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Give yourself an early Xmas present

November 24th, 2010 Bill
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Get a free bottle of single malt when you take out a SMWS membership via us.

As I indicated at the end of the last post we had a pleasant surprise towards the end of the SMWS tasting – an extra three drams to consider and a generous offer to pass on to our readers. The three malts were a Speyside from Glen Moray, a Northern Highland from Glen Ord, and an Island from Arran, and we were invited to choose one of them to go with a membership offer unique to our respective blogs.

I chose the Arran, code 121.39, referred to by the Society as “Easy Drinking Dream” a 14 year old of 54.9% strength. We didn’t do a proper full tasting of the three, more an assessment of their relative merits, but I can give you some indication of its style.

A chestnut colour, it had a a nose containing what seems to be the signature of the Arran distillery, a treacle and toffee aroma which was repeated in the taste. In contrast there is also a medicinal flavour containing eucalyptus and blackcurrant along with citrus notes. It’s a very pleasant example of a distillery that’s producing some increasingly interesting output. And a free bottle is available to anyone who joins the Scotch Malt Whisky Society via this blog.

Just follow this exclusive link and then follow the Join Now link you’ll find there, select the type of membership you’d like and enter the code FREEWHISKY1 at the checkout. You’ll be credited with your free bottle. Merry Xmas!

Nov 2010 tasting at SMWS

November 14th, 2010 Bill
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It’s been a busy last few months for both Mike and me; Mike has moved to a new job and got married, while I have bought and moved into a new house and my mum died a few weeks ago, so neither of us have had time to blog until now, with the latest of the Scottish Malt Whisky Society tastings. Even there, Mike couldn’t attend as he was in Las Vegas for a conference, so it fell to me – such a dreadful chore but somehow I managed it ;-)

We were back at Queen St and as usual Olaf did the honours with an interesting selection, which by coincidence started with the same distillery as last time.

1. 7.60 Longmorn

24 years old, 52.3%

Unusually this would turn out to be the only whisky in the evening’s selection over 10 years old.

The SMWS panel likened this one to a 1930s Cabaret and mentioned scents of cheap perfume, lipstick, and greasepaint, with additional tastes such as leather and pomegranates.

Colour

Pale yellow

Nose

Melon and paint thinners was pretty much all I got to begin with. Maybe because this was the first of the night or maybe I just haven’t led a decadent enough life and didn’t recognise the smell of fag packets and lipstick! Yeah, honest guv.

Taste

Hot, front of the tongue, spicy ginger, tangerine, dry. There’s certainly a lot going on in this dram and I warmed to it the more I drank.

With water.

Hint of marzipan – not normally a taste I like but here it worked. Lighter, more fragrant.

Conclusion

A complex and satisfying winter dram. Quite different to the Longmorn of the last tasting but once again some unexpected flavours and there’s certainly some interesting stuff coming from this distillery. At £69.40 a bottle this is well worth considering and should keep the December chills at bay.

2. 121.38 Arran

7 years old, 61.6%

The SMWS panel named this Sumptuous and Stunning, and found a wide variety of dried fruits, toffee and caramelised meats. Our panel were quite surprised to find that such a dark spirit was from one of our youngest island distilleries.

Colour

Deep tawney – despite only being from a 2nd fill sherry cask.

Nose

Treacle, dates, prunes/tagine. Surprisingly there was little in the way of heavy sherry overtones which might have been expected from the colour.

Taste

Black treacle, dark  chocolate, perfect for Xmas or for Moroccan food. Again visually this screams sherry – but the taste isn’t that much sherry at all, it’s more a rich caramel influenced treacle and dark toffee flavour with a Christmas cake combination of figs and prunes and other exotic fruits.

With Water

Water takes the astringent edge off it and makes it smoother, and given the high starting strength it can take it without losing too much character.

Conclusion

When I saw the colour I didn’t expect to like this much. but I did. Another case of not judging a book by its cover. For such a young whisky its developed a surprisingly complex flavour and I’ll look forward to sampling more of this distillery’s products. I’ve developed a taste for Moroccan food and would love to try this with it. At £39.20 for  a bottle this has to be something of a bargain.

3. 128.1 Penderin (Wales), port finish

6 years old, 55.6%

Colour

Dark brown

Taste

Wine gums, strawberry syrup, blueberries, blood orange.

With water

A slight woodiness appears. Medium finish, one panellist said chunky.

Conclusion

The general feeling in the panel was that this was quite intriguing but that it just wasn’t whisky. The SMWS panel mentioned such diverse flavours and smells as Calpol syrup, bubblegum, red currants and cranberries. My feeling was that it would be interesting to cook with, or in trifle, but for a single malt drinker it just wasn’t ‘right’. At £49.50 I wouldn’t consider it unless those flavours sound right up your street.

