Whisky Discovery #1162

Invergordon 1988 'Caribbean Crème' Wemyss Malts (46%)

Single Cask Single Grain Whisky

Circa £85.00 70cl

Wemyss Malts release a batch of single cask whiskies around three or four times a year. Last July they released their first single grain, a 1988 Invergordon 'Lemon Cheesecake'. I remember being blown away and it was a resounding sucess and all 220 bottles seemed to disappear in an instance. Then in September they released a second 1988 Invergordon, 'Vintage Strawberry Punnet'. 242 bottles were released this time and once again they were snapped up.

I was too slow for this third release too! Another single cask 1988 Invergordon, but only 171 bottles available this time, so almost as rare as the proverbial hens teeth!

Named 'Caribbean Crème' it won't take you long to release what my tasting notes will comprise of.

So What Did I Think?

Good grain Whisky needs just two things; Good wood, and time, plenty of time ordinarily. Fortunately the wood in the case of Caribbean Crème has given those wonderful coconut flavours that always excite me, and by maturing for at least 25 years, sufficient time has been given for the whisky to take on these flavours.

Bright gold in colour, the initial notes of acetone or nail varnish the coconut creme notes come out to lure you into a tropical paradise. It's been a long time since I was a boat builder but know the smell of nail varnish too well with a teenage daughter at home! I digress, remember the Bounty Bar and Fry's Chocolate Delight adverts? Well that's where this was taking me. 

Woody notes follow, but still within the tropical theme and the coconut dominates the pencil box, pencil shavings notes. I've lived abroad in tropical climes for a number of years and know well the aromas of worked coconut timber and this reminded me of those times.

The first sip opens dry and spicy, but this quickly evolves into the creamy coconut and vanilla notes I was expecting, and secretly longing for! Coconut Ice and waves of vanilla, and although there is a sweetness to this, a sourness of unripe fruit balances the taste profile. The wood notes come through, again initially as pencil shavings, which evolve to pine cones later, and finishing dry and spicy while maintaining a tropical hardwood note. Those tropical hardwood notes are the dominant notes in the empty glass the following morning along with just a hint of mint.

Verdict: Another excellent Invergordon cask from the Wemyss Vaults and when you compare this to other more recent single grain releases, exceptional value for money.

Many thanks to Wemyss Malts for providing me with this delicious teaser of their latest single grain release. For more details I suggest to pay their website a visit and certainly sign up for news of their next release.

Sláinte! Dave

Wemyss Malts Single Cask Releases July 2014

Edinburgh based boutique Spirits Company Wemyss Malts announced the release of their latest parcel of single cask Scotch whiskies at the end of July. The range included a single grain single cask whisky for the first time as well as the most valuable whisky Wemyss has ever released, a 31 years old single cask from Bowmore distillery.

Each cask is a celebration of the unique and contrasting appeals of the different Scotch whisky regions and the latest release covers grain whisky and four of the regions: from Islay, Highlands, Speyside and Campbeltown.  Wemyss whiskies are each named after their natural taste and aroma and the full cask list of this release comprises:

• "Lemon Cheesecake" -  1988 single cask from Invergordon, Single Grain
• "Loch Indaal Catch" - 1982 single cask from Bowmore, Islay
• "Oysters with Lemon Pearls" - 1991 single cask from Bunnahabhain, Islay
• "Aromatic Orange Tobacco" - 1988 single cask from Glenrothes, Speyside
• "Melon Vine" - 1994 single cask from Aberfeldy, Highlands
• "At Anchor in a Cove" - 1991 single cask from Glen Scotia, Campbeltown

Each cask has been selected and named by the Wemyss tasting panel, under the watchful eye of industry aficionado Charlie Maclean.   There are only a few hundred bottles from each cask and the suggested retail prices range from £80 to £700.

Whisky Discovery were delighted to receive samples of three these releases and here is what Dave though of these new Whisky Discoveries:

Whisky Discovery #949

Wemyss Malts 1988 Invergordon 'Lemon Cheesecake' 46% abv

Single Cask Grain Whisky

circa £82.00 70cl

This is the first single grain whisky that Wemyss have ever released, so it was a real honour to be sent a sample of this 25/26 year old to review. Distilled at the Invergordon Distillery and laid to rest in a barrel until bottling this year. Just 220 bottles at 46% abv have been released.

