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

The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience

Last week I was invited to the launch of the Glenfiddich Distillery Experience, a new tasting tool for their global ambassadors that will allow them to take guests on a very personal guided tasting tour of the distillery in Dufftown, Scotland. Created by acclaimed design agency Purple Creative, it is an innovative virtual journey, filmed from the point of view of a visitor, allowing guests to experience the magic of the distillery from anywhere in the world.  

The event was held at The Moving Picture Company in London's Soho, and I used up my last half day of annual leave so I had time to get home and take the train down to St Pancras station and take a slow walk down to the venue. Yes, I walked from St Pancras! Google maps said it should take me around 30 minutes, and they were pretty accurate. I took the Tube back afterwards and it took roughly the same time 'door to door'

Global Ambassador Ian Millar introduced the invited few (I think I was the token blogger) to The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience, a virtual distillery tour, that takes you through the whisky making process from the mash house, to the marrying before bottling and encompasses many of the other warehouses and processes at the distillery through a clever interactive map of the distillery.

The main screen and interactive map of the 'virtual distillery tour'

The Glenfiddich team approached design agency Purple Creative to bring this idea to life in what is claimed to be the world’s first virtual whisky distillery tour. The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience is a virtual journey, filmed from the point of view of a visitor to the distillery. Ambassadors can talk their guests through the production while clicking on the different areas of the distillery, taking people into the mash house, still house, cooperage and warehouses, revealing videos of filmed footage which very cleverly blends from an animation into real footage, following the staff at the distillery as they go about their work.

Seamless transition from animation to video - very clever!

Each whisky tasting can be tailored to suit, and our presentation had a flight of five Glenfiddich distilled spirits which were tasted as we reached certain points in our virtual tour. 

With the introductions over Ian launched into our tour and we started at the Mash House. Milled malted barley (grist) is shipped into the distillery for the start of the process, the mashing. As we are taken into the interactive map, the animated sequence seamlessly evolves into the video as we follow one of the staff into the building and through to the 'Mash Tuns' and onto the fermentation 'Wash Backs' where the first identifiable pear flavour, the signature note of the Glenfiddich 12 Year Old is created leads us nicely into our first dram of the evening:

The flight of Glenfiddich distilled spirits

Whisky Discovery #10

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old (40% abv)
Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £20 –£30

It was one of the early whiskies in my journey and I'd forgotten how fresh and fruity this whisky is. With delicious floral notes, crisp pears, malt and honey on the nose it's light and easy to drink, being very smooth with sweet floral flavours and gentle spice on the palate. This is one of the world's best selling single malts, the famous green triangular bottle has become a fixture in just about every bar on the globe. This is the whisky that probably pioneered the entire single malt category that we know today. 

A still from the Still House!

The next stage of the story is the distillation of the wash and the interactive map leads us into the Still House. Following the same pattern of animation evolving into video, Ian introduced us to another staff member as he walks us through the stills, explaining the process in as much, or little detail, as required. We're shown the 'Low Wines' still and 'Spirit' still, how the process works, and it is at this point we are given the chance to nose/taste the 'new make spirit' as if it had just been taken from the Spirit Safe.

Whisky Discovery #343

Glenfiddich New Make Spirit (circa 70% abv)
Speyside Distilled Spirit
Money can't buy Dram #1

If you want to know about whisky I believe it is essential that new make must be experienced. It's not for the faint hearted though as normally new make is around 70% abv, and Ian suggested that we simply dipped our finger into it and then touch our tongue, I wanted a little more and so nosed and tasted it properly (and drained my dram) - all in the name of my voyage of discovery. Nosing this, very carefully you can pick out the dusty barley husks from a harvest crop and a pear juice concentrate, thick and sweet. The high alcohol content makes it difficult  to taste without burning the taste buds clean off the tongue, so again carefully sipping there's a delicious sweetness with a citrus edge underlying.

From the Still House we were led to the Cooperage and then onto Warehouse 6 where we learnt about the training required to become a cooper, the casks used at Glenfiddich, and the marrying process while being introduced to the Glenfiddich 18 Year Old

There is a great video of the cask being put together when you visit the Cooperage

Whisky Discovery #14

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old (40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £40 –£45

The 18 Year Old is a fabulous dram, and one that has been on my shelf since early on in my journey. With rich flavours of baked apples and cinnamon, the 18 year old is married in oak tuns for at least three months in small individually numbered batches of less than 150 casks, having previously matured for 18 years.

