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 #1143

GlenDronach 20 Year Old Abbey Whisky Exclusive 54.8% abv
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
£97.95 70cl only from Abbey Whisky

Following on from the resounding success of their GlenDronach single cask 33, Abbey Whisky decided it was high time that they released another exclusive. I think the very thought of tasting and re-tasting another series of cask samples in order to determine the right cask for this release was also one of the contributing factors...#justsaying

Cask No. 3400 was distilled in 1994 spending 20 years in a Pedro Ximenez Sherry Cask before being bottled last year at 54.8% abv, just 672 bottles were released.

So What Did I Think?

As a regular Sherry drinker I was expecting BIG things from this whisky. Twenty years in a Pedro Ximenez cask will make some significant changes to the maturing spirit which is immediately apparent on pouring the deep mahogany coloured spirit.

I love nosing sherry and the rich Pedro Ximenez flavours I was expecting come across well; Blackcurrants, sweet and sticky. Blackberries, Black Forest Gateaux complete with the black cherries - It truly has a most decadent aromas that I could quite happily sit and nose all night. Adding water tames it a little, releasing some nuttier notes.

Tasting is punchy initially, with the high abv adding to the typical sherry monster tactics of smacking you in the chops. There's no subtleness here! A burnt toffee sweetness plays alongside natural liquorice root with just the hint of tar coming through. All the cliché 'dried fruits' are here, amplified and concentrated over ripe figs and sultanas. This takes water surprisingly well which for a sherry cask, allowing tropical spices like cloves to come through and a herbal element of fresh fennel too. The finish is very dry, oak tannins although just a touch sweeter with water. The empty glass the following morning yields lots of rich malty chocolate with just a hint of mint.

Verdict: if you love your Sherry Monsters you will love this! Many thanks to Abbey Whisky for sharing this teaser for me to enjoy and tell you about. For further information I suggest you check out their web pages here as you won't be able to buy it anywhere else!

Sláinte! Dave

Aultmore - The Last Great Malts

The Still House

At the beginning of January John Dewar & Sons Ltd. unveiled a new range of bottlings from Aultmore distillery, forming the next part of its ‘Last Great Malts’ of Scotland. This new range launches from January 2015 with a 12 Year Old, a 21 Year Old Travel Retail Exclusive and a 25 Year Old in limited quantities. It will be released initially in ten markets around the world including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Travel Retail.

Dave visited the distillery at the end of June 2014 (and is logged as Distillery Discovery No.12) when he was invited along on a press trip that encompassed all five of the Barcardi groups single malt distilleries. You can see his photos of this distillery in our Facebook album here: Aultmore Photos

Aultmore was founded in 1896 by Alexander Edward, then owner of the Benrinnes Distillery, and has been producing malt whisky (with the usual on and off periods') since 1897 yet little is known about this obscure distillery. 

Aultmore's sweeping hills in light fog or is it Scotch mist?

Located in the sweeping hills of Moray, just north of the town of Keith on the rolling road to Buckie, it's often cloaked in thick fog, exuding an air of mystery. Its name is a derived from the phrase An t-Allt Mòr, Gaelic for big burn, referring to its water source the Auchinderran burn. The sparsely populated land surrounding its site has always felt somewhat isolated. The distillery was originally powered by a waterwheel, and was soon adapted to use a steam engine instead which ran day and night for seventy years, apart from maintenance. During maintenance hours power was provided by the mainly retired waterwheel. The steam engine is now on display at the distillery.

Early 12 Year Old

In the 1950s Aultmore was one of the first to use the draff, a wasteproduct of whisky production, as animal feed. The distilleries malting floors closed in 1968 and the entire distillery was rebuilt and expanded in 1970. In 1998 the distillery bought by Bacardi subsidiary Dewars, (which had previously owened Aultmore between 1923 and 1925) and produced their first official bottling, a 12 year old, in 2004, after an earlier flora and fauna release, and an earlier rare malts release from 1996

There's nothing left of the original buildings, and it's now installed with a modern 10 tonne Steinbecker full lauter mash tun. The distillery operates seven days a week and they achieve 16 mashes per week with a minimum fermentation time of 56 hours in the six wooden (larch) washbacks feeding two pairs of stills, and last year achieved 3.03 million litres of spirit.

The Washbacks at Aultmore

The Scotch itself is often dubbed the ‘Rarest of Speyside’, yet its taste has long been rated top-class by industry insiders and is much sought-after for its grassy notes and exceptional smoothness. Despite its rarity, for more than 100 years it’s known to have been a secret dram of locals and Buckie fishermen, savoured by those who knew to ask at nearby inns for ‘a nip of the Buckie Road’. Most of the whisky produced like most malt distilleries goes for blending, and Aultmore, has up until now been used exclusively for blends.

Legendary whisky writer Michael Jackson describes Aultmore as a 'fine malt in the oaky style' and goes on to describe the house style as 'Fresh, dry, herbal, spicy, oaky. Reminiscent of a Fino Sherry, albeit a very big one. Before dinner' (Malt Whisky Companion 6th Edition). 

