Hardly seems any time at all since the last Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting at Queen St. but here we are again. Sadly Mike got sent off to London on business at the last minute – he missed at least two cracking malts.

Now before we go any further I’m going to talk about naming, because reviewing malts to the wider world is a bit awkward if you can’t tell people what distillery they come from. People don’t associate tastes with numbers the way they do with names. Up till now I’ve followed the SMWS line of only showing bottling numbers but in the context of a blog it’s all a bit artificial and anyone who wants to know the name can find it online anyway with very little effort. I’ve become aware that the main reason for continuing the “secrecy” is to prevent people thinking that the standard bottlings that you’ll find in your local off-licence are going to taste like the society’s specials, but given that we’re making it plain that these tastings are very much out of the ordinary I don’t see that as a real danger. So I trust they’ll forgive me naming the distilleries this time round.

So on to the first dram and what a choice to begin with!

1. Glenfarclas

The Society’s tasting panel name – Caribbean Beach Party
Bottling number – 1.151
10 years old, 63.3%

Colour

Medium light gold

Nose

Distinctively Glenfarclas, this took me back to a bottle that my best man bought me nearly 30 years ago. Robust, butterscotch, spicy, hint of rum, light smoke.

Taste

First taste
Incredibly rich and honeyed, sticky toffee pudding, a little Seville orange and a bit of peppery spice. This is seriously strong but to me it’s not overpowering, although some of my tasting compatriots found it so and immediately headed for the water. For a 10 year old this has incredible depth.

Second taste
The warmth and quality just gets better and better. Despite the strength the spirit only gives an edge to the richness and an accent to the touch of smoke that sits in the background. A little more fruit surprisingly appears as the taste matures in the mouth. The smws panel reckoned Papaya but I don’t know that taste well enough to say.

Finish

Long and spicy

Later

Unlike some malts that are left in the glass for a while it maintains all its integrity, dark spicy fruit notes are prominent. I didn’t care to sully this with water – it was too good as it was – but it would probably have taken it quite well.

Conclusion

Glenfarclas is an old favourite of mine, particularly the 105 proof version and this was a supercharged version of that with oodles of depth and quality. As I said on the night, when you can drag me away from the west coast islands this is what can do it. And this bottling is remarkable value – I think Olaf said £43.50 (check out their site to make sure) which is scarcely more than a standard over-proof bottle. At that price it’ll be snapped up.

In complete contrast we moved on to

2. Glenkinchy

panel name – Exotic taste of summer
Bottling – 22.28
21 years, 54%

Colour

Pale yellow

Nose

Light. Melon and Lychee.

Taste

First taste
More complex than expected. Light on the tongue but quite vibrant. The far eastern fruits are there to match the nose but there’s a lot more going on underneath as well.

Second taste
Flowery notes come through, Elderflower perhaps.

Finish

Longer than expected given the lightness of the tastes

With water

Spicey dried fruit comes through but not in any overpowering sense, just enough to give more character.

Later

Some toffee notes. Not one to leave for too long but then you wouldn’t be doing that would you?

Conclusion

I could easily have used the word “unexpected” in just about every line of this tasting. This is a subtle and interesting whisky with far more depth than most Lowland malts that I’ve experienced. It would make a fine light apperitif or a summer afternoon dram, and I’d expect a lot of people to like this.

Our next is a real rarity and a possibly unique flavour:

3. Glenugie

Panel name – Tickled by monstera deliciosa
Bottling – 99.11
29 years, 43.4%

Colour

Pale honey

Nose

This one left us all feeling that we’d come across the major note before but none of us could place what it was. Maybe Apple Strudel? Waxy, a hint of diesel oil, leather, but there’s also something else that none of us could pin down.

Taste

First taste
Spangles (that was mentioned in the November tasting on a whisky I didn’t care for but the context is rather different this time), and all of the same flavours as mentioned in the nose.

Second taste
After much discussion someone came up with a touch of soft cheese. Very unusual.