After leaving warehouse 6 we were taken into Warehouse 8, where the solera vat is housed, which led us perfectly onto our next dram, the Glendfiddich 15 Year Old Solera Vat

The unique Solera Vat

Whisky Discovery #83

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera Vat (40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £35 –£40

I love the Solera Vat! Unique to scotch whisky, the Glenfiddich solera vat marries together whiskies matured in three types of casks. The vat is kept at least half full all times and creates a wonderfully rich complex single malt with delicious notes of heather honey and sweet dates. If you're not sure what a solera vat is, I go to some lengths to explain it in the blog post for the 15 Year Old

Leaving the solera we made our way to the archive, where the story of Glenfiddich was retold and we were introduced to our final dram, simply named retro on our tasting slate, this was specially created for this tasting session and based upon the Glenfiddich Straight Malt 8 Year Old, the malt that made history. Created in 1963 by Sandy Gordon, great grandson of the distillery's founder, it was the first whisky to be sold as a single malt in it's own right, creating the entire category we know today.

Whisky Discovery #344

Glenfiddich 'Retro' (circa 40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Money can't buy Dram #2

My ears pricked up on hearing about this creation based on the 1963 Straight Malt. Being a child of '63 I would be very interested in having a bottle of this, but unfortunately it had been created specially for this event and never to be made again according to Ian, but what was that the say? Never say never....

The nose was rich with sherry notes, dates, figs and rich toffee. It had a smooth and sweet entry on the palate before a quick burst of spice, plenty of cloves in this. The finish had notes of wood and leather. My final question of the evening was 'is there any more?' So while everyone was enjoying cocktails, I was 'mine sweeping' the spare drams of retro. Well I won't get a second chance will I?

Ian Millar went on to say "The Glenfiddich Distillery Experience is without doubt the most valuable tool our Ambassadors have ever had. It engages audiences, and provides an insight into our production processes that no verbal explanation could ever hope to achieve"

It certainly is a very clever tool, it won't ever beat going to the distillery to experience all of the sights, sounds and smells, but if you're the other side of the world, and get the chance to partake in a tasting with a Glenfiddich Ambassador, it's pretty darn close!

Whisky Discovery #305

Bally Delicious 23 Year Old Master of Malt (54% abv D:10/03/1989)
Speyside Single Cask Malt Whisky
£59.95 70cl (only available from Master of Malt)

A 23 Year Old, mostly from The Balvenie distillery

Bally Delicious? This is a twenty three year old single cask blended malt whisky from Master of Malt's Single Cask series. It was distilled on the 10th March 1989 and comes almost entirely from one very famous Speyside distillery, though it was "spooned" with a small portion of whisky from a nearby distillery and thus cannot be called single malt.

The Balvenie distillery is owned by William Grant & Sons Ltd and is one of the few remaining independent distilleries in Scotland today. However, William Grant & Sons also own the Glenfiddich Distillery and the lessor known Kininvie distillery, all three are neighbours and 'spooning' prevents single casks being sold as single malts for independent releases. You'll have to search very hard to find independent single cask releases from any of these distilleries

There are just 288 bottles of the stuff, drawn from refill hogshead on the 26th November 2012.

Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt

Nose: Plums, drifting wood smoke and apple and pear crumble, becoming more floral with time in the glass, or with water.

Palate: A soft silky mouth-feel with notes of chocolate mousse and a development of caramelised pears.

Finish: An oaky finish with a little salt and notes of black coffee.

So What Did We Think?

The nose immediately invites you in with sweet and creamy aromas, baked apples and pears with Demerara sugar melting on the top, there's some fresh oak and spice and a light malty biscuit note. A lovely floral bouquet develops after a little time in the glass. Fabulous stuff!

The baked pears come through on the palate too, wonderfully smooth and soft mouthfeel which develops a light peppery spice which complements the pears nicely.

It finishes with some spicy wood giving a little chili pepper heat which fades quickly leaving a light salty note. This one does exactly what it says on the tin, while remaining tactful and without the use of 'common' language, it is indeed bloody delicious!

Want one? Best be quick as there was just 288 bottles filled. check out Master of Malt 23 Year Old Bally Delicious

Whisky Discovery #85

Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Gran Reserva (40% abv)
Speyside Single Malt

Circa £85.00 70cl 

21 Year Old Gran Reserva

Moving onto our final dram at the Glenfiddich stand we tasted their 21 Year Old, which is finished in casks used previously to age Caribbean Rum.