So What Did I Think?

The nose exudes lovely soft coconut ice notes; a freshly opened pack of McVities Digestive biscuits (other digestive biscuits are available); honey and a woody note that reminds me of sawn coconut wood. There is a faint Bourbonesque note too (made up word relating to American Whiskey and not the biscuits). This is indeed very fragrant and although I've never had a cheesecake under my nose long enough to nose it (read 'gannet') I did note cake mix and custard creams though.

Sweet and spicy is the overall profile of the palate. A creamy mouth coating Bourbon sweetness with some coconut notes open as the spices build with a touch of cardamom alongside cloves and some gentle chilli heat while the fragrant coconut wood notes comes through towards the end, before finishing with a spicy tingle that leaves cloves and cardamom while dessicated coconut lingers to the very end.

I really loved this! At the time of tasting I tweeted that Wemyss Malts should take a bow. Their first ever single grain release is superb, please send me more!

Whisky Discovery #951

Wemyss Malts 1988 Glenrothes 'Aromatic Orange Tobacco' 46% abv

Speyside Single Cask Malt

circa £120.00 70cl

A 25/26 year old Sherry butt matured Glenrothes from 1988, and being a sherry butt the yield was a very healthy 730 bottles at 46% abv, enough for us all! (well 730 of us). So what were you doing in 1988? There's something about an age statement or a vintage that can take you straight back to that period in your life. Fortunately I can still remember although there are quite a few holes due to my mis-spent youth.

So What Did I Think?

My first impressions upon nosing this was Jamaican Ginger cake, lovely rich sticky cakey notes. Later orange oil notes develop followed by some tobacco! Wemyss most definitely have got the name of this release bang on the nail!

Initially this tastes soft and sweet before some tobacco notes develop. The sherry influence then shows its hand with Amontillado flavours before the spices lift the palate with a sherbet tingle, finishing with the sherry/tannin dryness which reminds me of grapefruit pith.

The following morning the empty glass yields rich dark chocolate notes, I really liked this Glenrothes.

Whisky Discovery #955

Wemyss Malts 1982  Bowmore 'Loch Indaal Catch' 46% abv

Islay Single Cask Malt

circa £740.00 70cl

Definitely considered as the star attractuion of this release, and heralded as their most valuable release to date, this 31 Year Old Bowmore  was distilled back in the day when I was half way through my shipbuilding apprenticeship! I was working on Steel hulled, aluminium superstructure fast patrol craft for Egypt and Oman. My hair was down to my waist, I rode fast and loud motorbikes and was a roadie for a local rock band! A teenage rebel without a clue!

So What Did I Think?

Wow this was very fragrant! Floral with a candy sweetness, Parma Violets of course, and talcum powder. Later the maritime notes start to develop, remember its been sleeping for at least 31 years, with a salty sea breeze and some tarred driftwood.

The Parma Violets dominate the palate for me, again very floral and fragrant while drinking. A candy sweetness with a gentle sherbet fizz. For a 30 plus year old whisky it is surprisingly light and fresh on the palate. There is a sandy beach note under the perfume.

The perfumed fragrance remains right through to the very end, perhaps a little too perfumed for me. 'Nice perfume but must you marinate in it?' would be the name of this release if I was allowed to label it! I'm sure this will appeal to more than the 165 bottles available, both my wife and youngest daughter thought it smelt delightful!

The empty glass the following morning loses the heady perfume and gives earthy malty notes which I preferred.

I was very pleased with the three samples received and although the Bowmore is not to my taste (or my budget) I'm sure there are plenty who will love it as experienced at other tastings when this flavour profile come up! The single grain is outstanding in my opinion, I absolutely loved it and it certainly is within my budget. I loved the Glenrothes too, but a little to expensive for me, I still struggle with spending over £100 on a bottle of whisky, but that's down to my disposable income, and to maintain peace and harmony within the household! The other three releases sound equally interesting and would love to taste each of them!

Slàinte!Dave

Glory of the Grain Tweet Tasting

April's Tweet Tasting from The Whisky Wire gave us four Grain Whiskies from Arkwrights (@whiskyandwines). The four grain samples were all sent blind and so we only knew what we had been drinking once we had posted our tasting notes.

