Whisky Discovery #1747

Compass Box Enlightenment 46% abv

Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

circa £60.00 70cl

One of the latest limited edition releases from those clever folk at Compass Box, Enlightenment is their response to the recent hullaballoo after their full disclosure on their last releases.

‘There is no desire more natural than the desire for knowledge.’ – Michel de Montaigne

John Glaser says “Since launching the Compass Box Whisky Co., I have always been a firm believer in the spirit of enlightenment – that the more information we can share with our customers about the Scotch whisky we produce, the better. Alas, it transpires such beliefs fall foul of current EU and UK regulations, which prevent us from sharing information about the age of every component whisky used in the creation of our blends.”

He goes on; “Inspired by the writers, philosophers and scientists of the Age of Enlightenment it sets out to encourage the industry to consider the absurdity of a system that prevents producers from telling consumers exactly what has gone into the whiskies they are drinking."

Concluding; “And of course the whisky itself is something rather special. A blend of fruity, fragrant Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, it is bursting with aromas of fresh orchard fruit, flavours of vanilla, soft spice and pear and an alluring apple peel waxiness on the finish. An uplifting, enlightening whisky with which to ponder the world of Scotch not only as it is but also as it could be.”

Bottled in April 2016 this limited edition release is as expected from Compass Box, is of natural colour and non-chill-filtered. A total of 5,922 bottles were filled at 46% abv and it should be available worldwide.

So What Did I Think?

We’ve long been fans and supporters of Compass Box whiskies and admire their quest for full transparency. This blended or ‘vatted’ malt as previously known, is a marriage of just four distilleries. The overwhelming majority of the blend consists of Clynelish and Glentauchers with Clynelish getting the lion’s share. Malt from Balblair and Mortlach make up the balance, and while the ages are not disclosed on the packaging or press releases, I’m sure you can ask next time you see any of the Compass Box team and they’ll tell you.

The nose certainly hints at some older matured whisky lying within. There's an abundance of waxy orchard fruits, crisp rosy red apples in particular but I was also noting softer Comice pear. Beyond these orchard notes, there were fragrant floral notes reminding me of orange blossom. Malty biscuit notes alongside the sweetness of icing sugar

Taste; Beautifully balanced with fruit, wood, and spices. Dried apple notes were leading the fruit, while pencil shavings brought the woody element to the fore. Peppery spices completed the flavour triangle for me.

Verdict: Loved it! I must admit I don't think there has been a release from Compass Box I haven't loved. I might not be able to afford them all, but I have been fortunate to have tasted most of the releases, certainly over the last five years. Enlightenment has a lovely balance of flavours and at around £60 is certainly A 'bang for your buck whisky'. I loved the label too.

Many thanks to Compass Box Whiskies for the sample and the opportunity to enjoy this at my leisure. Would I buy it? Yup, it's certainly within my whisky budget

Slàinte! Dave

Exile Casks Launch March 2016

We've had a very busy March and have so much to catch up on! With so much news to share I've decided to start with the latest news first! Last Wednesday, I headed down to London’s Soho Whisky Club for the launch of the first from Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley’s latest venture, The ‘Exile Casks’

The ‘Exile Casks’ is a new range of single cask scotch that will be available only from exilecasks.com For the past 3 years Neil and Joel been searching all over Scotland for lost and forgotten casks, and they say that they’ve found some gems amongst the warehouses.

Three new Whisky Discoveries to log!

Whisky Discovery No.1653

Caskstrength And Carry On 3D Whisky 56.4% abv

Blended Malt Whisky

no longer available

The first dram of the evening was the last release from Neil and Joel under the ‘Cask Strength’ brand. 3D is a 'vatted' malt from 3 distilleries beginning with the letter D; Dalwhinnie, Dailuaine and Dufftown, was created by Joel and Neil themselves under the guidance of Diageo Master Blender Dr Matthew Crow.

Unfortunately, I never managed to taste any of these early releases from the Cask Strength label so this, the last in their short series was the first for me.

Just 504 signed and numbered bottles were produced, at 56.4% abv, complete with stereoscopic 3D label and glasses. They were available exclusively from Master of Malt at around £50 a bottle and have all sold out long ago, although if you really want to try it there were some ‘Drinks by the Dram’ available when I looked.

Whisky Discovery No.1654

The Trojan 25 Year Old 57.1% abv

Single Cask Speyside Whisky

£65.00 500ml (only available from exilecasks.com)

This was being bottled on the day of the tasting, so no bottle shot!

The Trojan, a 25 Year Old single cask from a Speyside distillery will be the first release from Exile Casks. Neil and Joel were not prepared to discuss the distillery this came from, but records showed that this cask was filled with spirit from one distillery and then labelled as being something else. Distilled 19th June 1990 and matured in a refill hogshead, it was currently being bottled (as we were tasting) at 57.1% with just 306 500ml bottles, and will be available from 31st March at £65 but only from exilecasks.com

So What Did I Think?

Quite a punchy dram with a gloriously rich, almost sherry cask, colour. Lots of woody oaky notes on the nose with liquorice and nutty notes too, walnut in particular. There was also a surprising celery salt note detected – and I thought it was only Kat that had these oddities in her tasting notes! This is also surprisingly lively for a 25-year-old, with lots of rich spicy notes on the palate. Water tamed the spicy heat and sweetened the flavours. One of the Soho Whisky Club members had brought in some home-made chocolates, and this whisky worked wonderfully with the chocolate – Bravo!

Whisky Discovery No.1655

'TBA' 1992 55.5% abv

Single Cask Speyside Whisky

£TBA0 500ml (only available from exilecasks.com)

No bottle, No label, not even a name yet!

Our third and final dram was a teaser from their next release. Another single cask from a Speyside distillery and again no distillery name will be released, although we were told that this cask had travelled, having been moved to four different warehouses. Distilled 9th April and matured in a 200-litre refill ASB (American Standard Barrel) and the sample we were tasting was at 55.5% abv. This yet to be named release is about a month away and if you want to find out more you’ll need to sign up on exilecasks.com

So What Did I Think?