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society describe Aultmore as a Speyside (Deveron) and go on to say it is considered Top Dressing by blenders, and is bottled only in small amounts by John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi). The first Society bottling was in 1989 (Distillery No.73)

During the press trip Dave got to try the 'work in progress' cask sample of the 25 Year Old (Whisky Discovery No.882) and later at a Masterclass at Dramboree 2014 Brand Ambassador Stephen Marshall brought along both the 12 Year (Whisky Discovery No.913) and 21 Year Old (Whisky Discovery No.914) expressions, albeit the unfinished product, as all three were cask samples of 'work in progress. 

Work in progress

All three new releases have been released at 46% abv, are non chill filtered and natural colour. I was was sent samples of all three for the following reviews:

Whisky Discovery #1140

Aultmore 12 Years Old, 46% abv

Speyside Singe Malt

Circa £45.00 700ml

Official Tasting Notes: Born of fog, bog and brimming wee burns, a verdant nose of dewy moss and delicate flora, sweet liquid tracking a secluded path, gliding through green grass and fresh wild herbs.

So What Did I Think?

The nose was very Clean and fresh with grassy citrus notes which softens after a little time in the glass. The freshness transfers nicely to the palate too with the citrus notes more lime like. It's quite peppery too. Once it has had time to settle and a drop of water added the gentle sweetness comes through, citrus remains with tangy cheesecake and shortbread biscuits. The finish is long and dry, while remaining grassy, with perhaps more herbal notes developing at the very end. The following morning the glass gave notes of malty chocolate with hints of heather.

Verdict: Well this is certainly within my whisky budget and certainly something I'm looking forward to introducing to friends at the Bedford Whisky Club as soon as I can

Whisky Discovery #1141

Aultmore 21 Years Old, 46% abv

Speyside Singe Malt

Circa £tbc 700ml

The 21 Year Old will only be available at Travel Retail outlets and we do not have any price details yet.

Official Tasting Notes: Ethereal summer nights, gloaming air tinged with fruity olive oil and rosemary, then velvety sweetness with soft melon and cereal hues; a sleekit-smooth secret, shared at last.

So What Did I Think?

The nose comes across immediately much richer in style with more fruit notes, softer tropical notes but still has a youthful freshness. Herbal notes come a little later, perhaps a hint of dried rosemary. The mouth feel is initially sweet, but there is a surprising hint of 'old Whisky' notes that I wasn't expecting. It's certainly a very smooth and silky dram once given some time to settle in the glass. The citrus flavours reminded me of a watered down orange juice , which is accompanied with some polished wood notes which turn very dry towards the long finish as the tannins take over. The following morning the empty glass gave rich fruity notes with wet wood and malted biscuits.

Verdict: I suspect this might be a little out of my budget, but it certainly is an interesting expression which deserves further investigation.

Whisky Discovery #1142

Aultmore 25 Years Old, 46% abv

Speyside Singe Malt

Circa £300.00 700ml

Official Tasting Notes: Reclined in damp shorn grass, vapours of lime and baked apples, each silken sip unveiling lush vanilla and buttery biscuits; dreich skies deserve a top-class dram.

So What Did I Think?

The nose opened with some icing sugar before the 'old whisky' notes really come through. There are all the cliché notes of polished wood, old leather book covers, cartridge paper and linseed oil. The 'house style 'grassy notes' are there but more subdued. A drop of water releases baked apples with cinnamon notes. Simply glorious! The palate is rich and creamy, decadent with typical vintage whisky notes of worn leather and polished wood and hints of shortbread biscuits. Once again the finish is very dry, but this has a peppery zest at the very end too.The following morning the empty glass was still glorious reminding me of old violins and rosin.

Verdict: I really loved this, but unfortunately it's out of my league!

Many thanks to Dewers for the samples and for my invitation to explore their five malt whisky distilleries. For more information about the Aultmore releases check out their website here: Aultmore For more information on the new single malt expressions, the five distilleries, tasting notes, crafting, and heritage, please visit: Last Great Malts

Slàinte! Dave

Aberlour Tweet Tasting

I was really pleased to be invited to the Aberlour Tweet Tasting at the beginning of December. Checking my liquid log revealed that just one Aberlour expression had been visited in over 650 different whiskies. It was high time I discovered more!

Aberlour (pronounced ‘Abba-LOW-errr’) single malt whisky is named after where it’s made. It means ‘the mouth of the chattering burn’ in Gaelic, and this wild mountain stream is part of the Aberlour story. Steeped in centuries of legend and surrounded by the dramatic Highland scenery of Ben Rinnes, the village of Aberlour lies at the very heart of Speyside, where the Lour burn joins the River Spey.

The distillery was founded by Peter Weir and James Gordon in 1826, though Peter was to pull out a year later. The distillery has been rebuilt twice due to devastating fire damage; the first rebuild took place in 1879 and was financed by James Fleming, a local banker who relocated it upstream. It was rebuilt again in 1898 and was redesigned by the architect Charles Doig. Now owned by Chivas Brothers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, Aberlour is the seventh best-selling Scotch single malt.