We were told that this had recently been re-launched and now comes in a new shaped bottle, although still three sided as the core range.

The whisky was still the same Glenfiddich 21 year old as previous releases, being matured in a combination of first and second fill ex-bourbon casks, as well as a small amount of ex-sherry cask matured whisky. These are 'married' together before being transferred for a four month maturation in the ex-Caribbean rum casks.

Nose: Barley sugar, malt, dark brown sugar, orange peels, marmalade, manuka honey, Chocolate, foam bananas.

Palate: Full, fruitcake, spices, buttery vanilla, malty. Oak.

Finish: Long, mochaccino, marmalade.

So what did I think?

Heavy sugary aromas to begin with caramel toffee, with sweet vanilla dried fruits, sultanas and tangy orange peel, rich and creamy luxurious sweetness with lots of vanilla. It was very delicious, although quite sweet. I think it could have been better if released at 46% abv. Very different to the 18 year old, but quite a bit more expensive too, but then I have to think again - this is 21 year old whisky, yes it is definitely worth trying!

Whisky Discovery #84

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Distillery Edition (51% abv)
Speyside Single Malt
Circa £42.00 70cl

The Distillery Edition 15 Year Old

Dram No.3 at the Glenfiddich stand and No.10 of the afternoon we were treated to the 15 Year Old Distillery Edition.

A special edition Glenfiddich. This 15 year old is non chill filtered and has been bottled at higher strength. This is classic Glenfiddich, but with added complexity and character. 

Matured in American and European Oak

Nose: Fresh flowers and blossom. Summery and crisp with a peppery edge. Hints of custard and almond.
Palate: Malt, very creamy with more of those blossom notes. Now it's all rather spicy with hints of dark, rich fruit, black pepper and cinnamon. Good sherry character too.
Finish:Good sweetness, long and lush.

So What did I think?

This was my favourite of the four Glenfiddich expressions we tasted that afternoon. The fragrant nose, rich spicy taste and cask strength abv won me over. I thought I might have to visit the distillery to get a hold of this expression, but I've seen it listed on the usual suspects on-line shops, and at a competitive price for a cask strength 15 year old.

Whisky Discovery #83

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera Vat (40% abv)
Speyside Single Malt
Circa £35.00 70cl

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera

For our second dram of at the Glenfiddich Stand and ninth of the afternoon we were steered towards the 15 Year Old 'Solera Vat'

I have heard many good things about this whisky, and it's been near the top of my wish list for a while now, so was really looking forward to this one.

The richly layered Glenfiddich 15 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky is innovatively matured in three types of oak cask: American bourbon, Spanish sherry, and new oak, before being married in their unique, hand-crafted Solera Vat.

That's twice this month 'Solera Vat' has come up when discussing whisky. 

Earlier in the month Kirsteen Campbell from Cutty Sark told me about the Solera Vat that they use, and I had to look it up to find out what it meant, then and although Wikipedia went part way there, I had to ask again and so Glenfiddich kindly explained their system to me:

The Glenfiddich Solera System

The original idea was borrowed from Spanish Sherry Solera systems in which the ‘feed from the top, pour from the bottom’ arrangement allows the whisky to be continually blended ensuring a high level of consistency

The spirit is matured for a minimum of 15 years in either used American Oak casks (ex-bourbon casks, giving lots of vanilla character) or used Spanish Oak casks (ex-sherry casks, giving lots of raisin character) However, some of the 15 year old Glenfiddich from the ex-bourbon casks is transferred to new American Oak casks (unused, virgin wood) for a 4 to 6 month “finishing” period, this adds an additional layer of flavour: honey

This gives what Glenfiddich call an “artist’s palette” of three styles of 15 Year Old whisky which are then combined in the Solera Vat.

The Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera Vat System Diagrammatic

The Solera Vat is made from Douglas Fir, holds around 37000 litres of whisky and is always kept at least half full. This creates incredible consistency of character in the 15 year Old Glenfiddich as each batch of 18,000 litres is being added to 18,000 litres already in the Solera Vat

The length of time in Solera Vat is variable depending on demand, but the key element that the vat adds, is the mixing with the previous batch to promote consistency.

From the Solera Vat, the cask strength whisky goes to Solera Tuns (approx 2,500 litres) for a further marrying period of at least 3 months. (Glenfiddich marry all of their whiskies in this manner whether it's 12 or 50 years old, each has its own set of marrying tuns. The 50 Year Old is just married in the original casks, whereas the 12 Year Old has an entire warehouse, Warehouse #6, devoted to marrying tuns alone!