Now this very quickly won me over and was my favourite of the evening’s three new Whisky Discoveries. The nose having a tropical fruity feeling with pineapple and coconut cream, lots of coconut cream! - Delicious!

Verdict
I always enjoy my trips to The Soho Whisky Club as more often than not it's because I've been invited to the launch of a new expression! The original plan of the Cask Strength team was to release an A-Z series of whiskies, but quickly realised that they were going to be hard-pressed to do this, especially in order! The first two casks are indeed very different and divided the Soho Whisky Club members fairly equally. That, however, is hardly surprising as single cask releases from the same distillery can be very different. There's no brand profile in terms of taste or style being sought here, just single casks that appeal to Neil and Joel. There's no exclusivity other than the limited release that a single cask can yield. When it's gone, it's gone!

hy 500ml bottles? Well firstly more people will be able to enjoy each release! The initial release, limited to just 306 500ml bottles would yield just 218 bottles at 700ml. Secondly, Neil and Joel looked at their own whisky collections and noticed that many of their bottles had around 200ml left in the bottom of them (yeah, mine too!). There's nothing like opening a newly purchased bottle, and these releases are meant to be drunk!

So, if you want to find out just what whisky Neil and Joel really like you'll just have to sign up on their new website as this will be the only place you can buy them from. You can follow them on Twitter too @ExileCasks we'd suggest you do just that!

Slàinte! Dave

Whisky Discovery #1147

Douglas Laing's 'Rock Oyster' NAS 46.8% abv
Blended (or 'vatted') Malt
Circa £38.00 70cl

Joining Douglas Laing's family of 'vatted' malts at the beginning of 2015, Rock Oyster pays homage the sea, created using the finest maritime Malts including those distilled on the Islands of Jura, Islay, Arran and Orkney. 

Sitting alongside their other core regionally themed vatted malts – Big Peat from Islay, Scallywag from Speyside and Timorous Beastie from the Highlands - Rock Oyster is a small batch bottling at 46.8% abv without colouring or chill-filtration. As typical with this range, much attention has been spent creating the packaging which features a bespoke illustration of both an oyster, and a nautical scene, while telling it's story.

Managing Director Fred Laing say: “Rock Oyster showcases the archetypal Island character of gentle peat-smoke, vanilla’d honey and salt. If I could select just one dram to transport the Whisky enthusiast to the Islands of Scotland, it would be this one. 

So What Did We Think?

Following on from the recent additions of Scallywag and Timorous Beastie, Rock Oyster certainly looks the part in it's bespoke packaging, and a line up of all four would look great on the shelf! We've taken our bottle down to the Bedford Whisky Club and it has been very well received there, and we've only seen positive reviews for this on social media. 

Kat says: I was instantly transported to rock pools on the beach, and weekends visiting my Grandparents down at Portsmouth and Southampton docks. It just smells of pure brisk sea air, sun, salty sea spray, seaweed, damp ropes, and wet oak docks. Left for about 5 minutes in the glass, the sweeter notes makes its way through – for me fresh conference pears and seared scallops, along with a dry dusty soot notes. 

Fresh ginger cuts its way through, balancing the sea notes and sweetness, lifting the dram. Tasting begins with soft honey sweetness, followed by a touch of oak note, leading gently into a delicate soft peat note that’s more of cold soot or cold smoke. There are two spices that really come through here, black cardamoms and star anise. There is definitely an earthier note on the palate than the nose, and the iodine/seaweed note doesn’t come through here for me. The finish is long and lingering – earthy, dry soot and spices.

Dave Says: We both wrote our notes completely separately but upon receiving Kat's notes to write this post feel she'd covered all of mine too! My notebook is full of one word descriptors that Kat has tied together nicely with memories. 

I find this soft, sweet, with smoke, salt and ripe grain. I also found hints of aniseed and Bassets 'liquorice allsorts'. Returning to it again recently it's fresh and lively definitely bringing memories of beach walks and salty rock pools. On the palate it comes across as young and feisty, but a little richer than expected. The salty sea breeze leads, but there's a spicy black pepper note too. The peat smoke follows, but it's gentle rather than 'in your face' leaving charcoal notes and hints of vanilla and sweet green grapes, before finishing peppery and a little drying leaving that maritime saltiness, with the empty glass the following morning yielding sweet toffee and charcoal.

Verdict: A very balanced dram, we loved that the peat notes are not over powering but still noticeable, giving the dram a delicate smokiness and still let the sweetness shine. Kat was surprised to find this dram was light and delicate, as she was expecting this to be heavier. A fantastic dram and certainly fitting in the 'bang for your buck' category. We can’t recommend this enough for anyone who prefers their peat on the lighter side and with some soft sweetness, and those who like a long finish.

Slàinte! Dave and Kat

Burns Night 2014

Last week, the Monkey called, that’s Monkey Shoulder to you, and asked me to come along to an alternative Burns Supper at The Caledonian Club. I thought we would be celebrating Scottish poet Robert Burns. As I've never celebrated Burns night before, I didn't know what to expect, but knew that I was in for an eventful night. 

Not being able to leave work early meant I arrived an hour after the start time, at this point completely oblivious to the mayhem that happened shortly before my arrival. Being a polite guest, I donned a white hazmat suit with no questions asked the got rushed to the upstairs of the club. I only had a split second to wonder my suit had a radioactive badge on, and why the man rushing me had a face mask hung around his neck. 

Walking into the room I've abruptly left normality behind as I walked into a surreal alternate reality. Within a few minutes of sitting down, I was greeted by an excitable lady who introduced herself to me as Carolyn Cumhardy and asked ‘Oh you got through the nuclear fallout OK?’. Then I was told that the suspicious white substance on her face was just nuclear fallout cream, and was nothing to do with how she got her family name. Hmmm, I thought, this is pretty freaking surreal as I stared at the bowl of three eyed fish soup, and a glass of Rob Roy.

RIP Binky, you were bloody tasty 

Scanning the room trying to find anything familiar, anything at all, anything that I can use to make sense of this madness. My eyes fell on a life size taxidermy polar bear, metal fencing, what looks like a stack of oscilloscopes, then I saw the framed picture of Mr Monty Burns from the Simpsons…..the penny dropped. 

