Whisky Discovery #34

Another Christmas addition

Macallan 10 Year Old Sherry Oak (40%, OB, bottled 2011, 70cl)
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
Circa £25

The second of my two Macallan 10 Year Olds received for Christmas from my wife. This was an absolute bargain at just under £17.00 at our local supermarket. This is also another one from Ian Buxton’s excellent book 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die

The flagship of The Macallan sherry oak range in the UK market, The Macallan 10 Year Old has become a benchmark for single malt of the highest quality.

This 10 Years Old is matured exclusively in Spanish oak sherry casks, to deliver a deep, rich, deliciously smooth and well-rounded flavour, with a slight sweetness and touch of sherry and wood.

Its deep colour, like that of all of its siblings, is achieved wholly naturally without the addition of any colouring.

Colour: A pale golden amber, though remarkably darker than the Fine Oak

Nose: A lovely hint of sweet toffee balanced with dried fruits and sherry, spice and wood

Palate: Smooth and creamy, nutty with dried fruits, rich sherry sweetness and wood smoke.

Finish: Dried fruits, sweet toffee and lingering and soothing wood spices and soft peat

I am certainly enjoying this quality whisky from The Macallan and is a worthy addition to my collection and my whisky journey.

Whisky Discovery #33

Cragganmore 12 Year Old (40%, OB, bottled 2011, 70cl)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £30

Not a full ‘tasting’ as such, more of a sampling after a lunch with my wife at The Birch in Woburn. On entering I immediately noticed a selection of single malts on display which I thought would need further investigation after lunch. 


We sat down for lunch and ordered a Guinness and was a little taken back when they told me that they didn’t have it ! So had to settle for a cider with my lunch. 

The Birch is a small family run establishment who have earned a reputation in the area for delivering excellent quality food served by friendly and attentive staff. We had never been there before, although it had been on a 'to do' list in my head for some time. 


They have  an extensive menu offering English/Continental style of dishes together with an open griddle area where you can choose from a selection of fresh steaks/fish, cooked to your preference by their chefs. Their 'surf and turf' interpretation with Duck and Crevettes was delicious.

A really nice atmosphere in the restaurant area even on the grey day we were there. Lunch was served and thoroughly enjoyed, we will be back I’m sure.  However as soon as lunch was finished I was itching to check out the whisky shelf spotted when we arrived.


I was pleasantly surprised to see a well stocked whisky shelf and although only signature brands, there were a total of twelve single malts and one blend on display that should satisfy most whisky drinkers:

Lowland:        Glenkinchie 12 YO

Highland:       Dalwhinnie 15 YO, Glenmorangie 10 YO, Oban 14 YO

Speyside:      Cragganmore 12 YO, Glenfiddich 12 YO, The Glenlivet 12 YO Macallan Fine Oak 10 YO

Islay:               Laphroaig 10 YO, Lagavulin 16 YO

Island:            Talisker 10 Year Old, Highland Park 12 Year Old

Blends           Johnnie Walker Black Label

With only the Cragganmore 12 Year Old not previously tasted, I ordered a single to sample before the coffee arrived. My only complaint was that there didn’t seem to be a suitable glass for really enjoying the nose of the whisky, and had to settle for the smallest tumbler which had a slight return camber to the glass.


The notes below are from the distillery as it really wasn’t the right conditions for savouring the whisky properly, although reading the distillery notes I agree with most of them immediately.

A sherried 12 year old single malt from Diageo's Classic Malts range, this bottling from the Cragganmore distillery represents Speyside and proffers a rich, slightly floral whisky with barley notes.