Arkwrights is a specialist independent whisky retailer based in the Wiltshire town of Highworth and owned and run by Ken and Fran Thomas. They have an extensive range of over 900 whiskies, available to buy via the website or from the shop itself to try. 

So what is Grain Whisky?

Grain whisky is made from any un-malted cereal grains. In the past these were typically wheat and sometimes oats and rye. Today maize (corn) is widely used. A small amount of malted barley is added to provide the enzymes which convert the starch in the grains into sugar.

Grain whisky has been made in Scotland since at least the 15th century, originally made to use up cereals which were not required as food and to create nutritious winter feed for cattle from the husks and spent grains. It was originally made in pot stills, just as malt whisky is made today. 

In the late 1820s a new style of still was invented by Robert Stein and later perfected by Aeneas Coffey, a former Inspector of Excise in Dublin. This new Coffey Still was capable of producing  a high strength pure spirit, and since the still could be operated continuously, rather than batch by batch (as in pot still distillation), it was cheaper.

Although such Coffey or Patent stills were expensive to install, grain distillers soon adopted them. Whisky made in a Coffey still has less pronounced flavour than that made in a pot still and this made it very desirable for blending, since it lightened and sweetened the heavy malts of the mid 1800s.

Today there are just six grain whisky distilleries in Scotland: Cameronbridge, Girvan, Invergordon, North British, Strathclyde and Starlaw. Together these six produce around six times the amount of malt whisky every year. 

Only three of these grain distilleries bottle single grain whiskies; Cameron Bridge, Black Barrel (from Girvan) and Invergordon. You can also find bottlings from the now closed Port Dundas distillery (2009) and the Loch Lomond Distillery, a malt whisky distillery, also has a small patent still.

Without a clue what we were going to be tasting we kicked off proceedings at 7pm under the #GrainWhisky hashtag.

All set for the blind 'Glory of the Grain' Tweet Tasting

Whisky Discovery #334

Cameron Brig NAS (40% abv)
Pure Single Grain Whisky
£24.99 from Arkwrights

Our first Grain of the evening was Cameron Brig Pure Single Grain. The Cameron Bridge Distillery was acquired it in 1824 by John Haig who's cousin, Robert Stein, created the first ever distillery to produce grain whisky using a patent still. The malt whisky production using pot stills ceased in 1929 to concentrate on grain whisky production. Now owned by Diageo who after a £9 million investment, the Distillery re-opened in 2000 giving the distillery the capacity to produce 30M litres of spirits annually

Cameron Brig Single Grain Whisky is listed in Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die. 

This single grain isn't great on presentation and comes unboxed, but is a superb representation of a single grain whisky. For those that know it, it has a big following.

So What Did We Think?

Kat: Nose:  Delicate floral scent, pencil shavings, unsalted popcorn, Battenberg cake, and some chalk. Overall very delicate.

Taste:  Gomme Sugar syrup but without the tick syrup quality, instead with same silkiness. Some Citrus and some cereal qualities, bit like corn flakes but not over so. Again same as the nose, not of the flavours are very punchy here, to use same description I’ve used previous, delicate.

Finish: Very subtle bitterness, with some citrus oil, and the pencil shavings picked up on the nose comes through here as the last note in the finish.

Dave: I first tasted this at the Birmingham Whisky Festival earlier this year, it had been on my list since finding it in Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die. I didn't take any notes last time, so pleased to have the opportunity to sit down a saviour it this time

The nose seemed quite shy initially, and I tweeted that it reminded me of a cereal packet being opened, like opening a new packet of cornflakes. There were faint notes of vanilla, bourbon, and I was getting a light aniseed note. After a little while on second nosing it was dusty grains and firm peaches with some light spicy notes underlying. Overall the nose is quite fragrant, but needs a little time to breathe, that said, all the notes are very gentle.

Again it's soft and gentle on the palate with thin honey, candied citrus, gentle bourbon notes, a little wood and I was getting a light fennel note too. The finish seemed to have a good length to it with some gentle spices. It came across as quite dry leaving my mouth feeling like I'd chewed a hazelnut.

Verdict: A pleasant enough dram, but not going to set the world on fire. At just £25 a bottle it's an inexpensive introduction to single grain whisky.

So what did the others think?