The night was to celebrate Charles Montgomery Burns, you know that lovely old man from t’ Simpsons. 

Oh well, I thought, there’s no point trying to understand, just accept, relax and drink your Rob Roy. 

If you want to make the Rob Roy at home here is the recipe:

It certainly hit the spot
after being plunged into an alternate reality

INGREDIENTS

50ml Monkey Shoulder

25ml Sweet Vermouth

3 Dashes Angostura bitters

METHOD

Add all ingredients to mixing glass, add ice and stir. Once desired dilution is reached strain into chilled glass and garnish with twist of orange peel.

GLASS

Stemmed cocktail glass

Next I tucked into my Three Eyed fish soup, followed by some Radioactive Haggis with orange coloured neeps and green tatties, and of course we had to have Lardy Lad Donuts for desert. It was a bit strange eating green mash; I kept on expecting that it would taste like peas. 

Mmmmmmm donuts….. 

After dinner we had another cocktail, a Mammie Taylor, very refreshing after the richness of the haggis. Then I finally got to meet in person Jake Mountain from Master of Malt, and I also got to meet Graeme Gardiner from The Edinburgh Whisky Blog. These two lovely chaps kept me company as I was at the event on my own. 

Graeme in particular had me in stitches when he didn't realise he was sporting some major carpet burns after winning the hound racing. 

I take full credit for sharing the pics on twitter. Sorry Graeme.

Mammie Taylor

I love my Mammie

INGREDIENTS

30ml Monkey Shoulder

10ml Fresh Lime juice

80ml Ginger ale

Lime wedges

METHOD

Add all ingredients to glass, add cold dry ice and stir.

GLASS

Long

I won’t go into detail about party games some of us played, I recommend reading the blog post by the boys as there’s simply nothing more I can add to this part of the story that hasn't already been said. You can find their posts about the event here The Edinburgh Whisky Blog - Burns Night and here Master of Malt blog - Burns Night In retrospect I got away lightly by missing the caricaturist!

We finished the night with music from Third Degree Burns, a good old sing song and dance. We all left with sparklers in hand and grinning like kids as we made our way back to reality. 

It was a fantastic and the most fun I've had at a whisky event! All I have to say is the next Burns supper I attend has a lot to live up to.

Actually we were making a zombie apocalypse B movie 

For more information about Monkey Shoulder and to join the Monkey Shoulder Social Club at their next event, visit their website here Monkey Shoulder 

Slàinte! Kat

Whisky Discovery Tasting #1

A full house for our first 'Whisky Discovery' tasting at The Embankment, Bedford

We finally did it, jumped in with both feet, closed our eyes, and hoped for the best. When we finally caught our breaths, the chaos that was left behind was a bunch of strangers brought together by seven beautiful drams, and all having a whale of a night. 

From the reaction of everyone who came to our first tasting, it was a big fat tick in the fun box, and we are delighted that there are enough people interested to start a whisky club in Bedford! Hooray! What this space in 2014 for more news. 

For the evening, we teamed up with the Embankment Pub in Bedford The line-up on the night was seven drams, each paired with a different canapé that were jointly selected by the head chef and me, to complement each dram. 

These are the pairings in order of their appearance on the night:

1. Smoked Salmon on Sourdough Toast paired with SMWS G10.5 
2. Sweet Potato and Baby spinach Frittata paired with Paul John’s Brilliance. 
3. Morn Dew Cheese paired with Glen Garioch 1995 Vintage. 
4. Smoked Haddock Rarebit paired with The Whisky Lounge’s Salted Sea Dog. 
5. Pear Crumble paired with Glen Moray Chardonnay cask.
6. Vanilla Ice Cream paired with Balcones Baby Blue. 
7. Chocolate and Hazelnut Tart paired with Douglas Laing’s Scally Wag.

It was a big gamble starting the evening with the SMWS G10.5 as it was the highest abv at 61%. Due to food pairing, it was difficult to place it anywhere else in the line-up. It would have been too weird having a smoked salmon in between sweet canapés. It did become a good bench mark dram though, with many really appreciating the freshness and floral qualities of this dram after they had tasted the others. 

So what did we think of each dram?

Whisky Discovery #614

SMWS G10.5 A ‘Schweppervescene’ Moment 23 Year Old (61% abv)

Single Grain Whisky from Strathclyde Distillery 

Circa £68.50 70 cl

This is a single cask, single grain whisky from the Strathclyde grain distillery, located in the Gorbals district of Glasgow. There are no official distillery bottlings of this single cask however it is a popular grain whisky that’s used in many blends. 

Nose:  Punches with freshness, very lively and vibrant. A while later creamier note comes through of young ripe avocado, there’s some acetone notes that tickles the nose, with some sharp lemon/lime sherbets but without the oversweet sugar smell. 

Taste:  It starts with the lemon sherbets, followed by corn flakes and cereal notes, then a hint of bitterness which is nice to give it some depth, and at the end it becomes a minty menthol mouthwash. 

Finish:  The cooling minty menthol mouthwash has stayed, then it becomes warming with the bitterness returning right to the end. A long finish with leaving a dry mouth feel. 

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:

@Mooley: First dram is the SMWS schweppervescence. grass & vanilla on the nose. Pepper on the palette, after taste of leather car seat. This one better with water, softens it.

@JohnnieStumbler: Wonderfully fresh on the nose. Grassy with fresh fruits. Great mouthfeel, sweet and grassy with a citric edge. With a touch of water, it really delivers. Paired with smoked salmon on sourdough toast. It really highlights the contrast between sweet and salt. Good shout! Very capable and worth further exploration. Needs time, water and a brave heart.

Whisky Discovery #429

Paul John’s Brilliance NAS (46% abv)

Indian Single Malt Whisky 

Circa £46 70 cl

The distillery is based in Goa, India, and it is one of only two distilleries in India currently exporting to the UK. It is made with using Indian six-row barley from the Himalayan foothills and has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels. It’s non-chill-filtered with no artificial colouring. 

Nose:  Rich and intense aromas. Aromatic and spicy of teak wood and nutmeg, with the smell of warm leather. 