Nose:    Aromatic, floral. Heather, fruit salad, creamy texture. Smoked almonds, stemmy hay.
Palate:  Rich, honey, stone fruits, chestnuts, walnuts, almonds. Berries.
Finish:   Smoky, good length, delicate peppery spice

You can find the The Birch at Woburn by clicking this link: http://birchwoburn.com/

The Birch at Woburn

Whisky Discovery #32

The Balvenie Craftsman's Reserve No.1 The Cooper 15 Year Old (59.4%, OB, bottled 2012, 10cl)

Speyside Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky

Not currently for sale

The tasting kit sent to the lucky Warehouse 24 members

The wonderful people of Balvenie offered an opportunity to all it's Warehouse 24 UK members  to register for a live on-line tasting event. 1000 bottles were sent out to the lucky recipients. Each 10cl was hand labelled and came packaged in a very well made presentation box, complete with two nosing glasses. The condition was that the whisky should not be tasted until the live on-line event.

I'm not sure how many actually attended, there were circa 250 signed into the website, but there were others on Twitter and Facebook too. The event was beamed live from the Balvenie cooperage was hosted by Balvenie Ambassador Sam Simmons along with their Malt Master David Stewart and Head Cooper Ian McDonald.

The whisky, drawn from a single second fill sherry cask, was distilled 15 years ago and bottled at cask strength of 59.6%

My first dram

Colour: a rich golden amber, typical of a sherry malt.

Nose: definitely the sweet honey Balvenie trademark, with raisins and sultanas, fruit cake,Christmas cake, cherry, toffee and caramel, and vanilla. Lots going on, the nose is just wonderful. I can sniff this all night !

Taste: sweet and smooth, even at cask strength. Rich fruits and sherry, spices

Finish: warming and sweet spiced honey

Just 315 bottles will be released for sale to the Warehouse 24 members and I'll definitely be looking out for this opportunity.

What a great evening this has been!

Whisky Discovery #31

Isle of Jura Superstition NAS (43%, OB, bottled 2011, 70cl)

Island Single Malt Whisky

Circa £25

A Christmas Gift

Another of my Christmas gifts, this one was from my eldest daughter.

The packaging, although only a simple box, really is quite eye catching, with it's black and white rocky shoreline, low hills in the background and with the silver printing. The bottle is another work of art with minimal labelling, but the silver 'ankh'  taking central stage on the front of the bottle.

Subtly sweet yet smokey, on the small label under the ankh, and despite having the HM Revenue and Customs logo on the back, the fact that the colour of this whisky has been 'standardised' by the addition of caramel colouring, has been carefully hidden on the bottom of the box, in German. Why do distillers hide the fact that they have added caramel colouring? Sometimes it's in French, other times in German, never in English !

I asked the distillery how the expression came about, and what whiskies were used in it's bottling. Jura immediately came back to me with the following:

As you are probably aware when the Distillery re-opened in 1963 Jura started producing very soft highland style malt, and this in the main, is what they are known for. In 1999 Jura started spending four weeks out of every year producing a heavily peated version using barley that was up to 60ppm or parts per million peat based as opposed to their normal 2ppm.

The Superstition is actually a marriage of both of these styles of whisky together. There is an old superstition on Jura that it is unlucky to cut peat before the beginning of May, and so the name was born


Within it are:

7 Year Old heavily peated (7 year itch; 7 years bad luck if you break a mirror)

13 Year Old Highland style (unlucky 13)

21 Year Old Highland style (coming of age when you get the keys to the door)

               

The ankh is the Egyptian symbol of eternal life; the Gaelic for whisky translates as - the water of life, and on Jura there are graves that house the bodies of people that were reported to have lived more than 130 years.

In order to drink the Superstition properly you must hold the bottle so that the ankh touches the palm of your hand when you pour - that way you get the full benefit of our best wishes for a long healthy and prosperous life.

And so I carefully poured a healthy dram into my nosing glass, making sure the ankh was in the palm of my hand. The colour of autumn leaves, a rich almost orange gold.

Body: an oil like coating the inside of the glass with long legs trailing back into the liquid

Nose: lightly peated, fresh, orange blossom, floral, butterscotch, white pepper, definitely white pepper.

Palate: salty or briny, the white pepper again, butterscotch and vanilla, smooth and quite light in the mouth.

Finish: long spicy with a little smoke, but not a heavy Islay peaty smoke, and the saltiness is there.