@LRWhisky: Massive wood and beeswax. Very creamy - could almost be from a dairy
@TWLJoe: Reminds me of a small old toffee tin that's been emptied of toffee and since been used for rolling backy
@steveprentice: On the palate it's soft and sweet, with the grain nature taking a while to come through when held on the tongue.
@whiskyrepublic: Palate - Rum fudge slowly melting into vanilla ice-cream
@TheWhiskyBoys: Taste, a little warmth, Thornton special toffee, does not need H2O light liquorice  sweet mild ginger, this is really nice

Whisky Discovery #406

Greenore 8 Year Old (40% abv)
Irish Single Grain Grain Whiskey
£36.99 from Arkwrights

Our second Single Grain of the evening came from Ireland and a Greenore 8 Year Old from The Cooley Distillery. This attractively bottled limited edition (5000 bottles) eight year old single grain whiskey was placed in bourbon casks in 1997 and bottled 2006 at 40%.

Greenore is a completely unique Irish whiskey, as the only expression of an Irish Single Grain whiskey in the world. 

The Cooley Distillery is the only independent distillery in Ireland and is nestled in the foothills of the Cooley Mountains in Co. Louth. Both patent and pot stills are used at Cooley, and they produce both malt and grain whiskey, reinvigorating old famous brands such as Kilbeggan and Tyrconnell while also creating new brands, like Connemara Peated Single Malt and this Greenore Single Grain Irish whiskey.

So What Did We Think?

Kat: Nose:  Instant hit on the initial nosing of brand new plimsolls (had big rubber hit for me). Then I hope I don’t lose a lot of people with the rest of the tasting notes. Think damp shed. For me it’s a damp shed with the smell of dust and dirt, and the smell of oil rusty tins of oil paints. The nose is not off putting but I have to admit not my favourite.

Taste:  Woody, bit oily similar to mild olive oil, warming spiciness from white pepper, musk, and for anyone who knows what Chinese saw tooth coriander is, it’s got a hint of that throw in. 

Finish:  Mildly sweet, short with hints of cereals like cornflakes. 

Dave: Would you believe it? This is another of the whiskies listed in Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies, though this one is listed in the second 101 World Whiskies book, but still another tick in the box for me!

The nose on this came across as sweeter than the first one with notes of aged rum. With a little while a clean rubber note comes across, I said clean rubber in my tweet, I meant white rubber as opposed to black tyre or inner tube.Kat's new plimsolls is a good descriptor now I'm sitting at a second session . With a little time some faint bourbon notes start to evolve, with lots of vanilla and a little musty wood underlying. These later notes start to mask the rubber note I was picking up earlier.

The aged rum notes come across to the palate too, almost Demerara like. This is sweet and creamy with a light dusting of pepper. The bourbon notes come through too and I really enjoyed the taste of this one. The finish is quite short, again quite dry, gently fading with sweetness, ginger and a hint of lemongrass.

Verdict: I really liked this Irish Single Grain Whiskey and can see why Ian deemed this suitable to be included in his 101 series.

So what did the others think?

@LRWhisky: Sour cherry, vanilla and sweet on the nose

@whiskyrepublic: More pungent than the Brig, recently varnished orange, marzipan, sweet, slightly musty, hints of vanilla
@BeckyPaskin: Lovely tropical notes, ripe bananas, whiff of must
@TWLJoe: Light and sweet on the palate some nice citrussy notes and some bourbonesque qualities, although not nearly as intense
@dramologist: Now tasting with water & it is much richer: mangos, banana and honey. And a new sheet of cardboard from the stationery
@TheWhiskyBoys: This might even pass as a mid range Bourbon

Whisky Discovery #407

Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky NAS (45% abv)
Japanese Single Grain Whisky
£39.99 from Arkwrights

Dram No.3 of the evening was this Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky from Japan.

The Coffey still is named after its inventor Aeneas Coffey. In 1830, the French-born Irishman perfects this technique, which would become widely adopted by the Scots for the production of blends, allowing them to surpass Ireland as a whisky producing nation.

The distillation process is continuous, whereas the pot stills which are used in single malt production require two separate distillations. Nikka runs two Coffey stills within the Miyagikyo distillery for the elaboration of its grain whiskies. Imported from Scotland in 1963, these old stills yield a very round distillate, with a distinct character that defines Nikka’s signature blends

So What Did We Think?