Taste:  Again rich full bodied flavours. Teak wood comes through with some sweetness, for me it’s similar to the taste of flat Coca-Cola, and there’s also a floral notes present. 

Finish:  Begins with sweet cassia bark followed by some spiciness, leaving a mild wood note at the end. Not a very long finish, would have loved for this to go on for longer. 

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:

@Mooley: Bloody lovely Indian Whisky. Not as grim as the Amrut. I really like it. Matched well with the sweet potatoe & spinach fritter. Would be excited to try the edited peated from them.
@JohnnieStumbler: Bourbon-a-plenty on the nose. Lots going on for a young whisky. Some rich fruits on the nose. Rich palate balanced out by a spicy finish. Intriguing. With sweet potato and baby spinach frittata, there isn't a stark contrast. Think harmony.
@cecilnorris1988: Plums, dates, a hint of the dreaded vanilla on the nose for me.

Whisky Discovery #454

Glen Garioch 1995 Vintage 17 Year Old (53.3% abv)

Highland Single Malt

Circa £50.45 70 cl

They don’t make it like this anymore! This vintage bottling was distilled in the last year that the distillery used peat in its kiln to dry it’s barley before malting, due to this, there is some peat present but at a very low ppm. Not really noticeable as peat. It’s been matured in first fill ex-bourbon barrels. 

Dave has tasted this whisky before as part of a tweet tasting, click here to see what he thought then.

Nose:  Very spicy with a sweet bread aroma that’s like Panettone bread, there’s an Ovaltine note, and the smell of lemon butterfly cakes. 

Taste:  Begins with a spicy chili heat, followed by barley sugar sweets, sugared covered roasted hazel nuts, slight hint of smokiness and floral notes that’s like a mild black cardamom taste. 

Finish:  Warming spices with a touch of sweetness and smokiness, then spiciness returning right at the end, leaving a dry mouth feel.

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:

@Mooley: Smells divine, light hint of peat, sweet, candy & grass on the nose, sting like chilli aftermath. Good warmth. This is a sexy Whisky.
@cecilnorris1988: I've had this before with @JohnnieStumbler. As good now as it was in the Summer '13 A huge shout out to Morn Dew Cheese too. Your marriage with the Glen Garioch 95 17 Year Old is a beautiful one.
@JohnnieStumbler: I'm hugely biased as this is one of my go-to drams. Wonderful. With Morn Dew cheese. Works splendidly. The creaminess of the cheese just marries with the mild peatiness perfectly.

Whisky Discovery #616

The Whisky Lounge ‘Salted Sea Dog’ Batch No. 2 NAS (46% abv)

Islay Single Malt

Circa £21.00 20 cl

This is an independent bottling from the lovely folks at The Whisky Lounge. All we know is that it’s from one of the well-known distilleries on the North-East of Islay, and who are not normally known for their peated whiskies. This is non-chill-filtered and free from artificial colouring. 

Nose:  Peat is noticeable but not overpowering. Warm banana bread aromas followed by powdered ginger, and the smell of very dry crumbly fruit cake that’s gone stale. 

Taste:  Nice balance of peat smoke and sweetness. Texture and flavour of watered down cinnamon infused sugar syrup, with some bitterness at the end from lemon pips. 

Finish:  Initially warming with hints of sweetness that lingers, and then warms again, this time of white pepper giving a good length finish.

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:
@Mooley: I AM IN HEAVEN! I am not sharing that with anyone. *sits in the corner and has a moment* Salty sea dog, is heavy peat that melts away making you want more. Coal dust, seaweed & a slight twang of 2p pieces #wdt1 #buymeabottle
@JohnnieStumbler: Beautiful peaty, coastal nose. Less of a peat assault on the palate. Gentle and moreish. With smoked haddock rarebit, a symphony of smoke and sea spray.
@cecilnorris1988: Back at St Peter Port in Guernsey. Salt (surprise surprise), seaweed, PEAT!
@Johnnyboythrash: Not a fan of the smoky whisky that we experienced, but this is my & @rosetintvintage first whisky tasting, so still finding palette.

Whisky Discovery #132

Glen Moray 10 Year Old Chardonnay Cask (40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £25.00 70 cl

Glen Moray still doesn’t seem to be that well known, it is only a smallish distillery and one of the seven distilleries listed on the Speyside Single Malt Trail, and are located in Elgin, Morayshire. This whisky has been fully matured in for its entire life in Chardonnay cask which gives this dram a light delicate floral feel. 

We first tasted this dram last year. Dave wrote about a posted in thoughts back in May 2012, you can read about it here 

Nose:  Noticeably creamy and smooth, with vanilla, hints of dryness, sweetness from clear honey, and a floral bouquet throughout. 

Taste:  Instantly of the clear honey, leading to a fresh citrus zest which prevents the dram being overly sweet. The sweetness is however present throughout. Texture is a smooth silky feel. 

Finish:  The honey note stays for a split second, a lot shorter than I had expected. A fresh fruity chili heat, like a Scotch bonnet chili, appears and stays, while cereal notes arrives at the same time as leaving the mouth with a dry mouth feel with some bitterness right to the end.

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:
@Mooley: Not blown away, a bit too nicey nicey & soft after taste. I like whisky with balls! this is light, sweet, pear drops apples on the nose. It's nice but too nicey nicey.
@JohnnieStumbler: This is a little sweetie on the nose. Fruit and gentle oak. Sweet and lightly fruity; a dessert whisky. Overpowered by the butteriness of the pear crumble.
@Johnnyboythrash: Just found a whisky I really like, and @rosetintvintage agrees.

Whisky Discovery #321

Balcones Baby Blue NAS (46% abv)

Texas Blue Corn Whisky

Circa £55 75 cl 

We have tasted this whisky many times, and it’s one of my personal favourites. You can find out what Dave thought about it when he first 'discovered' it here. 

This is Texas whisky and the only distillery in the world using blue atole corn to make whisky.  Atole corn has a nutter flavour than yellow corn. It gives the whisky extra depth to other corn whiskies but still keeps the freshness and verve of a traditional corn whisky with a smooth finish.