It’s become something of a tradition at these tastings to have three Speysides or Highlands and then two Islays. We’d already departed from that with the Arran and Welsh offerings but now we returned to almost normal. However we stayed with young expressions and a distillery that hasn’t actually been completed yet – the output available so far being from the Bruichladdich stills.

4. 127.5  Port Charlotte

7 years, 66.8%

Colour

Light straw

Nose and Taste

Hospitals, beach fires, a very stripped down taste and not much depth. Maybe it’s just immature. It feels like kneeling on the ground and sniffing the earth on Islay. There’s lots of peat but the other flavours don’t feel strong enough yet to compete with it and round out the taste.

The later taste with food was still very powerful despite water.

Conclusion

The SMWS panel mentioned seafood quite a bit but I wasn’t really getting that much, although I could imagine it being drunk with seafood. I wanted to like this but I really feel it needs to spend more time in the barrels to build up a bit more character. Some of Bruichladdich’s formidable range of output can be a little too subtle for its own good and although they are usually clean and crisp I wonder if they sometimes take the wine and food analogy a little too far. I’d be interested to taste this after another five years but I wouldn’t buy it now despite the good price of £43.70.

5. 33.96 Ardbeg

10 years old, 56.9%, Refilled sherry butt.

Nose

Very subtle, peat certainly, but loads of other things.

Taste

Surprisingly soft, and really hard to describe because the flavours are so well integrated.
Warm finish but quite short/medium. The SMWS panel seemed to also have trouble identifying the individual tastes as their usual wide range of suggestions was notably sparse on this one – smoked almonds were mentioned, as was salted toffee and chocolate.

Conclusion

Despite not being able to adequately describe this, those of us on the panel with a taste for Islays found it to be excellent. Olaf actually reckoned it was the best he’d tasted – even better than the wonderful Caol Ila we’d had a couple of tastings ago. I wouldn’t go quite that far but it was definitely a top-notch dram which I’d love to explore further and well worth the £57.30 price tag. Definitely the pick of the night.

Olaf was as always the perfect host, the only deviation in this case being that, since he was heading to Switzerland early the next day to host more tastings, he couldn’t stay and chat with us in the downstairs bar as he usually does.

There was however an extra bonus in store for us, and for you dear readers. But I’ll leave details of that for my next posting which will appear here shortly.

The SMWS July 2010 Bottlings

July 4th, 2010 Bill
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Rating: 8.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Tasting time again for the bloggers, this time at the Scottish Malt Whisky Society’s original home at the Vaults in Leith. While Queen St is a fine venue, particularly the boardroom with its views over the New Town, the Vaults have an atmosphere all their own that Mike and I appreciate. Olaf told us that it’s the longest-serving building of the wine and spirit trade in Scotland, dating back originally to the 14th Century, passing to the Vintner’s Guild in the 16th C and Andrew Usher in 1875. The society bought it in 1985 and what is now the main members room was previously where the auctions took place.

Very sadly the Vaults lost their very popular manager recently. Douglas McFarlane died while taking part in the Edinburgh Marathon, and so this tasting was dedicated to him.

While Olaf normally tries to choose a wide spread of malts from a geographical perspective, on this occasion we had 3 Speysides and 2 Islays, but the range of tastes was a wide as ever.

Longmorn

Cask No: 7.58, 19 year old, 51.4%

Colour

Pale Gold

Nose

This made quite an impression – it had a sharp almost effervescent character. Almost reminded me of an alcoholic version of Cremola Foam, and explained the society’s tasting panel comments of sherbet and ginger beer.

Initial Taste

More unexpected contrasts here. It was warm and rich, yet at the same time light and subtle. Yes that probably is a contradiction but that’s the complexity of malt whisky for you.

Later Taste

Second sip and we started to find fruits – mango and orange, with just a hint of tea-tree and some rich flower essences. Yet there was also a base of black treacle. If you were to come up with those flavours you’d never believe they would blend well together but the combination works a treat.

Finish

Medium length and sweet.

With water

I don’t advise adding water to this. It kills the nose and the subtlety is greatly diminished.

Conclusion

A subtle and intriguing whisky which I’d be happy to explore further.

Inchgower

Cask No: 18.30, 24 year old, 45.5%

Nose

Very strong and distinctive. Joss sticks, salt, must, and what one of the Whisky Boys identified as Cedarwood.

Initial Taste

Honey on the front of the tongue – the panel had suggested Sauternes, which I would agree with, and Montilla Sherry, which I haven’t tasted. Seafood tastes began to come through.

Later Taste

Having initially liked this I was a little disappointed to find that the tastes seemed to blend together and it lost the interesting competition of flavours.

