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May 31, 2016

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Bowmore Devil’s Cask Batch #3

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Tis a long story this one, with many factions developing along the way. It began in 2013 when the first batch of Bowmore Devil’s Cask was released. With 6,000 bottles and an RRP of about £60, it was sold out before most people even knew it was available. What was so special about this bottling that made people go wild? Well I guess the marketting was spot on and the packaging didn’t hurt. But probably the big deal was that it was a Bowmore fully matured in first fill sherry casks and bottled at cask strength. These kinds of things tend to excite the whisky geeks (definitely excited me). And that colour!

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May 27, 2016

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Bowmore 23 Years Old Port Matured 1989

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It’s afternoon on Islay on the first day of Feis Ile and we’ve just finished the Bowmore tour. Sitting at the Bowmore bar our tour guide tells us we can try some more things if we like. My eyes instantly focus on the Bowmore 23 year old port matured sitting on the back counter. “Could we try that one?”, I say completely expecting to have my cheeky request denied. “Sure”, the bar lady says, “but just a wee bit because it’s usually £25 a dram”. Nice! That’s how AliceInWhiskyland and I got our hands on this premium spirit.

What’s so special about this whisky? Well it’s an old Islay whisky fully matured in port casks and an official bottling to boot! These days, Islay whiskies older than 20 years are somewhat hard to come by, whiskies fully matured in port casks are pretty rare and to be fully matured for 23 years is nearly unheard of. I think it’s safe to say that Islay official bottling with all these factors is super rare. So I am guessing that’s the reasoning behind the overwhelming price tag.

I was certainly excited about this expression for all those reasons (except for the price) and I am still looking forward to a Madeira Cask aged Bowmore if/when they ever release one. Or a sherry/port/madeira vatted expression like I suggested to Bowmore on Facebook for the Mizunara competition:

“Bowmore Pirate’s Cask – Whisky from Port, Madeira, and Sherry casks representing the important trade routes during the 16th century (Portugal and Spain) that were often crawling with pirates looking to plunder ships filled with riches. These trading ships would bring fortified wine with them as it was more resistant to spoilage. Often these wines were Port or Sherry but also Madeira as the Island of Madeira was an important port of call where sailors could stock up on supplies before their long voyage.

Thus it is feasible that a rogue Scottish ship could have acquired these casks by dubious means and then upon returning home filled them up with spirit. Bowmore Pirate’s Cask.

Also all those casks taste great.”

Pirate’s Cask all the way!! Hint hint Bowmore ;). Here’s hoping that they’ll give me some credit if they do make this or at least send me some samples :p.

Alright, enough of the chit chat, let’s taste this!

 

Distillery: Bowmore

Age: 23 Years Old

Cask: Port cask, full maturation

ABV: 50.8%

Price: £340.00 from the Master of Malt
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May 25, 2016

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Bowmore Feis Ile 2016 Virgin Oak and Sherry

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For Feis Ile 2016, Bowmore offered 3 distinct bottlings: a 25 year old “finished” in wine casks for 12 years, a “bottle your own” 17 year old PX sherry cask matured, and a NAS Virgin Oak and Sherry Cask bottling. This review is for the NAS expression which is a vatting of 4 American virgin oak barrels and a first fill Oloroso sherry butt. Some of you may remember that Bowmore released a similar expression for last year’s Feis Ile which was comprised of purely virgin oak casks. What’s with the extra sherry butt thrown into the mix this year? I dunno. Maybe they were just trying to get rid of those virgin casks? Maybe it’s a bit of an experiment? Maybe they thought it just tasted good? Mysteries abound.

While it seems last year’s bottling didn’t elicit too much excitement, I think this year’s Bowmore Feis Ile NAS expression should really be praised. While we did not sample all of the Feis Ile bottlings this year, I feel fairly confident in saying that this is the standout best value whisky of the Islay festival. At £55 it certainly is the most affordable and even though it is an NAS whisky, it’s undoubtedly unique. Virgin oak and peated spirit is rare. I think part of the reason this was overlooked last year was because of the big excitment from Ardbeg’s and Laphroaig’s 200th anniversary. Or maybe it also has to do with the lackluster reviews for virgin oak whiskies from other Scottish distilleries. Some people think it’s too much like Bourbon.

I have to admit that I didn’t pay too much attention to last year’s release or this year’s for that matter. That was until I actually tried it. It’s a powerhouse of a dram. Packed with flavour and complexity. Yes it feels young but in all the right ways! I’ve been disappointed with other virgin oak whiskies but the layers and levels on this one puts all the rest to shame. One caveat is that it’s quite a unique tasting dram so it may not be to everyone’s taste. However, I definitely recommend trying this if you get the chance. The mixture of virgin oak and sherry influence really made something special here. Even if you don’t like it, I believe it will be an eye opening experience. It certainly was for me.