A Monday night Tweet Tasting was arranged  for the 2nd December and at a slightly later than usual start time of 7:30pm Five core expressions were tasted, each being a new Whisky Discovery.

Whisky Discovery #654

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Matured (43% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £36.00 70cl

This expression is a fine example of how the distinctively crisp, citrus character of Aberlour’s raw spirit is deftly softened by double cask maturation. Oak and seasoned Sherry butts are both used, as the mellowed spirits within are combined to deliver a subtly balanced flavour. Aberlour’s uniquely rewarding depth of character derives from how it’s made as much as the quality of the soft spring water and the other ingredients.

So What Did I Think?

Nice rich fruity nose, Over-ripe orchard fruits, dried orange peel and vanilla notes with a touch of mint too. After a little while in the glass a soft malty note develops along with some caramelised banana. Well that was the notes I tweeted during the tweet tasting, but with 5cl samples I held some back for returning to later. With a fresh glass poured I concur with my original notes but seem to be finding rich butterscotch notes now, the hard candy butterscotch as opposed to the sweet sickly Angel Delight type.

Palate: Not quite as rich as the nose was suggesting on first taste. Light and quite thin though enjoyable Vanilla icecream with raisins and a touch of cinnamon. Milk chocolate notes follow immediately after swallowing, this is very soft and very drinkable. Returning to nose after the first sip, those milk chocolate notes start to come through here to. The finish is  really quite short, but I must admit i wasn't expecting an 'all night finish' purely on the initial mouth-feel. There's a gentle spicy tang with a hint of cloves in caramel.

Returning to the empty glass in the morning lots of lovely dark chocolate powder notes are clearly identifiable.

What Did Everyone Else Think?

@Girl_Whisky: Nuts … caramel, lovely sweetness on the nose, flowers, banana , burned wood, pepperish
@whiskyrepublic: I'm getting hints of cherry and white pepper....an ever so slight menthol note...nice
@whiskycast: Figs and honey, touches of dried apricots, vanilla, and a hint of almond on the nose.
@malthound: Nose: sweet, citrus, hint of apple
@TheWhiskyLounge: Light breakfast marmalade, touch caramel, quite fresh floral, boiled sweets, plain flour, orange cordial.
@annCBScotch: Delicious intriguing aromas of autumnal fruits show the best of both bourbon and sherry casks. Red fruits in the new spirit have been transformed by 12 years in double casks to a deep velvety creamy experience
@TheWhiskyWire: Sherry trifle topped with sliced bananas on the nose. A tin of boiled condensed milk and even more bananas, banoffee pie anyone?
@TonyWTC: Taste: Incredibly smooth sherry and galaxy chocolate at first, then ginger spice and wood. Quite drying
@ScotMaltWhisky: Palate, creamy toffee, ginger, cinnamon, marmalade some oak spice
@galg: Dried fruit goodness here with a lot of sherry effect, yet it's quite gentle, it's not in your face kind of sherry

Whisky Discovery #655

Aberlour 16 Year Old Double Cask Matured (43% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £45.00 70cl

Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry butts, and bottled a reasonable 43% abv

So What Did I Think?

Richer and darker than the 12 Year Old, showing more sherry influence perhaps? Similar over-ripe fruit notes, perhaps more stewed-like, apples/pears, with a slight sourness and a touch of waxy furniture polish. After a little while a definite cinnamon pastry note develops followed by some plasticine/pay-doh like notes before returning to a malty fruit compote with sultanas and sugary dates.

The richer colour and nose continues onto the palate with a more fuller mouth feel, remaining soft and fruity but feeling a little more like the nose than the 12 Year Old. Quite a rich woody flavour to the tinned pear notes which turns malty and then drying tannins at the fairly shortish finish.

Again the empty glass emirate rich dark chocolate notes the following morning, this on reminding me of a bar of Bournville rather than chocolate powder, and there are more well seasoned lumber notes.

What Did Everyone Else Think?

@themaltedmuse: Less sweetness here but still holds subtlety on the nose. more dry spice on the taste and finish plus some peppered cayenne

@summerfruitcup: Nose - rhubarb, more dry floral notes, backed up by warm caramel and custard.

@EdinburghWhisky: Nose: Milk chocolate, bit of honey. slightly nutty, Touch of pear. Think I prefer the 1st nose

@petedrinks: Has much more sherry presence; raisins, toffee, a darker sweetness than the 12 Year Old

@whiskycast: Nose; good spices, raisin bread, cinnamon, nutmeg, hint of pine needles, honey and figs.

@whiskyrepublic: Nose - A more sumptuous colour than the 12 Year Old, Lovely arc on the legs, pungent fruits, feels like it's holding something back

@steveprentice: Palate: Immediately you get oak on the palate, maybe more than the nose would lead you to imagine, it's a fairly fresh sawdust sweet oak followed on by barley malt and then the sweet green apple freshness you found when nosing.