Kat: Nose: Very complex and a lot more punchy aromas compared with the previous two. Frangipani, linseed oil, dried berries – cranberry in particular, cream cheese frosting, tinned peaches in syrup, and finally rum and raisin ice cream.I particularly like the nose of this one the best out of these four.

Taste:  Black Darjeeling tea (has that tannin bitter taste), dry hay, roasted coffee bean, sherry trifle, and hint dry wood similar to pencil shavings.

Finish: Left with dry mouth feel with a woody taste.

Dave: Again this has that quality aged rum note on the nose which comes across with sweet spicy stewed fruits, vanilla essence, richer bourbon notes, with treacle, Demerara sugar, raisins and dates

This is really easy drinking and slips down effortlessly. It's sweet and creamy with light bourbon notes and really did give you that vanilla cream over rum and raisin ice-cream experience! The finish came across as quite short, dry and a light salty note too.

Verdict: I really enjoyed this single grain from Japan, so very easy to drink.

So what did the others think?

@dramologist: Much woodier now. maple syrup, ginger, peach, orange, vanilla. Brown sugar after a while

@whiskywardrobe: Spices, and candies and disolvent and corn, and honey and more of all of them again. Lovely
@rodbodtoo: Smells older, more of the rum thing going on (for me rum aromas = old OLD whiskies)
@BeckyPaskin: Gorgeous spicy notes, stewed apples for me
@TheWhiskyBoys: Sherry filled plump raisins, cooked soft fruits topped with vanilla ice cream
@galg: This palate is HUGE.. sweet and thick with Demerara sugar, dates, rum, chocolate, fudge, rich cake with sultanas with rum

Whisky Discovery #408

Clan Denny Invergordon 1966 45 Year Old (47.1% abv)
SIngle Grain Whisky
£134.00 from Arkwrights

Our finale dram was bound to be something really special and we were treated to this Invergordon 1966. A 45 year old expression of a single grain whisky from the Clan Denny range of whiskies. 

It was matured in Bourbon Barrel number HH7254 and bottled at 47.1% abv.

Established in 1961 by Invergordon Distillers Ltd. The Distillery is on the shore of the Cromarty Firth north of Inverness, it was commissioned in 1959 to create employment in the area, following the departure of the Royal Navy.

The distillery is now owned by Whyte & Mackay group since 1993 and part of Kyndal Spirits Ltd.

So What Did We Think?

Kat: Nose:  Initially nosing got sour milk but luckily this opens up to much nicer aromas with air, and a drop of water. Sweet taste of honey dew melon starts to come out, there’s some meaty quality to it like good quality mature raw steak, and balsamic vinegar. I have to thank my fellow participants for the last note as I couldn’t quite put my fingers on.

Taste:  Rich dried fruits, really good fruit cake, caramel, prune juice, taste of the smell of damp mulch (bit earthy), and some smoky characters which reminded me of chipotle chillies.

Finish:  Peppery, gently smoky so not over powering, and leaves a dry mouth feel.

Dave: The nose opens with a dusty quality and a 'struck match' note. There are hints of  a much higher alcohol content than stated with the acetone notes. With a little air, remember this has 'sleeping' for forty five years, it settles down to give rich vanilla bourbon, well seasoned wood, some musty notes, and a charred wood smoky note.

The palate opens with a slightly sour note but this settles down and slowly sweetens, not a sickly sweetness, more of a saccharin type. A spicy kick starts to evolve, menthol like and there is a slight rubber note. A drop of water changes this and rich bourbon qualities come to the fore. This had the longest finish of the four and yet again a very dry finish, but this has an intense chilli heat on the swallow, although this doesn't last too long.

So what did the others think?

@TheWhiskyBoys: Quite gentle on the nose, toasted coconut, rich and fruity, newly dug garden border, candy floss sweetness

@dramologist: There is a dusting of icing sugar on this. The full-bodied palate is woody and earthy, with just a little vegetal note
@rodbodtoo: That deceptively smoky note which comes from a long time in barrel 
@JayDieNL: Wauw! Lot going on on the taste! Dry, wood, bourbon, sherry, chocolate, raisins
@TheWhiskyWire: Subtle puffetts of smoke & I mean subtle, with a finishing flairette of menthol

As per previous Tweet Tastings there was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #GrainWhisky hashtag on twitter for the full story.

