, national, oak, official, peot, poems, region, review, Robert, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, Sherry, single, stills. illegal, visit, western, whiskey, whisky, world
Ahead of what will no doubt be a very busy week after The Whisky Exchange annual Whisky Show, I thought it best to try to review a few samples that have been sent to me before the pile on my desk becomes either out of date or a task too great for a mere man to tackle. Its been quite an active time of late with a number of brands releasing new expressions and talk of a few more in the near future. All great news for the industry as clearly there is a growing demand and with it a growing audience.
The first new release for review is from Balblair, one of my top rated malts and I recently reviewed a number of fabulous examples from the distillery here. This Travel Retail (duty free to those not in the trade) exclusive, which will replace the current 1995 release, comes in 1 litre bottles and will be available next month after its official launch at Tax Free World Association exhibition in Cannes (October 21-26).
As with all the Balblair range, the ’96 comes without chill filtration and at an ABV of 46% which helps maintain the depth of character, adding complexity to the spirit on both the nose and palate. The 1996 vintage was bottled in 2012 after spending its 16 years of maturation in ex-bourbon cask only.
Balblair Single Malt Whisky (Travel Retail exclusive) Vintage 1996
Non-chill filtered & Natural colouring 46% abv
Ex-Bourbon cask
£49.99 1 litre
Appearance: Pale straw with warm gold
Nose: Light honey with fresh butter undertones, coconut flesh surrounded by fresh summer red fruits, pear and candied lemon peel. A light dusting of nutmeg traces delicately through it all which offers a grounded note to the otherwise zesty fruit.
Palate: Immediately creamy and full in the mouth, bursting with richness and bright spices. Cinnamon takes over the nutmeg now but wave after wave of rich vanilla, orange blossom honey on buttered crumpets with calvados drizzled tarte tatin.
Finish: The spice lingers, but a cleansing citrus note, not too powerful, helps maintain the balance.
In summary, a splendid dram which showcases the maturation of the distillery’s typical releases to perfection. Underneath the rich aromas are all the classic signs of a well produced Balblair spirit and without any tampering, the 1996 will undoubtedly be a hit with frequent travellers. Now where is my passport?
Tags: 16, 1995, 1996, ABV, alcohol, Balblair, best, blog, bourbon, Cannes, Cask, character, chill, complex, Distillers, distillery, dram, dramatic, duty, exchange, filtered, free, Highland, house, inver, malt, non, Old, rated, release, retail, review, Scotch, Scottish, show, single, taste, tasting, top, travel, vanilla, vintage, whiskey, whisky, Years
Manchester saw an invasion earlier this week as over 20 bartenders, drinks experts and the management team of Drinking Classes arrived to set the world, or at least the corner of Manchester we had chosen, to rights. Drinking Classes, the name taken for the quotation from Oscar Wilde “Work is the curse of the drinking classes” is the big brother of Dramatic Whisky covering gin, vodka, rum, tequila, wine and other spirit and liqueur tasting events around the UK. Each class is headed up by knowledgeable presenters working independently of brands to deliver an entertaining and informative event. Dramatic Whisky was to be first up from the gathered experts as we trained our newest batch of guys and girls.
We were very honoured to be invited to Bar Wizards Lounge in Littleborough just outside Manchester which would become our base for the next three days. Run by Neil Lowrey and Neil Garner (don’t Google them, they get embarrassed easily) the guys set out to impress with strong coffee and bacon rolls on day one. It was only going to get better from here on in. The bar is set in the centre of a village a short train journey out of Manchester on the northern edge of the Peak District. A detached Georgian building of certain grandeur set back from the road, elevated amidst the more average looking buildings that surround it. One would be forgiven to think there was not much more to it that your average boozer but how wrong you would be. Firstly, the knowledge of spirits behind the bar is in line with the amazing selection- especially whisky and tequilla. Unusual bottling, rare finds and all of the highest standard.
No bad from a couple of flair bartenders!
In particular there seemed to be a plethora of Japanese and Taiwanese offerings- as always I had my trusty sample bottles on hand so reviews will be popping up elsewhere on the blog soon! After the initial introduction and a live Dramatic Whisky tasting an excellent lunch was served to us with a Scottish twist on all the four course utilising whisky wherever possible. Not only were the whiskies chosen spot on for each course, but the presentation and flavours from the food itself was outstanding- remember, this is, from all appearances, a bar in the middle of a village run by two ex flair bartenders! The Kavalan single malt used in the whisky sauce which accompanied a small breaded disk of Black Pudding and haggis, followed by smoked salmon and a dram of Yamazaki Puncheon. The meal continued with slow braised shoulder of beef finished with a fresh fruit meringue, Eton Mess style and a deep fried Mars Bar on the side. First time for most trying this so very Scottish delight, and not a single one was left behind.
Yamazaki “Puncheon“ Cira £65
480ltr cask allowing slow maturation and less colour.
48% ABV
No- Age but 8-11 yr old most probably
Non-Chill Filtered
Colour: Light straw
Nose: At first, quite lively and forceful which is not that much of a surprise considering the ABV and cask. But give it time and big hits of caramel and vanilla come bounding out, followed closely buy baked fruits of the forest and crumble with creamy vanilla custard. Toffee apple on an oak stick twists through the background.
Palate: At natural strength, the alcohol certainly makes itself know- but once over this it opens up to deliver pretty much what it promised on the nose.
Finish: Its powerful and at first dry spice becomes soft cream covered fruits and lingers.
The buzz in the room, not only from the service and quality of the food, but the excitement of the Drinking Classes programme about to be rolled out was palpable. As I looked around, every place at the table was seated with some expert or other in their chosen drinks field. It would be a fun filled couple of days with a refreshments stop on Wednesday night at The Liars Club which continued the fabulous welcome Manchester had given us into the very small hours even although there were several days of training ahead….but this is training right?
After the three days of “intense” training it was time to return to London and put all the knowledge into action but not before I took a little look over the bar bar to sneak a few samples to review. Hopefully I will get them up over the next few days.
Tags: Bar, chill, Classes, Club, coffee, Drinking, filtered, flair, food, Garner, Gin, haggis, Japanese, Liars, Littleborough, Lounge, Lowrey, malt, Manchester, match, Neil, non, notes, Puncheon, review, rum, salmon, Scotch, Scottish, single, Taiwanese, tasting, tequila, vodka, whiskey, whisky, Wizards, Yamazaki