@LRWhisky: Palate - quite buttery, honey, butter shortcrust pastry, pain au raisin, spicy, some pepper, sherry 

@ScotMaltWhisky: Palate is mildly sweet and floral. Sweet grape, gentle spice, nutty, stewed plum, vanilla 

@kristianehenney: Palate; Nuttier than I was expecting. But I did just eat a cashew. Also raisins, definitely sherry undertones, I think cumin

@JamesBrownisms: Ooh tingly tongue that leaves plum, oak and spice lingering. Delicious.

Whisky Discovery #656

Aberlour A'Bunadh - Batch 45 (60.2% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £40.00 70cl

A’Bunadh is made in homage to Aberlour’s founder, James Fleming, using only traditional methods without chill filtration or other modern processes. Gaelic for ‘of the origin’, A'Bunadhmis matured exclusively in Oloroso ex-sherry butts and bottled at natural cask-strength. With each batch carefully made by hand this is a unique cask strength whisky has achieved cult status among whisky connoisseurs.

So What Did I Think?

A'Bunadh is the only Aberlour on my liquid log to date. I've still got the last couple of drams of Batch 37 and you can find out what I thought of that here: A'bunadh Batch 37 This immediately brought back memories of that big meaty, punchy dram. 

The A'Bunadh has a fabulous nose, and being cask strength, quite punchy initially, but hold fast this has fabulous notes of a rich and heavily sherried fruit cake, then there's liquorice, cloves with ginger. A'Bunadh, it was a great discovery when I first opened my Batch 37 and pleased to say I'm very much impressed with Batch 45

Even at 60.2% abv I really don't feel this A'Bunadh needs water, it sits majestically on the palate, with rich old fashioned dark marmalade flavours, candied orange peel in sticky Demarara sugar and leaves a cigar smoke like taste in the mouth.

The empty glass still has some of the signature chocolate notes, but this is much more malty and remains quite spicy too

What Did Everyone Else Think?

@petedrinks: A'bunadh is surprisingly gentle on the nose, given the cask strength. Was expecting the alcohol to blow my nose off

@Girl_Whisky: Sweet, soft, peppery, cucumber, caramel, onion, pizza, salty

@kristianehenney: Nose; Gorgeous orange. Full on Christmas pud, dark fruits, thick and silken, dark chocolate

@galg: Nose: lots and lots of dried fruit. an avalanche of sultanas, plums, prunes, varnish, acetone. OH MY. I love it.

@MCRWhiskyClub: Nose - A nostril tingling display of sherried raisins, medjool dates, cranberry sauce, star anise cinnamon and cacao nibs

@TheWhiskyWire: In infusion of winter spice, sweet sherry and something rather dunnage-esque on the nose.

@annCBScotch: Multi-layered or multi faceted - it shows so many rich dried fruits, spices dark chocolate nutty notes - delicious

@whiskywardrobe: Lovely palate with even more sherry fingerprint. So much leather, wood, vanilla and tobacco... I love it! 

@LucyJRichardson: Definitely getting xmas pud with Abunadh, followed by a slither of Terry's chocolate orange - yum! 

@ScotMaltWhisky: Pate - loads going on, thick treacle toffee sugars, orange, stewed plum, a nuttiness, spicy, honeyed, dark chocolate 

@themaltedmuse: Spiced rum, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, molasses but still find white chocolate an underlying creaminess that survives the abv 

@whiskyrepublic: Palate - I'm in a tanning factory (leather not UV), smoking cigars whilst crushing chocolate coated raisins with a plum 

@malthound: Short tannin finish with exploding spiciness!

Whisky Discovery #657

Aberlour 18 Year Old (43% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £99.00 70cl

Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry butts. The current whisky maker and his team are the same men who originally laid down the casks over 18 Years ago.

So What Did I Think?

The 18 Year Old has a rich and fruity nose with lots of chocolate immediately. There's notes of orange zest and over-ripe soft stone fruit; plums and peaches. There's also some great wood shop flavours, well seasoned lumber as well as polished wood. Spices are subdued, softer and melding together. Later notes gave rich caramelised and dried fruits; apricots in particular.

The mouth feel comes across as refined and luxurious. Smooth and gentle the chocolate comes across on the palate balanced with glorious rich sherried oak flavours, spiced fruits; orange and apricot and wood comes through as sawdust. The chocolate remains on the long finish, turning slightly bitter at the very end.

The empty glass is full of the chocolate notes the following morning too!

What Did Everyone Else Think?

@saraandthebear: Creme Caramel, rich and viscous and that's just the nose.

@themaltedmuse: Nose has nutmeg and wood but there is some pear drop and cut grass in there

@summerfruitcup: Nose - orange, a little sherbet, sherry and creamy vanilla.

@kristianehenney: Nose - oaky, apple, strawberry laces confectionery, and a green freshness, much more of a summer dram

@ScotMaltWhisky: Nose is fruity - orange, red apple, plum all coated in vanilla.

@Girl_Whisky: Nose: Citrus, smooth, cake, green, summer fruit, exotic fruit, coconut, yoghurt

@TheWhiskyWire: Typical sheer sherried and bourbon bounty of an Aberlour, just richer with a fleeting flounce of floral sweetness.

@jasonbstanding: Tastes of slightly burnt candied orange& makes me think of what I think madeira should taste like had I ever had it. 