Yet another great experience and another highlight of our whisky journey, with three new discoveries for me, and it was the first time Kat had tasted any of these. Tweet Tastings really are a great way to taste whisky.

A massive THANK YOU to Steve Rush at @TheWhiskyWire, and to Ken and Fran from Arkwrights @WhiskyandWines for the generous samples, for making sure we all got our drams and of course the tweet tasters.

This events tweet tasters were:

@TheWhiskyWire @WhiskyDiscovery @LRWhisky @WorldWhiskyDay @rodbodtoo @ifotou @steveprentice @dramologist @mattveira @PresleyKa @TheWhiskyBoys @kizzsmyth @whiskyrepublic @BeckyPaskin @PMaitlando @rickfurzer @TWLJoe @whiskywardrobe @galg @JayDieNL

For more information see: www.thewhiskywire.com and www.whiskyandwines.com and if you want to experience what we tasted, Ken and Fran have put this same set of grain whiskies together for you, and only available from Arkwrights Whisky and Wines

An evening with Berry Bros & Rudd

I was thrilled to be invited to an evening tasting at Berry Bros & Rudd last Monday evening, where Doug McIvor, Berry Bros & Rudd's very own Master of Cask Selection, took us through the widely acclaimed Blue Hanger blended malt.

Berry Bros. & Rudd is Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchant, having traded from the same shop for over 310 years, being established in 1698 by the Widow Bourne at 3 St James's Street, London. Members of the Berry and Rudd families continue to own and manage the family-run wine merchant to this day

Berry Bros. & Rudd have a long association with supplying fine spirits through their `Berry's Own Selection' for well over a century, making Berry's one of the earliest Independent bottlers. By 1909, they were offering 1897 Macallan and 1885 Talisker by the gallon or dozen; to name a few.

In 1923 the company created Cutty Sark Scots' Whisky, and pioneered the vintage concept for The Glenrothes single malt Scotch Whisky. More recently a range of fine vintage Single Malts.

This event was held in the famous 312-year-old vaulted 'Pickering Cellar' located beneath the shop and adjacent town houses. The event was set to start for 6:00pm and I arrived in plenty of time to have a walk around the area beforehand including a browse through their impressive whisky selection in the shop.

It was good to see a few familiar faces from whisky enthusiasts, writers and bloggers that I'd met over the last year during the whisky shows, and great to meet some of the people I had been following since the beginning of my whisky journey.

We were greeted with an aperitif, a 1988 Invergordon Single Grain Whisky (Berry's Own Selection of course!) served on the rocks and billed as Doug's Monday night dram. I've never added ice to my whisky before, and to be honest don't think I'll be doing it again, it did seem to kill the flavours I should have been experiencing from this twenty four year old single grain.

With everyone settled we were introduced to Doug McIvor who told us how one of the his first tasks when he joined the company was to evaluate the state of the reserves of Scotch whisky Berry's have been storing. He tasted around four hundred casks scoring them between 1-5 and how over two thirds were rejected due to poor cask management. The vintage single malt whisky looked good on paper to the accountants, but after Doug was through grading them all they had to write off the perceived value.

Doug then went onto explain how Blue Hanger came about. Originally the name of a blend introduced in 1934, named after a loyal customer from the 1790's; William 'Blue' Hanger.

In 2003 Doug was experimenting by blending a handful of aged Speyside malt samples when he came across a combination that seemed to bring the best out of each of the single malts. It was decided to revive the Blue Hangar name in order to release the new limited edition blended (vatted) malt which consisted of a blend of these aged Glen Grant and Glenlivet casks.

Last year the 6th Release was launched which went on to win 'Best Scotch Blended Malt in the World' at the World Whisky Awards 2012. This has almost sold out (you really had better be quick!) and so Doug was now working on a new release for later this year.

Sadly there were no bottles of the first release of the Blue Hanger blended malt available to start our tasting, not even in the Berry Bros & Rudd archives and so we commenced our evenings education with a dram of the 2nd Release, which was followed by the 4th, 6th and a sneak preview of the 'work in progress' 7th release due to be launched later this year.