This single malt is then left to settle in the Solera Tun before bottling. The resultant Glenfiddich 15 Year Old has complexity beyond its years – honey and raisin are the primary aromas/flavours but also cherry, orange peel, marzipan -reminiscent of Christmas cake!

The result? A full and fruity nose, with delicate honey and vanilla notes. The taste is elegantly smooth, with a deep flavour that reveals fruit, gentle spice and a touch of oak. The finish is long and satisfying.

Nose: Sherry, citrus - orange in particular, dry wood. Slight suggestion of smoke? Palate: Medium, sherry, raisins. Fruitcake, spices, sweetness.
Finish: Candied fruits, raisins, spices, Christmas pudding, oak takes over.

The Glenfiddich Solera Vat (with the Solera Tun in the foreground)

So what did I think?
Well this certainly didn't disappoint me, and is amazing what a few more years in the cask and a unique vatting can do to a whisky. The Glenfiddich 15 Solera is so very different to the 12 Year Old and overall it is really worth the extra price over it, it's just a shame that this wasn't bottled at a slightly higher abv. That said, this is a great 15 year old from the Glenfiddich distillery, and consistently wins Gold Best in Class at IWSC and ISC awards each year.

It will be staying firmly on the wish list until it's on my shelf. With a birthday and Fathers Day looming I'm hoping I won't be waiting too long!

(Many thanks to Jamie Milne of Glenfiddich for supplying the Solera Vat Photo and process description and diagram. I will get up to see it for myself one day!)

Whisky Discovery #82

Glenfiddich 14 Year Old Rich Oak (40% abv)
Speyside Single Malt
Circa £35.00 70cl

Glenfiddich Rich Oak

The next stand visited at the Whisky Lounge London Festival was Glenfiddich. With their core bottlings on display, we made our way to the front and asked about the range.

I've already enjoyed a bottle of their 12 Year Old and still have a bottle of their 18 Year Old on my shelf, so didn't need to sample these this time. After explaining this we were told that we should start with the Rich Oak, and this was dram number eight of the afternoon

First released in Spring 2010, Glenfiddich Rich Oak is a completely unique single malt, delicately finished for up to 12 weeks in brand new American and new Spanish oak casks after being patiently matured for 14 years. The use of untouched Spanish oak casks is a first for the single malt Scotch whisky.

Alive with flavour, the new casks need precision handling by the Malt Master to deliver just the right amount of extra flavours; creamy vanilla, a soft toffee sweetness and spicy oak with layers of ripe summer fruit, creating a rich and complex single malt.

They say the American oak adds spice, vanilla and fruit, and the Spanish oak brings elegant fruit, spices and complexity.

Nose: Initially spicey oak notes and rich vibrant vanilla, hints of fresly sawn wood and dried fruits. With time softer toffee notes, pear and floral aromas apear.
Palate: Spicey at first, rich and creamy vanilla followed by zesty fruit a complex nuttiness and a spicy aromatic wood finish.
Finish: Long and lingering with warming oak notes

So What did I think?


What a great start to the four expressions we tried on the Glenfiddich stand. I really enjoyed my bottle of Glenfiddich 12 year old, but this is so much better all round.

Whisky Discovery #14

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old (40% abv, OB, Bottled +/- 2011 70cl)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £40

June's second bottle

A Birthday treat from son, Carl. Patiently matured in the Oloroso sherry and bourbon casks, before being married in small batches to create an extraordinarily smooth, rich and mellow single malt.

Married for at least three months in small, individually numbered batches in wooden tuns, the Glenfiddich 18 Year Old has a unique depth and complexity that has been acclaimed in the industry.

Nose: Remarkably rich aroma with ripe orchard fruit, baked apple and a robust oakiness

Taste: Richly delivers luxurious dried fruit, candy peel and dates overlaid with elegant cinnamon notes

Whisky Discovery #10

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old (40% abv, OB, Bottled +/- 1998 70cl)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £20 –£30

March's official bottle

Another eBay purchase and too good a bargain to refuse.

I understand the Glenfiddich range of whiskies is the most awarded whisky in the world.

The pioneer of the prestigious single malt Scotch whisky category, Glenfiddich 12 Year Old is probably enjoyed by more people around the world than any other single malt whisky.

This signature single malt Scotch whisky has matured for at least 12 years in American and Spanish oak casks. Elegantly rounded flavours with notes of fresh pear and subtle oak.