My Jura Origin 10 Year Old took time to grow on me, but I really loved it by the end of the bottle. I think the Superstition has taken off where the Origin left me and have really enjoyed starting this bottle. Although I understand it is not to everyone's taste, I love it.

Whisky Discovery #30

Aberlour A'Bunadh NAS Batch 37 (59.6% abv, OB, Bottled 2011, 70cl)

Speyside Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky

Circa £35

Christmas 2011 - A gift from my son

My first Aberlour and #30 in my own whisky journey. It's also listed in Ian Buxton's 101.

A'bunadh, Gaelic for 'of the origin' is matured exclusively in Oloroso Sherry butts. It is a natural cask strength malt whisky produced without the use of modern chill-filtering methods or the addition of water.

Aberlour A'Bunadh is released in small batches, and the distillery kindly informs us that the flavours may vary slightly from one bottling to another. Reading  Jim Murray's 2012 Bible seems to verify the batch variation, but I can confirm Batch 37, bottled at 59.6% is stunning. I will be interested to read his thoughts next year though!

I love the bottle shape, the support within the tube that carefully cradles the bottle base and the wax seal to the top. I really didn't want to destroy this wax so carefully cut between the top of the bottle and wooden stopper.

With some anticipation I poured the first two drams, one for me and one for my eldest daughter, well it was her birthday.

The deep rich amber liquid filled our Glencairn's and we gently tilted our glasses, rotating them slowly to see the body of the whisky as the 'legs' crawled down the side of the glass. (does anyone know why Jim Murray does not favour the Glencairn ?)

We carefully nosed the dram, being at cask strength we didn't want to anaesthetise our senses with alcohol burn!

A rich and full nose, spices and oranges, the strong thick cut marmalade my Dad favours, Christmas cake, rich dark chocolate and lots of sherry as expected.

The taste was intense, rich and creamy, I love the feel of it rolling over my tongue, the tingling from the alcohol, yet silky smooth, with the dark chocolate again, ginger and the sherry and oak.

The finish was very long and warming, rich and oily, with spices again. The lasting finish being like a clove oil.

We added some water, and the nose opened up, more oranges and almond came through. Obviously lighter, though still creamy and the almonds turn sweeter with a marzipan taste.

I love the nose of the empty glass as the sherry disappears and the malty oak remains, with even a little smokiness.

I've since gone back to it neat as I prefer the cask strength kick. It is in my opinion, a first class batch and I would like to compare this against other batches.

Happy New Year !

All in all I had a great December tasting four new whiskies for the first time, and with Christmas gifts still to open and sample! The Christmas gifts included a bottle of Aberlour A'Bunadh batch 37, a bottle of Jura Superstition and two Macallans, the 10 Year Old Fine Oak which I opened earlier and the standard 10 year old.

I toasted the New Year in with a Lagavulin 16 Year Old, one of my favourite single malts. It was swiftly followed by a second, and for a nightcap finished with a Highland Park 12 Year Old.

With so many bottle on the whisky shelf I decided that I really ought to finish one or two bottles before opening one of the new ones.

Week one of 2012 saw the end of my fabulous Highland Park 12 Year Old and the Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old. I have loved every smooth drop of the Orkadian, but as much as I have tried to get into the Dufftown, I really haven't got much to say about it at all. It's not offensive, and certainly quite drinkable, but I found it fairly ordinary, "nothing to write home about", for my taste buds anyhow. They do have a 15 Year Old available, but I'm not sure I would invest in a full size bottle of this, I would need to try a miniature first. However I certainly will be trying other expressions from Highland Park.

From my very first 'tasting' just over a year ago I feel I immediately entered a 'zone' of whisky appreciation and have been hooked ever since. I have a need to know more about taste and flavour - I am starting to feel this is going to be a very long journey! So, in order to fulfil my thirst for knowledge I have invested in a copy of the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2012, lots of information for the whisky geek ! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR and I'm looking forward to a very interesting second year of my journey. 