@whiskyrepublic: Palate, smooth, well integrated, ripe fruits (apples and lychee?), sweet caramel and subtle cinnamon notes. Lovely dram 

@steveprentice: Palate: Richly smooth after the high ABV of the a'bunadh, the older age also helps, but don't be fooled, it builds to have some fairly good spices quite quickly, although they're tempered so as to not be too much. A slight ashy nature (from the cask?) which brings more gravitas to what becomes a gentle giant the longer you hold it on your tongue.

@whiskycast: Finish is full of toffee, lingering cinnamon, honey, nutmeg, and is very, very smooth.

Whisky Discovery #658

Aberlour 12 Year Old NCF (48% abv)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £39.00 70cl

An interesting variant on Aberlour's usual 12 year old whisky, not only changing the proportions of different whiskies that are used to make the expression, but also leaving it un-chillfiltered. This means that it retains the full body and flavour of the whisky from the cask, although it may go cloudy if water is added or it gets cold.

So What Did I Think?

This is a little punchier than the first 12 year old then I noticed the higher abv, however the initial flavours follow the distillery profile too,  but in addition this seems to have a little white pepper dusted over the citrus zest. The underlying sweetness keeps pushing through and there's a fresh woody note with wood shavings and almonds

The non-chill filtratiuon gives this dram a really lovely mouth coating experience, it feels so much much thicker than the standard 12 Year Old giving a rich mouth-feel which I found to be best of the evening in that respect. There's a zesty peppery start while remaining rich and creamy; orange marmalade notes develop along sweet honey.

What Did Everyone Else Think?

@summerfruitcup: Softer cereal notes, almost milky, but then there's a hint of peat that's caught me off-guard

@whiskycast: Nose is almonds, figs, Christmas cake, honey, and a touch of orange peel.

@themaltedmuse: Again with the rich colour nose wood polish honey roasted walnuts hint of nutmeg and just a smudge go black pepper

@whiskyrepublic: Nose: All the Aberlour traits emerging....the 48% abv adding pungency, sherry, figs, maybe a hint of smoke perhaps

@jasonbstanding: Definitely no shrinking violet. Almost as prickly as the A'bunadh is (now).

@whiskywardrobe: Nose is quite nice and refreshing after so many sherried whiskies. It looks older than 12 years old

@petedrinks: Nose is smooth, with red fruit - raspberry yoghurt but with something spicier at the finish

@whiskydr: Welcome back you essential oils where have you been all this time, fantastic dram here, left in glass for 10 mins 

@JamesBrownisms: Nose: dark fruit jam, like the kind a grandma makes up north 

@ScotMaltWhisky: Palate. A touch of barley sweetness mingling with the mild sherry fruitiness. Creamy toffee, spicier with each mouthful 

@WhiskyIsrael: I love the mouthfeel on this one oily and spicy, quite some pepper and spice. It's intense! 

@kristianehenney: Much more peppery and spicy than I expected on the palate. But also fresher fruit. Honeydew melon and apple

And finally....

My first real visit to the single malts of Aberlour registering a full five out of five new Whisky Discoveries for the liquid log. A'Bunadh, I hear is a bit hit and miss for some people. I've only tried just the two batches, and the following evening I put them head to head, both good for me, but Batch 45 won for me. I loved the mouth-feel of the 12 Year Old NCF and prefer that to the standard 12 Year Old and would happily have either/both the 16 and 18 Year Old expressions on my shelf! A visit to the Aberlour Distillery is definitely on my list of 'things to do'.

A massive THANK YOU to Steve Rush at @TheWhiskyWire, to @annCBScotch and the team at the Aberlour Distillery and of course the tweet tasters who were:

@TheWhiskyWire @WhiskyWardrobe @EdinburghWhisky @LaCaveDeCobalt @LRWhisky @malthound @steveprentice @summerfruitcup @themaltedmuse @whiskybarrel @TheWhiskyBoys @TonyWTC @ifotou @whiskycast @whiskydr @Girl_Whisky @jasonbstanding @WhiskyDiscovery @galg @TheWhiskyLounge @petedrinks @MCRWhiskyClub @WhiskyRepublic @KristianeHenney @andrew1bardsley @ScotMaltWhisky

For more information see: www.thewhiskywire.com and www.aberlour.com

The Macallan Tweet Tasting

This was the official Tweet Tasting launch of the 1824 series of Single Malts from The Macallan. Four new expressions based upon colours with no age statement replacing the current 10, 12 and 15 year old single malts. I was really pleased to get the opportunity to taste these again, as although I was at the UK launch when brand ambassador Joy Elliot introduced them at April's Midlands Whisky Show I really wanted to revisit these.

The package from The Macallan was one of the best I've known in the Tweet Tasting series and had enquiries from enthusiasts the moment I posted a photo of the set on Twitter. I've since seen these sets on auction sites fetching incredible values. Mine is now fully emptied and safely stashed away, although open to offers!

The Macallan's whisky maker, Bob Delgarno has created each of the expressions by identifying the natural colours created during maturation in the different cask types and putting them together to create the character of each of the colours. As you progress up the range the whiskies, the colour becomes richer and the flavours more intense. 