Nose: There’s some sweetness from Demerara sugar, some dry oak notes but more like oak shavings and saw dust, and there’s some creaminess there also. 

Taste:  This reflects the now, starting with caramel notes with some dry oak. Then the nutty flavour of roasted hazel nuts and hints of burnt toasts comes through, balancing out the sweetness. It has a very smooth Crème Brule like texture but without the heavy feel.

Finish:  Again the same flavour profile that you get throughout this dram but begin with warming black pepper. The caramel, toasted bread, and oak notes comes through afterwards, these lingers right through to the end.

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:
@Mooley: Honey, macadamia nuts, vanilla on the nose. Let down on the palette, hard corn spirit. It's so unusual it draws you back. Strangely I'm not a huge fan but I can't stop retrying it. Popcorn Whisky.
@Johnnyboythrash: Ooh, the Balcones is even better. Was trying to describe & @rosetintvintage  says nuts & toffee...I'd agree
@JohnnieStumbler: This has corn chips and nuts all over the nose.The palate doesn't live up to the nose but not bad at all. With vanilla ice cream, it's Doritos time!
@cecilnorris1988: Damn you vanilla! The penultimate whisky. I know @JohnnieStumbler and @Mooley are fans of the nose.

Whisky Discovery #610

Douglas Laing Scallywag NAS (46% abv)

Speyside Blended Malt Whisky

Circa £38.00 70 cl

Douglas Laing has been in business for the last 65 years as the leading independent Scotch whisky master blenders and bottlers. They specialise in selecting single casks and small batch whiskies. I find it incredible that the business was started by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948 and today, it is still owned and run by the Laing family; Fred Laing Jr and his daughter Cara Laing. 

Scallywag has been blended from Speyside malts, all we know is that it includes whiskies from Mortlach, Macallan, and Glenrothes. It’s non chill-filtered and uses predominately whiskies that’s been matured in various Spanish sherry butts, but there is some first filled bourbon casks in there as well. 

Nose:  Initially of some new make spirit then as it opens up to give some vanilla and creamy notes, reminds me of raw Victoria sponge cake mix, and soft butter. There’s also some fruitiness there as well, mainly raisins. 

Taste:  On the initial sip, I found it to be full of almond essence that turns into Amaretto liqueur after several sips. This is followed by the taste of Plumb Schnapps, and then the fruity richness arrives, full of dates and raisins but doesn’t make the whisky feel heavy. Towards the end there’s some lovely creamy shortbread. 

Finish:  Lemon zest and hint of lemon pith, then honey and vanilla notes with raisins right at the end.

Some tweets we picked up from our tasters:
@Mooley: Not out on retail yet! Scallywag Douglas Laing.Toffee, dates, WITH A MASSIVE HIT ON THE PALETE. Amazing So @amjohnno has preordered me a bottle of Scallywag for Christmas. I am a very lucky girl! 
@JohnnieStumbler: A little young on the nose, a tad feinty perhaps.A privilege indeed; trying before general release. With hazelnut tart, it just works really well. Good call. Christmas on the palate. Worth a punt but this whisky hound likes the peat.
@Johnnyboythrash: I like this Douglas Laing Scallywag, and the badge...awesome!

Going by the ‘mmmm’ factor from the room, the top 3 most popular pairings were Douglas Laing’s Scallywag with chocolate and hazelnut tart, The Whisky Lounge’s Salty Sea Dog with smoked haddock rarebit, and the Glen Moray Chardonnay Cask 10 Year Old with pair crumble. These pairings just worked so well together.

My favourite moments from the evening was someone wanting the Smoked Haddock rarebit and Salty Sea Dog on tap, and a lady who was pretty sure she wouldn’t like the Glen Moray because she hated Chardonnay, turned out to absolutely love the Glen Moray! 

Check out our album on Facebook page for some more pictures from the night. 

Lastly thank you…..

We were very lucky to be given a bottle of Douglas Laing’s new little scamp, Scallywag, before it was available in the shops. A big thank you goes out to them, it was the cherry on top of the cake. You can check out their whiskies on their website here. Douglas Laing

I would also like to say thank you to the other independent bottlers and distilleries for their support, and for creating some beautiful drams. For more information on all of the other drams listed in the tasting, and where you can purchase them, visit these websites below:

• Single Malt Whisky Society
• Paul John’s Whisky
• Glen Garioch
• The Whisky Lounge
• Glen Moray
• Balcones 

Until the next time, Slàinte! Kat

12 Blends - A blind tasting challenge

Following the hugely entertaining 12 Drams of Christmas organised by Tom Thomson of Toms Whisky Reviews, and while still full of the Christmas spirit, a couple of the drammers decided that another blind tasting should be organised for the Easter holidays.

I pulled out of the Christmas event due to so much going on at the time, but put my name down for this Easter event purely because it looked great fun! @DramStats suggested a blended whisky challenge, the date was set and Tom organised getting the 12 disciples together with the proposed challenge running from the 1st-12th April

We all set out to purchase our secret blend then decant into eleven 35ml dram bottles to be sent to all of the participants. Most of the team were visiting Whisky Live London and so the great sample swap was scheduled for a pre-show lunch time session at the London home of the SMWS, (you can find the photos of our meet up on our Facebook page)

Most of the twelve hail from the UK but two overseas correspondents joined our happy band of blenders, @galg of Whisky Israel and @WhiskyMarks of Texan whisky blog Whisky Marks and by some miracle of blended magnetism we all managed to have a full house of drams in time for the starting date set for Monday 1st April.

Most importantly those wonderful people at Compass Box Whisky who know a thing or two about great blended whisky kindly donated the winners prize of a bottle of their award winning Asyla for winning this competition.

The prize kindly donated by Compass Box Whiskies

The 1st of April is known as April Fools Day in the UK, which seemed aptly appropriate as I sat looking at my 11 numbered blended whiskies. I realised that I would be very lucky if I could even name twelve different blended whiskies that didn't feature the pre-banned Bells, Teachers and the other brands I have heard of, and can be found in most British supermarkets.