Whisky Discovery #29

Sheep Dip (40% abv, Blended Malt, 2011, 5cl)

Blended Malt Whisky

Circa £25 for 70cl

Just a miniature to sample

One from Ian Buxton's 101 Whiskies to Try Before you Die, and so had to be investigated.

Back in the 1980's this was the best selling whisky in Harrods. Eccentrically named, but with a great story behind it. British farmers apparently referred to whisky as sheep dip, and long ago farmers distilled their own 'home-made' whisky In order to avoid paying taxes, they hid their whisky in barrels marked 'Sheep Dip' or simply 'SD'.

Then in the 1980's Sheep Dip whisky was being ordered in case-loads through farmers wholesalers, their customers were putting it through their business expenses as insecticide. Not all of them thought it through completely, as many didn't even have sheep and so were caught and fined for tax evasion.


The whisky previously called a 'vatted malt' and now classed as a 'blended malt' by the Scotch Whisky Association is a blend of sixteen different single malts aged between eight and twenty years, in specially selected first fill oak casks.


Rich and golden in colour, the nose is quite delicate. Soft floral notes accompanied with fruit and nuts. Definitely melon and pear and a little almond too. Lot's going on, and with 16 different malts included in the blend you would expect so. Soft dry fruits, apricot ? and an essence of vanilla. Spices and oak flavours, very rich and sweeter towards the end. Onto the finish and the Isaly malts finally come through with the peaty smoke and lingering spices. 


I'm very pleased that I have tried it - and would certainly try it again, but with so many whiskies and too little time must move on.

Whisky Discovery #28

The Macallan 10 Year Old 'Fine Oak' (40% abv, OB, Bottled +/- 2011 70cl)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £25

The Macallan Fine Oak 10 Year Old

I picked this up for just under £20.00! A very special offer indeed and far too good to walk past. It 'accidently' fell into the shopping trolley.


This whisky is triple cask matured in (their words) a unique, complex combination of exceptional oak casks. European Oak casks seasoned with sherry, American Oak casks seasoned with sherry and American Oak casks seasoned with bourbon. This triple cask combination delivers an extraordinarily smooth, delicate yet complex single malt.

The Macallan's curiously small and uniquely shaped copper stills  help to concentrate the flavour of the 'new make' spirit.

I understand that the 'Fine Oak' series caused a bit of a kerfuffle when it was first introduced in 2004. Macallan had always used sherry barrels exclusively for ageing their whisky.The Fine Oak series didn't.

The nose took a while to tease out at first. Macallan state the nose is 'complex' and I agree with them here. Stick with it and it will come. Initially very dry, almost dusty and cereal like, but eventually the vanilla, honey and a hint of fruit shows through. Soft and creamy on the palate, very smooth. The oak and fruit marry together well, and it is really enjoyable dram. The finish is quite refreshing with sweet vanilla.


I don't think you can go wrong with this, but maybe I'm easily pleased ? 

21 Bottle Salute

The Collection Boxing Day 2011

With the Christmas bottles added to the collection, an impressive range of whiskys covering just about all of the  Scottish Regions; Islay, Highland, Speyside and Island malts.


Almost all of these are distillery core bottlings, available at most UK supermarkets and often offered at a price difficult for me to walk past. In fact I can no longer walk past the drinks section  without scanning the whisky shelves for something I have not tried before ! 


When I visit a pub, while waiting for my Guinness to be poured, I'm scanning the shelves to see what whisky is available.


There is plenty of good whisky out there to try and I'm looking forward to my second year of discovery.

Whisky Discovery #27

Gentleman Jack (40% abv, OB, 2011, 70cl)

Rare Tennessee Whiskey

Circa £30

First American Whiskey

I sampled upon giving this to son-in-law Ben, this evening.

My first Tennessee whiskey (yes, whisky with the ‘e’) and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Really smooth whiskey. I’m not sure that it is that ‘rare as it states on the label, I have seen it in most supermarkets!

Made by Jack Daniel’s, Gentleman Jack is charcoal-mellowed twice, before and after the ageing process, resulting in a cleaner, more refined end product . 