Whisky Discovery #315

Blue Hanger 2nd Release 25 Year Old (45.6% abv, Bottled August 2004)

Blended Malt Whisky

No Longer Available

The youngest whisky in this vatted malt was twenty five years old at the time of bottling came from casks from just two distilleries just as the first release. The blend consisted of four hogsheads of 1974 Glenlivet, one sherry butt of 1974 Glenlivet and two hogsheads of 1974 Glen Grant.

1757 bottles were filled, naturally coloured and non-chill filtered

So What Did I Think?

Naturally I was blown away! Here I was sitting drinking 'liquid history', not only in the presence of some of the people I was reading when I first started learning about whisky, but also in the presence of its creator!

Upon first nosing this I was getting fresh licorice root (I love the stuff!) but after a short while it settled to give malty citrus notes, lemons and oranges. The vanilla from the bourbon casks taking a long time to come through. 

There was a slight grassy or straw note too. I kept coming back to each of the drams and this was certainly the lighter of the four releases we were experiencing.

Whisky Discovery #316

Blue Hanger 4th Release NAS (45.6% abv, Bottled September 2008)

Blended Malt Whisky

No Longer Available

This was 'the one' I had been hoping to taste ever since I saw it in Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die. It was also mentioned by Ingvar Ronde as one of his recommendations when I asked him a few questions regarding his whisky journey and how his Malt Whisky Yearbook came about.

Again Doug gave us the 'recipe' (as unlikely that I'd be able to recreate it!). With vintage stocks running short Doug had to select casks to bring about a 'family' flavour profile, whilst retaining the balance, complexity, elegance and texture.

So the 4th release was a marriage of two hogheads of 1992 Mortlach, one sherry butt of 1991 Mortlach, one sherry butt of 1991 Glen Elgin, one hogshead of 1976 Glenlivet and two more sherry butts from Glenlivet, one from 1975 and one from 1976. 

This was the largest ever release of the modern Blue Hanger series, yielding 3,256 bottles

So What Did I Think?

There is a much great sherry influence in this whisky than the second release, and a sweet smoky note, not peat, more of a 'char' like smell. I had a 'struck match' note but it wasn't unpleasant.

It was much sweeter on the palate than the 2nd release, softer, with burnt toffee notes, some dried fruit and orange and spicy wood. I preferred this profile to the second release.

Whisky Discovery #317

Blue Hanger 6th Release NAS (45.6% abv, Bottled 2012)

Blended Malt Whisky

£71.50 70cl

This is the current release, 2223 bottles were filled from  the following cask make-up: one sherry butt of 1998 Glenrothes, one sherry butt of 1990 Bunnahabhain, and two hogsheads from Bowmore, one from 1987 the other from 1990

So What Did I Think?

To me, these were getting better each time! Again quite a sherried influenced dram, with some licorice root on the nose, rich toffee, and a sweet light Islay peat smoke, like a driftwood fire smouldering on a beach. 

There was that 'struck match' note again, and when I returned to this later got a lovely smoked mackerel note. Glorious!

It had a sweet smoky entry with a lovely balance of sweet fruit, smoky BBQ and the salty sea air. 

Whisky Discovery #318

Blue Hanger 7th Release 'Work in Progress NAS

Blended Malt Whisky

TBC

With the 6th release rapidly running out, Doug had been tasked to create a seventh release, and he had brought a bottle of the current work in progress for us to share our thoughts. 

Doug told us how he brings various cask samples together in a small scale at first, using a syringe, blending the different cask samples to give the profile he is looking for. 

Once he has something he think might work, he has this made up into a bottle using the same proportions.

The 'recipe' so far consisted of a 1998 sherry butt from Glenrothes, a 1991 hogshead from Bruichladdich, a 1997 hogshead from Glen Keith and and 1997 hogshead from Clynelish. Because this is 'work in progress' it was tasted at cask strength, when it is ready to be released it will be bottled at the traditional Blue Hanger 45.6% abv

So What Did I Think?

Looking good so far, though I was missing the Islay element I had been enjoying in the 6th release. It had quite a sweet nose with a 'struck match' note, some wispy smoke and a honey and lemon note too. There was a light sweetness when tasting and quite creamy on the palate.

The next three drams were something that Doug thought would compliment the Blue Hangers we had just tasted, and because Doug was starting to investigate Rum added the 11 Year Old Panama Rum to the tail of this tasting session. Notes were fairly sketchy after the Blue Hangers as the formal tasting session had degenerated into simply enjoying the whisky!