With the rules set, requiring our tasting notes and guesses to be submitted to organiser @ifotou by 2030 each evening I decided I should try and get a head start, and lined all eleven mystery drams up on the dining room table on Easter Sunday afternoon.

I had originally planned to set  up for the photo shoot and taste just blend number one, and perhaps a sip of number two, but before I'd even finished setting up the table I had poured small drams of the first four, and following the photo taking, decided I ought to find out if there were any 'doubles' or if anyone had bought the same bottle as mine.

It rapidly degenerated from here, I was having fun! Some of the other blenders were also tweeting that they were making a start due to other commitments during the week. I rattled through them taking notes which seemed to get thinner in useful information as the number on the bottle increased.

To assist my analysis I also had my blended whiskies on the table too, just for comparison, which on hindsight, probably did little to assist.

11 blends lined up for me on Easter Sunday - better than any Easter Eggs!

Day 1 provided by @mynameisgone

12.5 points scored

Colour: Gold

Nose: Upon pouring I got a lovely bread dough note, and moving the glass to the nose this comes across as quite malty. There does seem to be a slight trace of peat smoke and a pinch of white pepper. The nose is not overly sweet, but there is a fruity element within.

Palate: The gentle peat reek is more pronounced on the palate, again the white pepper is there and there is a honeyed sweetness, and the fruitiness come through with some plum jam, some malted milk biscuits

Finish: Quite short, touch of the white pepper to the sweetness and even a wisp of smoke

Empty Glass: Distinct aroma of a wood ash from a previous evenings fire

Verdict: Easy drinking dram, quite light overall with a nice white pepper spice at the very end

My guesses:

• ABV: 40% 
• Age: NAS
• Type: Blended Scotch
• Brand: Johnnie Walker
• Expression: Black Label

Reveal: Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve - I have tasted this before at last years Whisky Exchange Whisky Show (Whisky Discovery #208) I scored points here for getting all but the expression correct and jumped straight into joint first place with a score of 12.5 points!

Day 2 provided by @sjjgo

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from #1!)

Nose:  Opens up quite spicy before settling down. Much fruitier on the nose with some peaches and kiwi fruit? White pepper notes, wood notes too

Palate: Smooth and sweet with honey, fruit has turned more apple like, rosy red ones. A touch of white pepper again, not too much, but enough to let you know it's there, lightly salted too

Finish: Very short and light, malty, touch of pepper and some honey sweetness remains at the very end

Empty Glass: Wood, wet from seawater

Verdict: A very easy drinking dram, sweet, smooth and I like the salty note at the very end

My guesses:

• ABV: 43%
• Age: NAS
• Type: Blended Malt
• Brand: Compass Box
• Expression: Oak Cross

Reveal: Nikka All Malt - again another whisky that I have tasted before (Whisky Discovery #160) but was way off this time, and only scored points for 'guessing' the age correctly slipping back into second place.

Day 3 Provided by @rodbodtoo

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from #1 & 2)

Nose: Very gentle nose, takes a while to tease out. Got a lovely flash of liquorice before it settles down, toffee, vanilla, soft orange note. Quite sweet and creamy

Palate: Sweet initially with building spice which remains as white pepper on the sides of the tongue while the centre returns to sweetness, honey, apricots, light clove note too

Finish: Quite a spicy kick at first which settles down to a dry-ish sweetness

Empty Glass: Malty

Verdict: Yummy!

My guesses:

• ABV: 40%
• Age: NAS
• Type: Blended Malt
• Brand: Monkey Shoulder

Reveal: Grants Ale Cask, I have never tasted this before so this has been registered as a new Whisky Discovery (#374) as it was the first time I have tasted this, although I do have a miniature of this sitting on my shelf, so will complete a full discovery review later! I picked up some points for the abv and age statement, which brought me back into joint first place again.

Day 4 provided by @ardbaggie

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from #1, 2 & 3!)

Nose: Sweet, honey, gentle clove note, gentle citrus notes too, chalky

Palate: Sweet, light spice, ginger

Finish: Short sweet and gentle spice

Empty Glass: Chalky, malty

Verdict: Quite quaffable but comes across as quite a simple drinkable dram

My guesses:

• ABV: 40%
• Age: NAS
• Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
• Brand: Cutty Sark

Reveal: Ballantines 17 Year Old Another new Whisky Discovery for me (#375) but I was so far out in all of my guess I scored no points in this round. Unwisely I had decided to start the first six mystery drams on the Easter Sunday evening (originally I was planning to run through all 12!) and so as the afternoon wore on my notes started to wander as I was comparing the blind blends with each other as well as some of the other whiskies on my shelf. This dram fooled most of us and only two of the twelve blind blenders scored points which meant I kept my joint first place position!

Day 5 provided by @dvdbloke

Nil points this round too!

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from #1-4!)
Nose: Fudge, toffee, malty
Palate: Sweet, rich, fruity, leather, pepper spice
Finish: Short, white pepper
Empty Glass: It is now
Verdict: Gone too quickly :(

My guesses:

•  ABV: 40%
•  Age: NAS
•  Type: Blended Scotch
•  Brand: Grants Sherry Cask

Reveal: The Tweeddale Blend 12 Year Old, 46% abv and another new Whisky Discovery and #376 of my liquid log. Firstly I must apologise for these random guesses, my notes for this one were far from complete having tried to write them while thoroughly enjoying tasting as many of the 12 blends as possible. For the second time I scored no points, and slipped back into joint third, however this round provided a winner.  @mynameisgone correctly identified this whisky, and his ability to 'guess' the batch and bottle number left me thinking that their was a conspiracy going on (I'm joking, there was no batch and bottle number discussed).