This was introduced in 1988 and was the first new whiskey from the Jack Daniel Distillery in more than 100 years.

The nose is very sweet, honey and vanilla, burnt brown sugar and charcoal. Similar on the palate, very smooth and syrupy, a little fruit too. Finish is short and sweet, a little charcoal and spice.

Whisky Discovery #26

Black Grouse (40% abv, Blended Whisky, 2011, 70cl)

My first blended whisky

Following my new guide, I spotted an opportunity to try my first blended scotch whisky and picked up a bottle of Black Grouse.  

Made by the makers of Famous Grouse, the long established best selling blended scotch. This Islay influenced, peaty blend is a blend of their Famous Grouse with some Islay single malts. 

For everyday drinking it is quite pleasant, especially as I really like the peaty malts of Islay, and I would certainly prefer this over the standard Famous Grouse – but I can’t put it over any of the single malts tasted to date.

Book Review 101 Whiskies

101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die

Ian Buxton

Published September 2010

This was the book that really injected some real pace into my whisky journey. When I set off almost a year before buying this book, I had in my mind that I would be looking to buy Scottish single malts, discounting blends, bourbons and whiskies from other countries, I knew very little about whisky at the time but was rapidly running out of whiskies to buy as I was only looking at my local supermarket, and with twenty five 'whisky discoveries' under my belt needed some urgent help.

I didn't have a Twitter account nor a blog, just a 'liquid log' put together as a MS Word document and was wondering where I should go next. I thought to myself there must be a 101 list out there somewhere, a list of whiskies that I should be pursuing and searched the web and came up trumps when I found this book.

Ian Buxton has selected 101 'everyman' whiskies, and as Ian says quite clearly in his introduction, this is not an awards list, there are no points awarded, it's not a list of the best whiskies in the world, it's a guide to 101 whiskies that whisky enthusiasts should seek out and try.

There are no obscure single casks bottlings listed, and most, if not all of the whiskies listed should be available today, some three years after first publication. Ian set out choosing this 101 with goals of being generally available, albeit you may have to search a little further than your supermarket shelves. They must be affordable, there are a few whiskies listed that were retailing above £100, but I think the average (at the time of printing) was around £57 a bottle.

Ian has worked in the Whisky Industry for more than 20 years and so is well qualified to select 101 whiskies for us to consider. Everything is laid out in alphabetical order, it's not a top 101 list and although more than half of those listed are Scottish single malts, there are blended whiskies and whiskies from further afield introducing whiskies from Canada, Ireland, India, Japan, Sweden and the USA to me.

When I first read through this book I was pleased to find that of the twenty five I had already bought or tasted, nine appeared in this book. 

Each whisky listed fills a double page spread, with a full colour picture of the whisky to the left, along with some basic information; producer, distillery, availability and price guide. On the right hand page Ian lays out a brief description of the whisky, its producer, and some background information on its history, and why it has been included in the book. Ian follows this with some simple tasting notes. honest and understandable notes on his thoughts for each whisky.

This book became my guide when I came to a point in my journey where I was struggling to find out where I went next. I still refer to it today, and my copy is filled with small 'post-it' notes reminding me of when and where I tasted each whisky.

It has introduced me to blended whisky, and more importantly introduced me to the whole world of whisky. There is no doubt in my mind that this book has been a key foundation stone to my whisky journey, and I thank Ian Buxton for putting this book together. (and I have thanked him when I met him at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show last year).

Ian released a second edition in 2012, 101 World Whiskies to Try Before You Die expanding the horizons for the whisky enthusiast further still and you can find out what I thought about that here.

So how am I doing with this 101 list? At time of writing 60 down and I still have 41 to find. (May 2013)

Assistance Required !

With an ever increasing thirst for knowledge I decided I needed to find a guide, an almanac, to help steer me along this journey.

I wanted to find out more about Jim Murray, who decided that the Old Pulteney 21 YO was the whisky of the year. I wanted to find a guide that would open new avenues of discovery.