Finish

Again cheesy, and longer than expected

With water

Not strong enough to withstand water which takes too much edge off it.

Conclusion

This is very unusual – I actually hadn’t heard of it before and you may never come across it again as the distillery, which was in Peterhead, is long gone. As a contrast to the others it was fascinating and provoked a lot of discussion.

In complete contrast again we moved on to the realms of sherry:

4. Tormore

Panel name – Pouring treacle on cut grass
Bottling – 105.13
26 years, 56%

Colour

Tawny sherry.

Nose

Brazil nuts, cherry cola. I was in close agreement with the society’s panel on this one – not always the case.

Taste

First taste
Cough syrup, black treacle, warm, upper mouth tastes. Lots of influence from the sherry cask it was matured in.

Second taste
Slightly bitter counterpoint to the sherry richness.

Finish

Medium long and rich.

With water

Opens out to a xmas cake taste.

Conclusion

Heavily sherried whiskies are seldom to my taste but this was a good one and my nearest neighbour at the table really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t drink it often but as a winter warmer and companion to the festive season I can see it being popular.

At this point I hadn’t read the society notes for our last whisky and Olaf told us he’d considered a fine Ardbeg but decided instead on this one. Hope rose in my taste buds immediately and I wasn’t disappointed because the first sniff identified it immediately. Short of handing me a gold bar he couldn’t have brought a bigger smile to my face.

5. Caol Ila

Panel name – Captain Pugwash
Bottling – 53.139
27 years, 55.2%

Colour

Pale yellow. Surprisingly none of the green tinge that it usually exhibits.

Nose

Unmistakeably Caol Ila but not quite as slap-in-your-face as some younger versions. Slightly medicinal as any Islay should be but not too much. Redolent with promise of wonderful tastes to come.

Taste

First taste
Heavenly!! Light and open, fragrant, peat smoky, complex, a hint of lime. Staggeringly good.

Second taste
And it gets better and better, so many layers of tastes interacting. Marvellously subtle. Some sweeter notes appearing, peach syrup. The society’s notes mentioned all sorts of seafood – scallops and lobsters and I can see where that’s coming from (oh for a glass of this with delicately cooked scallops in olive oil) but the whole amalgam almost defied analysis because it hung together so well. We talked about the bonfire-on-the-beach impression that I’ve used before to describe this so it was nice to have that confirmed.

Someone mentioned peatiness but here I disagree with common opinion – I don’t see Caol Ila as peaty but as peat smokey. To me peaty is the taste of those dark rivers in Perthshire, the taste you get in whiskies like Blair Atholl. Yes of course many Islays are peaty but Caol Ila has a much lighter flavour which is much more reminiscent of the light smoke and pure white ash you get from the dried peat briquets that are common in Ireland.

With water

Yeah right, wild horses could’t get me to put water in this, not even for a review. It’d be a crime.

Finish

Typical cask strength Caol Ila but much more so. It lasts and lasts and lasts and there isn’t a taste like it. (If there is somebody tell me what it is!)

Conclusion

Ok, you know I’m biased, but this is simply outstanding. Probably the best whisky I’ve tasted in the last 5 years and maybe a lot longer. I really can’t praise it enough. If I could get regular supplies of this I’d even walk past Talisker for it.

Overall Thoughts

A big thank you to Olaf for such a varied and interesting selection, with a big strong starter, a couple of thought-provoking and unusual tastes to follow, a big sherry flavour in the penultimate spot, and a spectacular finale to die for. When you’re trying to choose malts to match the tastes for a varied panel you usually have at least one that is a bit disappointing for at least a few of them – though which one it is is different for them all. This time I can say I enjoyed all of them in different ways and they all provoked memories and comment from the whole group. I have to mention the Glenfarclas because it was not only very good but also fabulous value. However Olaf and I had discussed previously that of all the distilleries there was only one which their tasting panel had never rejected a cask from, and that is Caol Ila. This one demonstrates why.

After cheese and oatcakes we headed downstairs for some convivial discussion – can you guess what Olaf and I were both drinking?