All of these expressions are naturally coloured, no E150 has been added to achieve them, it has all been achieve by cask selection, which just shows what can be achieved by careful cask management.

Whisky Discovery #391

The Macallan Gold NAS (40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt

circa £35.00 70cl

The Macallan Gold was released in late 2012, in fact I think it was first seen at The Midlands Whisky Festival last September. This is the entry level single malt of a series of colour-themed bottlings introduced to replace the distillery's age-statement expressions. Gold has been produced from 9 to 15 Year Old first fill and refill sherry casks and replaces the now obsolete 10 Year Old Sherry Oak and 10 Year Old Fine Oak expressions.

So What Did I Think?

Nose: This opens with lots of vanilla and lemon notes. Sultanas and honeydew melon are in the mix with a light linseed oil note too. After a short while in the glass sweet wood notes develop which were almost apple wood like to me. A drop of water really brings out the fruit; sultanas and raisins in a cake mix.

Taste: Smooth, creamy vanilla and some spicy ginger adding to the candied lemon peel and boiled sweets.

Finish: There's a good shake of pepper leaving the tongue and roof of the mouth tingling for a short while leaving the taste of sultanas behind while turning dry with the oaky tannins

What did the others think?

@mattveira: Fresh nose. Big hit of lemon citrus, then orange peel & soft sweetness of sorts. This sweetness doesn't eliminate the zest.

@WorldWhisky: Fresh and fruity nose. Summer in the glass! Citrus, apple, some acacia honey

@steveprentice: On the palate it retains the lightness that you found on the nose, it's easy on the palate, smooth and easy drinking. A little youthful tasting with summery grass notes alongside oaks and chocolate sprinkles. There's a pinch of spices, also green apples and other autumn fruits at the tail end.

@mynameisgone: Palate getting some chocolate mingling with the fruits now, still loving that dash of pepper that comes through.

@dvdbloke: Palate - Smooth and clean. More fruit on the palate than in the nose. Some Vanilla, apples, pineapple, with a peppery development. Very light and easy to drink.

@DramStats: Palate: Sweet early with fig rolls and milk chocolate, caramac bar and sultanas before it gets a little spicy

Whisky Discovery #392

The Macallan Amber NAS (40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt

circa £45.00 70cl

Next in the 1824 series range is Amber which again has been matured in a mixture of first fill/refill sherry casks but with a higher proportion of European Sherry Oak in the make up. 

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Slightly richer than the nose of 'Gold' with the citrus notes becoming more orange like. There's a late summer meadow floral quality initially which richens with fruits, apples and sultanas complimenting the orange notes. As the nose develops in the glass vanilla pushes through with creamy toffee.

Taste: This is very smooth and creamy. Whilst opening with a gentle sweetness, soft pepper and ginger spices build, before fruit takes over with stewed apples, sultanas and raisins. The palate comes across as more 'rounded' than the Gold.

Finish: A fruity sweetness at first, more of those sultanas, this turns quite dry at the very end. Very drinkable

What did the others think?

@dvdbloke: Nose. similar, but more fruitier a nose than the gold. Apple, pineapple, lemons all up front.

@DramStats: Amber Nose: Vanilla, sherry soaked sultana, orange oil, lemon balm and freshly chopped braeburn apples

@ChrisWhiskyman: Hints of polished wood, raisin, sultana and a touch of grass

@whiskywardrobe: Nose is more Macallan; sultanas, oranges, wood and honey. Impressive!

@TheWhiskyWire: mmmmm toffee apples & lemon citron tart.

@abbeywhisky: Tropical fruits and toffee coming through the warmer the whisky gets... More vanilla, hints of almond

Whisky Discovery #393

The Macallan Sienna NAS (43% abv)

Speyside Single Malt

circa £66.00 70cl

Sienna follows Amber both in depth of colour and price. The alcohol content has been increased to 43% abv too. Sienna has been matured in first fill only sherry casks. Containing older matured spirit that the first two expressions, and produced in smaller batches.

So What Did I Think?

Nose: A much heavier sherry influence immediately apparent, then overripe pineapple and orange oil, spicy too with cloves and cinnamon while vanilla trys to push through the cream sherry notes of raisins and dates. There is a 'dusty book' note to this too. With a little air polished wood is picked up

Taste: Rich and creamy, the sweet oloroso sherry notes coming through with figs, dates, dark chocolate and some cloves, white pepper builds around the periphery of this rich and creamy 'experience'. It finishes with more Oloroso Dulce notes making my mouth water yet at the same time the back of the tongue is drying. The finish is longer and the dryness has a sherbet edge

What did the others think?

@whiskywardrobe: Figs? Raisins? Orange zest? Spices? Awesome? Aye!

@ChrisWhiskyman: Touch of baked apple but a fresher edge. Hints church incense and violets

@whisky_facile: Clear red fruits, and very creamy: toffee, banoffee pie!, tarte tatin. A bit of pipe tobacco and nuts

@dvdbloke: Time gives some polished mahogany, leather, some tobacco. Its a beauty alright, chocolate orange. Scrumptious.

