Article: Malt Whisky and Place – Part Two

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This article is part two of the Malt Whisky and Place series. Please refer to part one if you haven’t yet read it yet.

Dr Nicholas Morgan

Lagavulin Ernst J. Scheiner Copyright 2010 051First up to speak was Dr Nicholas Morgan, along with our first dram of the night, Lagavulin new make spirit. Thanks to Ernst J. Scheiner from Gateway to Distilleries for the picture of new make running from the stills at Lagavulin. The sample was principally for us to get our noses in gear (to get our organoleptic senses started, or so we were told) and it came with a big health warning that we may not want to drink it (who’s he kidding?!) as it’s new spirit that comes directly from the stills. It was only around a month old and not matured in any way in wood, and came in at a hefty 68.5%. For me a fantastic deliverance back to the Lagavulin Distillery where I first tried this as part of a warehouse tour in 2012. It’s wonderfully fruity and powerful.
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Article: Malt Whisky and Place – Part One

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Malt Whisky and Place

The whiskies produced on the Hebridean island of Islay are world renowned. But what makes these whiskies unique? Are they manifestations of the physical attributes of the island – the climate, the water, the barley, and the peat – or are they instead the consequence of centuries of craft and human artifice in the form of the malting, brewing, and distilling processes? Continue reading →

Review: Elements Of Islay – Pl1 (Port Charlotte)

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elem_pl1Elements Of Islay – Pl1 (Port Charlotte), 60%.

Rich dark gold to copper in colour.

The trademark Bruichladdich buttery peated nose easily identified here, slight tcp notes poking through. Not as fruity on the nose as the colour may lead you to expect, but quite openly maritime, with some malt chucked in to the salt pot. The nose is fairly complex and keeps you there for quite some while and finally gives up damp smoky wood notes. Continue reading →

Review: Bally Delicious – 23yo/1989 – Master of Malt

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bally-delicious-23-year-old-single-cask-master-of-malt-whiskyBally Delicious (Balvenie) – 23yo/1989 – Master of Malt – 54%

Light straw yellow in colour.

A light, elegantly fragrant and accessible nose with light stewed fruits making an appearance.

Much stronger on the palate than the nose leads you to imagine, a spicy hit that tales straight off into a pleasantly warming experience. The wood is very up front, but adds an interesting aspect to the whisky which doesn’t over power it but leads to long slightly dry finish.
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Review: GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 1 (OB)

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glendronach-cask-strength-batch-1-whiskyGlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 1 – 54.8%

A deep golden colour lures in your nose for a sniff of this cask strength sherried treasure.

The nose is grown up, and although there is no age statement on this whisky it feels fairly well aged on first impressions. It seems to have an excellent balance of vanillary wood which neither dominates nor is out shined by the sweet sherry notes that come through clearly. There are orange zest and chocolatey notes amongst and assortment of other jelly sweetie notes.
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Review: Benrinnes – Batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company

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benrinnes-that-boutiquey-whisky-company-whiskyBenrinnes – Batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company – 48.9%

Fairly dark golden in colour. Sweet, heavily sherried nose, plump sultanas and nuts, top quality stuff.

The palate is huge, one of the biggest sherry monsters I’ve had yet, it must have come from an excellent first fill PX cask. An oily goodness covers the mouth with spices warming the back of the tongue.

The finish is long with a slow warming heat covering your chest. The slightly lower ABV makes I smooth and easy to drink straight. That, along with the way the palate feels tends to lead you to think that this bottle contained fairly well aged whisky.

A top dram that any sherry fan will completely love. It’s got to be well in to the 90’s for score.

Review: anCnoc 22yo

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All anCnoc Single Malt is distilled using traditional methods and aged on site at the Knockdhu Distillery in the village of Knock, Aberdeenshire. anCnoc 22 Year Old was matured predominantly in top quality American ex-bourbon casks but some Spanish casks seasoned for two years with Oloroso sherry were also used. The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered and presented at its natural colour.

Read on for my tasting notes: Continue reading →

News: Bowmore Twitter Tasting Competition

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Bowmore is offering two lucky winners the chance to take part in a very special Valentines Twitter tasting date with their Master Blender, Rachel Barrie, and a select panel of 13 experts from the world of whisky.

The two lucky winners will receive a very special Valentine’s whisky bouquet containing three classic Bowmore tasting expressions and one exclusive, unreleased, ‘work in progress’.

The exclusive competition is only open until Monday at 11am so there’s only a short time to enter, and the tasting will take place on Wednesday 13th February at 7pm, good luck!

https://www.facebook.com/bowmore/app_439628179438049

(That link only works on a PC, it’ll probably show an error via a mobile)

 

Review: Tobermory – 17yo/1995 – Master of Malt

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tobermory-17-year-old-1995-single-cask-master-of-malt-whiskyTobermory – 17yo/1995 – Master of Malt – 57%

Light straw yellow in colour.

A fairly strong but light tropical vanilla nose, sweet and doughy with malty notes.

The age works nicely, it hits just the right part of your tongue and is warm to hot and spicy with a great mouth feel coating. A touch of water may be needed here. There are slight cardboard notes at the back of the palate, soon however replaced with the tropical fruity notes that you often find in bourbon matured whisky.
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