Day 6 provided by @ifotou

Just 2.5 points from this

Colour: Gold (slightly darker than 1-5, hooray!)
Nose: not sure if this has been contaminated, but got a whiff of cabbage water at first, which put me off nosing this at first. However it settles down to give sweet honey notes, barley water
Palate: barley vanilla light toffee notes, citrus
Finish: some bitter citrus pith with the lasting taste of barley
Empty Glass: Toffee popcorn

My guesses:

• ABV: 40%
• Age: NAS
• Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
• Brand: The Bailie Nichol Jarvie

Reveal: Johnnie Walker 18 Year Old Platinum, 40% abv and I was correct in my thinking that I had tasted this before, Whisky Discovery #165, was enjoyed during a Colin Dunn Masterclass at last years Midlands Whisky Show

Ok, this was another of the blends I enjoyed 'in session' however I was convinced I had gotten this one right, and felt certain the barley notes were the clue to the BNJ I thought it was. Fortunately I wasn't the only one, with lots of other BNJ guesses, and so the 2.5 points I scored here, along with everyone else, maintained my joint third position. I wish I could say that my next round of guesses will be more educated, however I did go on to taste all eleven on that Easter Sunday evening, but fortunately I retained half a dram of each for re-evaluation.

Day 7 provided by @DramStats

Great value blend!

Colour: Gold (very similar to the other 11)
Nose: Gentle peat reek, sweet burnt toffee, buttered sweet corn, slightly smoky, medicinal, 
Palate: Smoky peat reek comes through at the forefront on the palate, charcoal, malty, salty butter, cereal grains with a creamy sweetness
Finish: Fair to good length, Gentle smoke and black pepper
Empty Glass: Sweet charcoal notes
Verdict:  I love some peated notes in my Whisky!

My guesses:

• ABV: 40%
• Age: NAS
• Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
• Brand: Johnnie Walker 
• Expression: Double Black

Reveal: Smokin' 40% abv, a relatively new release from Duncan Taylor and which none of the other 11 'blenders' had heard of either! I knew from the start that @DramStats would have picked something a little more difficult to find due to his confidence that no one would have the same bottle as his! However I could only find three smoky blends that fitted the profile, Double Black, Black Bottle and Black Grouse and I knew it wasn't Black Grouse having had a bottle previously. So another new Whisky Discovery, #377 in the Liquid Log, and from what I remember a damn good one. Still I managed to accrue five points for the abv and no age statement, which put me back into joint second place, with @mynameisgone still well ahead with his correct identification of Dram No.5

Day 8 provided by @galg

I picked up a few points with this Irish blend

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from #1!)
Nose: Grainy initially but settles down, heather and lavender notes, perhaps even a little rosemary bark, fruity with ripe green grapes,
Palate: Smooth with sweet ripe grains, grapes, kiwi fruits and a faint orange note, spice comes with light white pepper,
Finish: Quite short, sweet, drying nuttiness with a light salty note
Verdict: Lovely easy drinking dram
Empty Glass: Those green grapes are still there

My guesses:

• ABV: 40%
• Age: NAS
• Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
• Brand: Feckin Irish Whiskey

Reveal: Clontarf Irish Whiskey, 40% abv, and a new Whisky Discovery, #378. This is a triple distilled Irish whiskey produced by the Clontarf Whiskey Company, a subsidiary of Castle Brands Inc. The whiskey takes it name from the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, and no one had heard of this one! When searching through the Irish blends, as I was certain that I had an Irish blend when I first nosed and tasted this sample, I found the brand Feckin Irish Whisky, and was certain Gal would have picked this one!

So I picked up a few points, certainly for the abv and possibly for identifying it as an Irish blend, and maintained my joint second position with @ardbaggie, but still trailing @mynameisgone by 10 points. With only three point scoring opportunities left for me I really needed to play my trump card out on one of them if I wanted to win the bottle of Asyla!

Day 9 provided by @steveprentice

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from everything else!)
Nose: Rich sherry notes, Oloroso, there's a rich sweetness with toffee and vanilla notes, spices and berry fruits and a grainy edge too
Palate: Again the sherry comes to the fore and it's well rounded, nutty, creamy, apples, spice
Finish: Rich and spicy, creamy, fruity
Verdict: Fabulous rich sherried nose
Empty Glass: Pine wood sawdust

My guesses:

• ABV: 50%
• Age: 12 Year Old
• Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
• Brand: Duncan Taylor
• Expression: Black Bull

Reveal: The Antiquary 21 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky, 43% abv. and another new Whisky Discovery, #379. This is an exclusive blend from Tomatin and combines fine Speyside and Highland malt with a splash of Islay and the fragrance of Lowland grains. All the whiskies used in this blend are at least 21 years old. So no points again this evening, disaster! Two close guesses from a couple of the blenders picking The Antiquary 12 Year Old as their guess, and others picked up points pushing me back into fourth.

Day 10 provided by @WhiskyMarks

Colour: Dark Gold, at last something different!
Nose: Nail polish remover at first before settling to some lovely bourbon notes reminding me of both Buffalo Trace and Four Roses. There's the obvious vanilla notes, but it's thick and sweet. Green Bananas, baked pears, charred oak and even a slight briny note
Palate: Spicy oak notes, honey sweetness, buttered toast, green bananas,
Finish: Smooth and sweet, slight aniseed, fennel note, good length too, eventually drying with hazelnut and a faint smoky trace
Empty Glass: Smoky charcoal notes
Verdict: Would quite happily have this on my shelf

My guesses:

•  ABV: 41% (82 Proof)
•  Age: NAS
• Type: American Blended Whisky
•  Brand: Firestone & Robertson
•  Expression: TX Blended Whiskey

Reveal: High West Campfire 41% and another new Whisky Discovery recording #380 in the liquid log, and certainly one of my favourite of the blends so far. I certainly didn't pick up the points I was hoping for and @mynameisgone increased his lead over everyone else with some canny guesses, though I remained in fourth equal place.

The High West Distillery of Utah craft Small batch spirits with the owner’s personal touch. Campfire came about during a trip to Islay when proprietor David Perkins was staying in the Bruichladdich distillery B&B. One of the desserts during their stay was ripe honeydew drizzled with a peated whisky syrup. The combination of melon and sweet smoke really worked, so David thought why not mix sweet bourbon and peat? 

So Campfire is a blend of a straight bourbon whiskey (75 percent corn, 20 percent rye, and 5 percent barley malt). A straight rye whiskey (95 percent rye and 5 percent barley malt) and a  blended malt Scotch whiskey (100% peated malted barley). The whiskies are all at least 5 years old.