Whisky Discovery #319

Glen Moray 1991 (57.3% abv Bottled in 2012)
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
£71.50 70cl

I love a Glen Moray and have a similar SMWS bottling. No detailed notes, too busy enjoying the whisky amonst very pleasnt company.

Crisp and clean, chalky with white pepper. Gentle sweetness on entry before peppery spice. With water much sweeter and pears start coming through on the palate.

Whisky Discovery #320

Glen Grant 1974 (47.8% abv Bottled in 2012)
Single Malt Whisky
£140.00 70cl

I only wrote jotted down a couple of words for this one. Too busy talking and enjoying this whisky, my first ever Glen Grant. Tropical fruit notes on the nose, Lychee and Mango.

A splendid 1974 Glen Grant

A delightful1991 Glen Moray

The full line up as follows with links to Berry Bros & Rudd pages as applicable:

• Whisky Discovery #314 Berry's Own Selection Invergordon 1988 46% abv
• Whisky Discovery #315 Blue Hanger 2nd Release 45.6% abv
• Whisky Discovery #316 Blue Hanger 4th Release 45.6% abv
• Whisky Discovery #317 Blue Hanger 6th Release 45.6% abv
• Whisky Discovery #318 Blue Hanger 'Work in Progress' 7th Release Cask Strength
• Whisky Discovery #319 Berry's Own Selection Glen Moray 1991 57.3% abv
• Whisky Discovery #320 Berry's Own Selection Glen Grant 1974 47.8% abv
• Rum Discovery #4 Berry's Own Selection Panama Rum 11 Year Od 46% abv

This was all washed down with a pint of Guinness in the pub around the back of Berry's after the tasting with most of the attendees. Many thanks for my invitation, it really was appreciated.

Whisky Discovery #313

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Invergordon Batch 1 (41.6% abv)

Single Grain Whisky

£59.95 50cl

This is the second whisky I've tasted from the recently released range of single malts from Master of Malt's new label 'That Boutique-y Whisky Label' featuring cultish comic book-style labels.

This bottle boasts an illustration of a Coffey still - one of the features of the distillery - though it takes the pronunciation of the name perhaps a little too literally!

This is Batch 1, with a release of 252 numbered bottles.

Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt

Nose: Massively deep and concentrated nose with creamy caramel and those hints of rancio one gets in a very good, old brandy. Black pepper and toffee apples. Old leather.

Palate: Unctuous, almost syrupy palate entry with stem ginger and cassia bark. Hints of nutmeg, clove oil and over-ripe black grapes. Black treacle too...

Finish: Long and toffee-led finish. All kinds of spice notes too, particularly more of those black pepper notes.

So What Did We Think?

I've not tasted a great deal of single grain whisky on this journey to date, but have noticed a few releases receiving some high praise. The SMWS have also released a few single grain whiskies, and I have tasted a 18 Year Old Invergordon from them a little while back. Whilst this is not a single cask whisky it certainly shares a number of similarities with the SMWS release I tasted.

Single grain whiskies are quite a rarity in comparison to single malts. Grain whisky is distilled in continuous stills to meet the growing need for blended Scotch whiskies which account for more than 90% of all Scotch whisky. The spirit distilled usually results in a higher percentage of alcohol by volume (abv), but less flavourful spirit than a single malt. Indeed grain whisky is seldom bottled by itself in Scotland. However, occasionally well-aged grain whiskies are released as "single grain whisky" or "blended grain whisky" in Scotland.

Although this Invergordon from Master of Malt has no age statement, you can be certain that this contains some fairly aged grain whisky that has matured in quality casks.

This has a wonderful creamy vanilla fudge nose, sweet with honey but there is an 'aged' note to it as well. My notes read an old leather chair with polished wood arm rests, because that's what it reminded me of at the time. There is certainly some spicy black pepper to it too, but left in the glass this subsides back to being sweet and creamy with just a hint of mustiness.

Sweet and spicy on the palate, treacle, molasses sweet, a 'dark' sweetness, even a little rum like? Long spicy finish with more of that black pepper. This is very agreeable and certainly think I need to be adding a single grain to my drinking shelf very soon.

Want one? Best be quick as there were just 252 bottles filled. check out That Boutique-y Whisky Label Invergordon Batch 1