Finish

Long and rich but becoming a little monotone as the tasting progressed.

With water

A more citrusy flavour was opened out with a very little water. A hint of lemongrass and ginger which agreed with the panel, though I didn’t detect any of the marijuana leaf that was also mentioned, honest officer.

Conclusion

Initially I was quite taken with this but it lost me later on as the flavours lost their individuality. However some of my fellow tasters rated it very highly so if the flavours mentioned here are attractive to you then it’s worth giving it a try.

Daluaine

Cask No: 41.45, 25 year old, 56.1%

Colour

Darkish gold with a hint of red

Nose

This whisky provoked tales of rubbing the spirit on the hands and nosing it that way, and indeed Olaf did this on the night. My more conventional method brought a sense of rich tobacco and cigars.

Initial Taste

Initially it tasted dry with an ash aftertaste. Not dissimilar to a standard Ardbeg but based more on tobacco rather than wood.

Later Taste

As it developed it became sweeter and more syrupy, which was quiet unexpected, but it still retained a feeling of an old gentleman’s club. Think oak panelled rooms with old retainers bringing fudge and chocolate on a silver platter.

Finish

Medium-long, with the tastes matching those already mentioned.

With water

I’m never a great fan of water and it didn’t add much to this dram

Conclusion

I liked this, but curiously the memory of it seems better than the feeling on the night. Had I had it on its own then I’d probably have been quite happy but I suspect it suffered from the two that followed it.

Interlude

At this point we had a new development in the shape of a supper of Chicken and thick-cut chips. Very welcome indeed and most generous of the society to lay this on. I did wonder slightly if that would affect the tasting but the two malts to follow were quite strong enough to overcome any such concerns.

Caol Ila

Cask No: 53.141, 20 year old, 52%

After the last tasting in February in which the Caol Ila was a brilliant standout which I could have stayed with forever I was looking forward to seeing what else they could come up with.

Nose

Not as strong as most Caol Ila’s, more subtle

Initial Taste

Slightly sweeter than usual and not as smoky. Bright was the word that Lucas of the Edinburgh Whisky Blog used and that works for me too.

Later Taste

It’s very subtle. Hints of heather and oriental cooking flavours such as the pak choi that was mentioned in the panel’s notes

Finish

Satisfying, as Caol Ila always is, but perhaps not quite as long as usual.

With water

Just a touch, since I’d have preferred if it had started slightly stronger than the 52%. Opened out a little with more smoke and hints of lime and mint.

Conclusion

After the previous bottling (which sold out very quickly) it was maybe inevitable that this one would suffer a little by the comparison, but it was nevertheless very good, and I’d like to try an evening of it alone to see how it stands up to longer analysis. Lucas voted this his favourite and we both wondered at the price comparison with the new Caol Ila 25 year old (twice the price and only 43% strength) which he mentioned on his blog recently. I’ll have to search the bars for that as I can’t afford a full bottle.

Ardbeg

Cask No: 33.88, 10 year old, 56.5%

Colour

Light blond

Nose

Classic Islay, slightly medicinal with lemon drops, mint, salt and wood.

Initial Taste

Mightily impressive. Surprisingly the taste was substantially different from the nose. Suggestions of Benedictine and TCP. Not as dry as some Ardbegs. It was only at this point that it sunk in that this was a 10 year old.

Later Taste

It seems to get stronger and more complex the further into it you get. Not sure where the panel’s “telegraph poles in swimming pools” came from – clearly the panel lead wild lives! – but that sense of country smells with tar and wood preservative and fresh west-coast air is very much there.

Finish

Long and gratifying.

With water

If your tastes are anything like mine you won’t want to know, so I didn’t try it.

Conclusion

For me this Ardbeg was the top malt of the evening, and for a dedicated Caol Ila fan that’s saying something. Wonderfully complex for a 10 year old you could find new flavours with every sip. We were served the usual cheese board and some chocolate truffles at the end of the tasting and they both went well with this so it stands up to competing tastes very well. What I found really surprising was that this was the cheapest of the evening’s selection, but even had it been the most expensive I would recommend any Islay fan to seek this one out.

Overall Thoughts

An intriguing selection by Olaf – quite diverse considering their geographical locations. More subtlety compared to the previous round which was perhaps more grandly impressive. Previous rounds have often had two or three which I liked a lot and one or two which were less to my tastes. This time all of them were very interesting and at least four of them would be more than welcome at my table, and strangely enough that one, the Inchgower, was voted a favourite by a couple of my fellow bloggers. Of the three Speysides the Longmorn was my preference and I could happily spend an evening or two with that. The two Islays however were simply delicious, with the Ardbeg winning out this time with an outstanding expression. I suspect this is another that will sell out quickly so get there in a hurry. If you miss out then the Caol Ila won’t disappoint unless you’re lucky enough to already have a bottle of the February release, and fans will probably want it anyway.