After much searching I went for Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2012 and for a bit of fun Ian Buxton’s “101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die”

Both books include single malts, blended whisky, bourbons and other worldwide whiskies that can only enhance this journey I have decided to undertake.

 I was really pleased to find out that my journey to date included no less than nine listed in the 101. 

I like this book, as it is not an awards list, there are no scores listed, and is certainly not just a list of the best whiskies in the world. As Ian states; “It is simply a guide to 101 whiskies that enthusiasts must seek out and try” I don’t have to buy a bottle of each, but will use it to help with my ‘wishlist’. I was also pleased that even some of my original wishlist were included. 

It has certainly expanded my horizon as I am keen to try some of the blends, bourbons and other world whiskies.

Whisky Discovery #25

Old Pulteney 12 Year Old (40% abv, OB, Bottled +/- 2011 70cl)

Highland Single Malt Whisky

Circa £22

November's official bottle

I read on the BBC website that the Old Pulteney 21 YO had won the Jim Murray Scotch Whisky of the year, and seeing the 12 YO expression on the shelves at the local supermarket on offer for just £22.00, I thought it would be a prime candidate for the official November addition to my journey.

Established in 1826, The Pulteney Distillery found in the heart of ‘Pulteneytown’, the town created to house fishersmen during Wick’s ‘herring boom’. The most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland, the spirit crafted here is a distillation of this unique location. Matured wholly in air-dried, hand-selected ex-bourbon casks, the Old Pulteney 12 YO is the definitive expression in the Old Pulteney family.

Traditionally crafted using techniques that other distillers have long abandoned, this winner of numerous gold medals at the most prestigious international competitions is a high water-mark of quality spirits.

March 15th 2012

Reading back through some of my earlier postings I thought that I really must revisit some of the whiskys remaining on my shelf and review in a little more detail:

Matured wholly in air-dried, hand-selected ex-bourbon and sherry casks for at least 12 years this Old Pulteney was a Double Gold winner at the 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Colour: Old Gold, however this is ‘modified’ with caramel.

Body: Quite light as the legs run quickly back into the glass, but a little oily too.

Nose: I find the nose quite light in the glass initially, it definitely needs some time. It is quite crisp and dry but with a hint of briney sea air at first. Once it starts to open up there is an aromatic herbal flowery tone, with even some light grassy notes, and after a little longer the sweet caramel is eventually teased out. It is a quite agreeable nose.

Palate: There seems to be an citrus note initially which this quickly turns malty and then floral honeyed sweetness comes through, but then a twist at the end with a hint of aniseed to the salty tang. It really is quite pleasant

Finish: The finish is quite short with malty oak and spices, before the salty tang is all that remains

So what did I think

I remember being immediately impressed with this whisky when I first opened back in November and even recommended it to a friend of mine who was looking for some Christmas whisky, and he too enjoyed it. Perhaps it might have benefitted from being bottled at 46%, but this is an entry level whisky at a very good price, and it’s definitely a good introduction to Scotland’s most northerly mainland distillery. I’m looking forward to trying their 17 and 21 year olds later.

Whisky Discovery #24

The Balvenie 17 Year Old ‘Peated Cask’ (43% abv, OB, Bottled 2011)

Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Circa £80

 

One of the other Balvenie malts tasted during the evening at the V&A for The Balvenie 40 Year Old launch.

This cracking peated cask Balvenie was first released in 2010. It was aged traditionally to begin with, before a finish in casks that previously held peated whisky.

In 2001, a heavily peated batch of barley was distilled at The Balvenie Distillery and was allowed to mature until The Balvenie Malt Master, David Stewart, decided it was time to rejuvenate the maturation process and so the whisky was transferred to newly prepared traditional casks.

The casks that had originally held the peated liquid had taken on much of its character and so David decided to experiment by filling them with 17 year old Balvenie for a short period. The result was an intensely peaty whisky. Marrying this liquid with 17 year old Balvenie finished in new American oak casks produced The Balvenie Peated Cask, a complex single malt that is rich and spicy with layers of smokiness.

The result is well balanced and not overpowering, and this will certainly be on my wish list.