Monthly Archives: Apr 2015

Review: Plymouth Gin – Navy Strength

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PLY009 Plymouth-Navy-Strength-Gin-Plymouth Gin – Navy Strength – 57% abv

It’s a lovely sunny afternoon out, so why not let’s take a break from whisky and have a G&T. Or in my case, probably just the G as I’m not overly fond of T. It’s a G & ice for me please!

Info: For almost two centuries, Her Majesty’s Naval Fleet was sustained by Plymouth Gin and no ship left port without a bottle of Navy Strength 100 proof (57% abv) on board. The Royal Navy Supply Officers, or ‘Pussers’, needed to check that what they were buying was what they had ordered and so used gunpowder to test the alcohol level; if it was over 100 proof it would explode, with no explosion occurring if it was under strength.
Nose: Bright and spirity, a little bite, tonnes of juniper as you’d expect.
Palate: Thick and slightly creamy, the high strength gives the palate a nice bit of fizz. It’s slightly sweeter than the nose would make you suspect. Juniper at the front with just a touch of pepper behind, not too dry which is good in my book.
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News & PR: Talisker launches new whisky, Talisker Skye

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TALISKER™ LAUNCHES NEW WHISKY TO CELEBRATE
THE WILD BEAUTY OF ITS HOME, THE ISLE OF SKYE

TaliskerSkyeBottleTALISKER SKYE is the newest release from the distillery on the Isle of Skye. Crafted to reflect the rugged, wild beauty of the Isle of Skye, the new whisky pays homage to the island’s majestic landscape and coastline.

Capturing the essence of Skye in a bottle, the liquid has been made from a combination of hand selected toasted and refill American oak casks, carefully chosen by Talisker’s master blenders to accentuate the sweet, citrus notes of Talisker, whilst retaining the distillery’s unmistakable character. The result is a Talisker expression that opens with welcoming, smoky sweet notes, developing into deep maritime flavours and culminating in a powerful, spicy conclusion.

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Visit: The Glenrothes Distillery

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Glenrothes-Logo

 

GlenrothesKilnRecently I was lucky enough to be invited up to visit The Glenrothes distillery. There’s a few things I want to quickly clear up before I continue… Firstly, The Glenrothes distillery is in Rothes, Speyside…. Not Glenrothes, Fife. Secondly, it’s a brand owned by Berry Brothers & Rudd (BBR)… but the distillery itself is owned and run by the Edrington Group, who produce the spirit for and on behalf of BBR. There’s not many arrangements like that in the whisky industry!

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News / PR: BenRiach Launches 10 Years Old Single Malt

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BenRiach+10+Years+Old+2New core range expression marks a significant milestone for the Elgin distillery

This release is a momentous high point for the award-winning Elgin distillery as the whisky is the first core range expression to be produced predominantly from spirit distilled under The BenRiach Distillery Company’s eleven-year ownership.

Managing Director Billy Walker and his South African partners Wayne Kieswetter and Geoff Bell acquired BenRiach from Chivas Brothers in April 2004.

Bottled at 43% vol, the BenRiach 10 Years Old is Classic Speyside in character. The cask formula focuses on ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks – exactly the types of wood we favour at BenRiach. This fresh, lively, fruit-laden single malt captures warm oak spices, green apple, dried apricots, peach and banana with subtle touches of aniseed, lemon zest and barley.

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Review: Cu Bocan – Virgin Oak Edition

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CuBocanVintageOakBottleCù Bòcan – Virgin Oak Limited Edition – NAS – 46% abv

Info: Limited edition fully matured in First Fill Virgin Oak casks. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Full, bright and clear gold.
Nose: Vanilla and fresh oak intermingling with gentle smoke and sweet malt.
Palate: A nice thick mouthfeel which quickly makes the fresh woody oak apparent to you; it’s sweet, malty and oaky behind which it’s gently fruity with a touch of spice. The smoke is there, but quite tamed by the variety of other tastes that are going on. There’s a slight BBQy thing going on, something I’ve found in the past from Texan whiskies, good stuff!
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Review: Tomatin Cask Strength Edition

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tomatin-cask-strength-57-point-5-percent-whiskyTomatin Cask Strength Edition – NAS – 57.5% abv

Info: Matured in a combination of Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry Casks, this is a permanent edition to Tomatin’s range. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Fully ripened straw to light gold.
Nose: Toffee pennies (toffee sweets) with light malt notes and a puff of cask char. Slightly spicy with a bit of a bite from the high alcohol. Some classic Tomatin notes, but all turned up a notch.
Palate: Toffee malt hits your palate straight away, followed by slightly hot spirit because of the high abv, it’s spicy but sweet with some good oak notes and some sherry fruits and nuts. You soon become fairly accustomed to the strength which leaves you with fairly thick oils on your tongue.
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Review: Highland Park Odin

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HighlandPark-OdinHighland Park Odin – 55.8% abv

Info: 16yo, created from a combination of Spanish oak sherry casks and re-fill hogsheads.
Colour: Rich autumnal gold, touch of rust.
Nose: A light smokiness leads you in to gentle citrus fruits, tangerines and then back to peaty smokiness again, a light floral peat smoke, not your heavy Islay smoke. In the background there’s touches of fairly old oak soon superseded by milk chocolate notes, then back to citrus.
Palate: Really thick, gently oaky, very oily and peaty; peat almost going to the coal side of things, in a good way… Similar to the nose it’s a very light floral peat, no TCP, the more it opens up a BBQy type peat flavour comes out.
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Multi Review: anCnoc 12yo, 2000 & 18yo

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ancnoc-logo

Multi Review: anCnoc 12yo, 2000 and 18yo
A #ModernTradition Twitter Tasting

As luck would have it, I’ve been invited along to a Twitter Tasting to try out some lovely drams from the Knockdhu distillery, otherwise known as anCnoc on the shelves (so as to not get confused with Knockando).

We’re going to take a look at the 12yo, the 2000 vintage, and the newish 18yo. So without further ado, let’s get cracking… Continue reading →