Thanks again Olaf, an excellent evening.

Black Bull 12 year old blended whisky (50%)

May 27th, 2010 Mike
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Rating: 8.8/10 (4 votes cast)

I would generally avoid a blended whisky at all costs, too many Christmas and New Years where I’ve been offered a whisky of generally suspect vintage which has been lying at the back of a cupboard for longer than the owner cares to remember and I have to sit and try not to gag like a child being given a plate of vegetables, and that most likely says more about me than it does about the whisky.

Black Bull 12 year old blended whisky (50% ABV)

I got this whisky in a little miniature bottle from the guys up at Duncan Taylor and Co when I signed up to their mailing list. Which I thought was really nice of them and as soon as I’ve finished typing this up I’ll email them my thanks. Sorry for the digression and I’ll get back to the tasting before everyone loses the head with me.The Black Bull 12 year is a 50/50 mix between  malt and grain whisky and bottled at 50% ABV. And it has the colour of what most people think of as a whisky colour – a strong umbery orange colour which has the romance of whisky with a vestige of the past and what we all saw our grand parents drinking in the seventies – it looks like a lovely retro whisky, if there is such a thing!

On the first smell the alcohol dominates but makes way quickly to a Toblerone overtones (chocolate and vanilla rich whisky scents always make me think of Toblerone  – again seventies Christmases I guess). Its big on smell, and the scent lingers longer in the nose than I would normally expect which is hugely pleasant.Initial tastes of honey with a slight fruity note – reminds me of elderflower wine but as I’ve not had elderflower wine in over twelve years I could be off the mark, and the whisky coats the tongue in the way that a bourbon does with a thickness and strength I hadn’t expected. The thickness of the whisky and the creaminess continues into the finish which had a hint of tamarind or something equally oriental.

With a little water the whisky nose developed a slight smokey character the water seemed to destroy the flavour but really heightened the vanillans and weakend the finish. All in all one of the best blended whiskies I’ve had in a long time. Worth a little punt this Christmas if you have people coming round – likely to appeal to staunch whisky snobs and seasonal drinkers in the same still.

This is the perfect Hogmany family whisky – not enough to offend anyone and not enough to reach the heights of a great malt. In essence a perfect social whisky – and its the memories that whisky creates in many of us which is why we love one whisky over another although at 50% the memories may be slightly fuzzy.

If you fancy a bottle for this Hogmany have a look at the Black Bull stockists on their website or Google product search.

Small tasters of Whisky

May 25th, 2010 Mike
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Rating: 9.0/10 (2 votes cast)

I love being able to try before you buy. It’s one of the reasons why places like the SMWS and other great whisky bars are some of my favourite places. You can have a dram of a whisky you’ve never tried from a distillery you like or even try a whisky from distillery you’ve never experienced.

The nice folks over at Master of Malt have added a range of sampling whiskies (available in 3cl bottles) for just this very purpose so before you invest in a full size bottle of whisky you can sit back, taste and decide whether it’s something you should be looking at going forward. More information on whisky samples can be found here.

Of the list I’ve had a quick look at (I’m in the office and having to surreptitiously type this without getting caught) the ones which catch the eye are:

  • Glenfarclas Family Cask 1969 bottling – am drooling at the prospect of this one already and there is probably no way on earth I could ever afford a full bottle.
  • 19 year old Tomatin – our review of this has been lost for ever due to technical difficulties (correction – we’ve now resurrected it) but I still think this is damn fine (and Stephen Fry agrees which is kinda cool)
  • Renegade Rum – I’ve never tasted this rum and rum is only just behind whisky in terms of joy bestowing powers on my personal pleasure graph. So I’m going to have to rustle up a copy of this.

It does also mean that hopefully I can now afford to get some whiskies which I could never afford and use them as “research” for the blog. Can I put that on expenses? Sorry thought I was an MP there for a minute and got carried away with the whole idea of claiming anything on expenses.

Getting back to getting Discover Whisky Live

May 12th, 2010 admin
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In recent weeks we have been having a complete disaster with the site which has led to an almost complete loss of all our content in recent week – did anyone ever tell you that you need to take a back up of your site on a regular basis incase something fatal happens? Nope no one told me either.

So we’ve taken a while to try and recover as much as possible – trying to locate old drafts in our inboxes and searching through Google for old versions of pages but we’re almost there! We should be back by the weekend – apologies to all our twitter followers who will no doubt be seeing the twitter feed going mental as we post everything back on the site. Normal service resumes ASAP.

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