@TonyWTC: Smooth and luxurious. Wood spice kicks in and takes it through to the end

@steveprentice: On the palate this dram is still silky smooth, medium oils in your mouth with just a sprinkling more of spice, mostly due to the slight hike in ABV, which is a welcome thing (although still quite low for the price point). Hold it on your tongue and the spices dissipate leaving the buttery creaminess that you found on the nose, it's rich plum pudding with a small dollop of vanilla ice-cream that's all melted down.

Whisky Discovery #394

The Macallan Ruby NAS (43% abv)

Speyside Single Malt

circa £118.00 70cl

Matured in only the finest first fill Sherry casks, and containing the oldest spirit in the 1824 Series Ruby is the darkest and most expensive of the new range.

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Again starts dusty, Oloroso sherry is evident but not as sweet as Sienna. Rich dried fruits, notably figs and candied peels, spiced with cloves, and notes of tobacco with a trace of menthol.

Taste: Starts sweet and quite gentle, spices build, with pepper and ginger, all the time getting richer and darker. Cloves take over as it gets richer then the wood notes start to come through, old polished wood. The finish is long lasting reflecting many of the flavours experienced with the polished wood notes staying to the very end.

What did the others think?

@DramStats: This is what good first fill oloroso is all about

@FrazerJ: Nose rich fruit, slight nutty-esque.. /maybe coffee/coca edge? nose is best so far for me.

@whiskywardrobe: For me this one isn't so sherried... brown sugar, oranges, spices, cinnamon and woody

@BeckyPaskin: Taste: Figs, caramel, rich fruit cake, tobacco, cinnamon. Yum.

@caskfinishcom: Palate Ruby starts with a sweet and gentle taste with pepper and ginger getting richer and rich together with the citrus

@steveprentice: On the palate there's an instant hit of oak that quickly subsides into fizzy fruitiness, late autumn to winter fruitcake type notes; hedgerow fruits stewed for pudding with lashings of vanilla custard.The oak then returns on the finish, which is long and brooding, a full and frank fruity mixture that I love

Verdict

My favourite of the four expressions when I first tasted these in April was Sienna and revisiting these again during this tweet tasting affirmed my earlier decision. Whilst all four are exceptional quality whiskies the balance of Sienna certainly appeals to my palate more than the other three, and is the most likely addition to my Whisky shelf later this year. 

If was was going to pick a second bottle it would be Amber, a very drinkable dram without breaking the budget. I really struggle to justify spending over £100 on a bottle of Whisky.

And finally....

As per previous Tweet Tastings there was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #TheMacallan1824 hashtag on twitter for the full story. Ok so no new discoveries but an opportunity to revisit four new expressions and write some proper notes down.

A massive THANK YOU to Steve Rush at @TheWhiskyWire, Brand Ambassador Joy Elliott and all the team at @The_Macallan and of course the tweet tasters who were:

@TheWhiskyWire @WhiskyDiscovery @KirstyPryde1 @sjjgo @BeckyPaskin @LRWhisky @rodbodtoo @dvdbloke @steveprentice @TonyWTC @abbeywhisky @mattveira @simon_m_field @bumpythechemist @FrazerJ @mynameisgone @ChrisWhiskyman @rlemkin @dramstats @hoftj @whisky_facile @worldwhisky @caskfinishcom @whiskywardrobe

For more information see: www.thewhiskywire.com and www.themacallan.com

Tomintoul Tweet Tasting

I've not come across any Tomintoul whiskies before other than Old Ballantruan in an earlier Tweet Tasting, so when the opportunity arose to apply for a special on-line event featuring their 21 Year Old and single cask 1981 Vintage I completed my application and kept my fingers crossed.

The core Tomintoul range consists of nine expressions (yes nine!) with the Ten and Sixteen year old expressions representing the original bedrock of the portfolio.

The Tomintoul distillery is a fairly new distillery, being built in the mid 1960's and is located near to the village of Tomintoul, in the Glenlivet Estate at Ballantruan on the east side of the River Avon and in the valley between the Glenlivet Forest and the hills of Cromdale.

The event was scheduled for 29th May and this was the first time Tomintoul had ever hosted a tweet tasting. Master Distiller Robert Fleming was our guide and on hand to answer any of our questions, as well as ask a few of his own. With the event set to start at 7pm under the #Tom1981 hashtag we started with their 21 Year Old

Whisky Discovery #446

Tomintoul 21 Year Old (40% abv)

Speyside Single Malt

Circa £60.00 70cl

Not a bad way to start your introduction to Tomintoul single malts eh? The Tomintoul 21 years old was introduced in 2011 to bridge the gap between the 16 and 33 years old versions, and apparently replaced the 27 year old - Tomintoul seem to like their aged whiskies!

Robert told us that casks selected from refill bourbon and refill hogsheads (matured all of its life at Tomintoul Distillery) were used for the make-up of this expression, and went on to say that Jim Murray had awarded this a score of 93.5 in his 2013 Whisky Bible.

In addition to asking how we felt about the whisky Robert asked us to think back 21 years and reflect on what we were doing back then. 