Day 11 was my blind blend

Here is what the blind blenders thought of it:

@mynameisgone Nose: Chocolate, stewed plums, with a drop of water I get a slight sherberty note Palate: Lovely fruity taste, honey sweetness, a really rounded whisky, I could drink this as a daily dram Finish: Sweet lingering fruit, slightly spicy

@sjjgo Nose: Sherry, baked apples, seaweed(?), ghee Palate: Pine, sherry, pastry, biscuits Finish: Slightly bitter; hoppy, faded wine

@rodbodtoo Nose is a fine swirl of raisins / sherry / malt / smoke (a bit) the palate is thick & rich & sweetly fruity. Malty (like fruit loaf), sherried, woody, & burnt toffee / treacle  now I'm getting a real toffee flavour  Finish is long and uncannily like treacle

@ardbaggie Nose: Sherry fruit sweet stewed apples. Palate: creamy honey hints of sherry with some spicey wood

@dvdbloke Nose: Smoke. Tar. Vanilla. Some berry fruit. Jam. Palate: Watery mouth-feel. Biscuity malt. Berry fruits. Sweet creamy peat. Finish: Sweet peat. Drying cream

@ifotou Nose: Initially quite a large malty nose on this, with sweetness underlying it, the sweetness to me is quite lemony, there's a honey quality to this too. there's some underlying sherried fruit notes and some very nice fresh vanilla pods. Palate: a touch of smoke then it goes very malty, buttery/creamy mouthfeel and soft sherried fruits. Finish: way too easy to drink, easy going a lovely dram.

@DramStats  Nose: Vanilla and sweet smoke to start. Then juicy raisin and milk chocolate. Touch of pine in the background Sweet raisin and milk chocolate (milka style), sultana and clean uncomplicated fruity sherry. Palate: Sweet raisin and milk chocolate (milka style), sultana and clean uncomplicated fruity sherry. Finish: Just lovely fading sherry notes with no spice or oak. Bitter chocolate muscles in on a fruity fade.

@galg: Nose: A lot of butterscotch, vanilla and malt with some bits of citrus and fresh grass.sherry, thick stuff. Palate: malty and mouth watering with hints of smoke, tobacco, sweet sherry and butterscotch, getting dry. Finish: butterscotch and chocolate with a zingy pepper.

@steveprentice Gold gold gold and more gold. Lightly peated nose with other fruits coming forward after, and a fairly spirity alcohol smell. Very smooth on the palate with some oak and spice coming after a while of holding it on your tongue. A smokey.warming and slightly spiced finish of a pleasing medium length.

@WhiskyMarks: So, this one is very much screaming William Grant malt—Glenfiddich and
Balvenie—so, I'm going to guess that it's a Grant's Blended Whisky, probably the 12 year old version. Very fruity, with wafts of vanilla and honey that delight and a finish that warms with a touch of spice. I really like this one, it's easy to drink and has some wonderful notes that I love in the 15yo Glenfiddich.

@LRWhisky Initial notes of honey, rich raisins, damp grass and nutty pecan pie, creamy. Smooth palate, fruity, touch of smoke, peppery tang, rich and toffee-ish. Thins out in the finish but maintains creamy toffee sauce.

The reveal: The Wine Society 14 Year Old Special Blended Whisky 40% abv and this was a new Whisky Discovery for me too, #381

Scanned copy of my book with kind permission from Ian Buxton

Some great notes and guesses included; Hibiki 12 Year Old, Whyte & Mackay 13 Year Old, Whyte & Mackay 19 Year Old, Sheep Dip Amoroso Oloroso, Blue Hanger from Berry Bros & Rudd, Islay Mist, Bailey Nichol Jarvie 8 Year Old, Monkey Shoulder, Compass Box Asyla 

One of Ian Buxton's '101 Whiskies to try Before You Die' and one I particularly wanted to taste on my journey, so this 12 blends competition was the perfect opportunity to not only tick it off of my list, but to allow eleven others to tick it off of their list as well. 

I'd like to be able to tell you that I joined the wine society just to be able to get a bottle of this, but that would be a lie, I joined last year as I like a drop of wine, albeit less than I used to. They have a fabulous selection of wines and sherries (which has been another recent interest) and also have a number of whiskies on their books.

My blend choice limited point scoring opportunities, with only 40% abv points being scored, but the overall consensus was that this was very much enjoyed, but then it came highly recommended by Ian himself.

My notes will follow in a separate blog post for Whisky Discovery #381

Day 12 provided by @LRWhisky

Colour: Gold (almost indistinguishable from most of the others)
Nose: Quite similar to Blend no.9 at first with bright sherry notes before turning more earthy and woody. There's some pepper lurking in the background and the smell of fresh pizza bread dough rising.
Palate: Spicy sherry notes, fruity, sweet toffee, faint wisp of scented smoke behind, green bananas
Finish: That wisp of scented smoke hangs on for a while then leaves drying tannins, hazelnut 
Empty Glass: Butterscotch
Verdict: Another that went oh so quick!

My guesses:

• ABV: 43%
• Age: 12 year Old
• Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
• Brand: Mackinlay

Reveal: Master of Malt 8 Year Old, from their secret bottlings series, 40% Another new Whisky Discovery at #382 on the Liquid Log, but no points at all with my guess. I changed my mind  a number of times before settling on my guess, but none of my choices were anyway near anyway.

We have a Winner!

With the final scores added up the runaway winner of the 12 Blends Challenge was @mynameisgone who scooped the Compass Box Asyla prize. My points tally remained static in the last few rounds and so finished in equal sixth place, trailing the leader by a massive 25 points!

The last 12 evenings have been an absolute blast and we're already talking about the next blind challenge! Not one duplicate amongst the twelve chosen, although two from the Johnnie Walker range featured. Of the twelve, nine were new discoveries and three of the twelve chosen feature in 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die, as does the competition's prize, Asyla from Compass Box.

My blend highlights have been Smokin' and Campfire and will be looking out for them as well as making sure I investigate The Tweeddale Blend too, but the fun and twitter banter over the last couple of weeks have been a great experience, I thank you gentlemen!