In 1992 I was working in Thailand and had just completed my first year there - many happy memories of pioneering super-yacht building in the Far East, as well as meeting my wife (we had not long started dating in 1992)

So What Did I Think?

The nose comes across as creamy and sweet. It's malty with a hint of cloves, alongside notes of vanilla, honey, wet grass, stewed fruits; apples and pears, fudge and pencil shavings

On the palate it has a soft and creamy smooth mouth filling feel. Vanilla sweetness opens which is followed by a gentle spice build up of white pepper. As the spice fades creamy toffee returns, and there is a barley water like taste too. The medium length finish gives a spicy kick on the tongue before becoming quite dry.

This come across as a very simple dram which surprised me for a 21 year old, as I guess was expecting more levels of complexity from the palate due to it's age. Don't get me wrong though, although it came across as simple to me it is exceedingly drinkable (although I only had a wee sample of it). It's very gentle in it's approach, though remains fresh throughout.

What did the others think?
@galg: Nose : lovely vanilla strawberry ice cream with some wood, apples
@ ifotou: Nose: slightly oaky to start with then fruit and fizz, refreshers/wham bars, fresh vanilla pods rolled in dewy grass
@mynameisgone: Taste, smooth fruity and gentle but with a touch of spice warming as it coats the mouth
@steveprentice: The palate is smooth and easy going, due both to the good middle age of this whisky and to the low ABV. It's got a medium oily mouth feel, with just a pinch of spices. The oak notes on the nose aren't quite so obvious here, but it's wonderfully fruity and easy going.
@TIA568B: On the palate is incredibly smooth, but slightly thick and reminds me of rum for some reason? Lots of toffee and caramel, yummy
@dvdbloke: Finish - Warming Oak spices. Sweet, then drying into some light oak sawdust

Whisky Discovery #445

Tomintoul 1981 Vintage Cask #5985 31 Year Old (53.9% abv)

Speyside Single Malt

Circa £225.00 70cl

This is Tomintoul's first Vintage Single Cask release. Distilled on the 30th of October 1981 and matured for over 31 years in a bourbon cask (Cask No. 5985 for the record), being bottled in February 2013, at cask strength of 53.9% abv yielding just 196 bottles, with no artificial colouring or chill filtration.

This comes in a rather splendid looking bottle, which would look lovely on my whisky shelf!

Again Robert asked us to reflect back to what we were doing back in 1981 and I can tell you I was in the first year of my shipbuilding apprenticeship on the South Coast of England. I can spin you a yarn or two from those days too!

So What Did I Think?

Well this is much spicier that the gentle 21 Year Old. It's peppery with a touch of salt at first, then the wood notes start to evolve after a short while, like well soaked oak. I started to find some melon sweetness are trying to pierce through the peppery spices. However once the alcohol burn subsides there is a wealth of rich dark chocolate notes. With a drop or two of water the pepper is tamed and the vanilla notes came first, followed by some linseed oil and candied orange peel.

The palate is rich as I was expecting, with polished wood, spicy pepper, licorice, and cloves too, finishing with a very spicy finish leaving a chilli heat when when pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth, though remains rich to the very end.

What did the others think?

@Girl_Whisky: Nose: Nice peppery, subtle yet complex ... and a hint of salty stones?
@rickfurzer: Nose: polish gives way to peaches and custard, then peaches give way to green apples with addition of water
@WorldWhiskyDay: I'm getting really nice heathery honey on the nose of this! With a bit of a citrusy note too!
@whiskywardrobe: Quite floral, with lovely spices and citrus notes. If I nose deeper, figs 
@manavsoni: With water, beautiful polished wood and stewed tropical fruit
@LaCaveDeCobalt: It's warming with notes of coconut and liquorice on the tongue. Still this light bitterness at the end

The verdict was fairly evenly split when choosing favourites. For me the single cask won hands down, but at £225 is a little way out of my price range so my head is telling me to choose the 21 Year Old.

Tomintoul is known as the 'Gentle Dram' and that is clearly evident in this first tasting of their core range. I certainly need to try more of their range and will be putting them on my list to find for one of the forthcoming whisky events I normally find myself drawn to!

As per previous Tweet Tastings there was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #Tom1981 hashtag on twitter for the full story! (I downloaded all of the tweets from the evening and have them on a spreadsheet if you are interested)

Another great experience and a fabulous introduction to Tomintoul Whisky. Thanks to Master Distiller Robert Fleming and everyone at the Tomintoul Distillery @TomintoulWhisky

As far as I can tell, this events tweet tasters were: @TomintoulWhisky @JayDieNL @whiskywardrobe @manavsoni @steveprentice @ dvdbloke @TIA568B @Girl_Whisky @mynameisgone @galg @ifotou @WhiskyDiscovery @MattonMalt @LaCaveDeCobalt @Hmcnee @headwalluk @ubern @rickfurzer @WorldWhiskyDay @mike_rawlins

To keep abreast of what is happening at the Tomintoul Distillery why not follow them on Twitter: @TomintoulWhisky 

You can also find more information on their website: www.tomintouldistillery.co.uk