 

Distillery: Bowmore Distillery

Age: NAS

Cask: 4 American Virgin Oak Barrels and a 1st fill Oloroso Sherry Butt re-racked and married together in the original oak

ABV: 54.9%

Number of Bottles: 1500

Price: £55 at Bowmore Distillery during Feis Ile 2016

 

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May 24, 2016

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Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016 Madeira Cask Review

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Update 2016/6/15: Looking at the comment section for the Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016, it seems some people were not selected in the ballot despite there being a release of bottles after the ballot. Not sure what happened here, but it may be that some people who entered the ballot decided not to buy, and instead of selecting more people from the ballot, Laphroaig decided just to release them on the site. It’s interesting to see that some people suggested that Laphroaig do half bottles instead so that there would be twice as many bottles, however, when they released the 21 year old, a lot of people complained about the 35cl bottles.

Update 2016/6/14: Well that didn’t last long. It appears the Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016 is now sold out on the Laphroaig online shop.

Update 2016/6/13: The Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016 Ballot has ended and Laphroaig have now released the remaining bottles on the site for FoL members. If you forgot to sign up for the ballot, have no fear because you can now go to the site and pick up a bottle with your FoL login.

Update 2016/6/9:  Like last year Laphroaig has chosen to run a ballot for those Friends of Laphroaig interested in buying the Cairdeas 2016. An email was sent out to FoL members on June 6th (Monday) with a link to ballot registration which expired on June 9th (Thursday) at mid-day. They stated in the email that the results of the ballot would be revealed by June 10th. It seems that at least a couple people I know have received emails stating that they had been selected in the ballot. In that email it states that they have until midnight June 12th (Sunday) to make the purchase. If this is like previous ballots then any unsold bottles after June 12th will be allotted to more ballot registered FoL members.

 

Who wants to try a Laphroaig aged in Madeira casks? Meeee!!

To explain a bit about why I was so excited to hear about this release, I will need to expand upon the significance of Madeira. Madeira is a fortified wine produced on the island of Madeira off the coast of Portugal. I find it to have a similar character to port but with a more zesty attitude. Its tradition harkens from the Age of Exploration in the 15th century when the island of Madeira was an important pit stop for trade ships. The wine producers on Madeira discovered that the casks of wine that returned from the long voyages had a very different character that they actually prefered. So they tried to recreate the ship aging process by aging their wine in special rooms that would get extra hot from exposure to the sun. What all this translates to is that the production of madeira is quite limited when compared to port or sherry, hence the lack of Maderia aged whiskies. Also to my knowledge, Laphroaig have never released a Madeira aged whisky before. So this is a first!

Naturally it was quite exciting to find out that this year’s Cairdeas was aged in madeira casks. Although I was slightly disappointed that it was not a full maturation like the Kilchoman Madeira Cask release. I find that there is a much greater variance of flavour for whiskies that are finished as compared to full maturations, since so much depends on how long the finish was. However, while full maturations in exotic casks can be exciting on the surface, a well finished whisky can offer a more balanced and complex profile.

Oh and for those not familiar with the Cairdeas range, they are a line of expressions that are released every year by Laphroaig as a treat to the Friends of Laphroaig (FoL). They are usually released during Feis Ile and are then available via their online shop to FoL members. Recently they have also been available in the USA at whisky retailers. We tried the Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016 Madeira Cask at the distillery during Feis Ile 2016.

 

Distillery: Laphroaig Distillery

Age: NAS

Cask: First in ex-bourbon barrels then married and finished in hogshead casks seasoned with Madeira.

ABV: 51.6%

Price: £69.30 from Laphroaig Distillery

 

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May 17, 2016

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Ailsa Bay (First Release) Whisky Review

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A big thank you to Barry from the Whiskyphiles who gave us a sample of this spirit!

As you may already know, this is the first whisky released from the Ailsa Bay distillery. But what is Aisla Bay distillery?

It started in 2007 within the site of the Girvan grain distillery. So it’s kind of confusing because it’s pretty much a part of Girvan.  It’s owned by William Grant & Sons who also own Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and Kininvie, and was created to produce malt whisky for their blends and presumably some whisky for the single malt peoples. Another interesting tidbit, Aisla Bay is the second malt distillery to be on that site. The first was the Ladyburn distillery which had a short life from 1966 to 1976.

While it may seem strange to have one distillery within/on-site of another this has happened before. As Malt-Review points out “Inverleven at Dumbarton between 1959-1991 and Ben Wyvis at Invergordon between 1965-1977.” Ben Nevis also had a grain distillery on site but they didn’t really market the spirit with a different name and in fact they ran some experiments of blending at birth to create their unique single blended whiskies. Miyagikyo Distillery in Japan also have both coffey and pot stills which could be considered separate distilleries by the Ailsa Bay definition. So yeah it happens.

The name Ailsa Bay comes from Ailsa Craig, an island in the Firth of Clyde that can be seen from the distillery. Ailsa Craig is famous for being a major quarry for a special type of granite that is used to make curling stones. And to make things a bit more interesting, Grants has used that granite to make the stoppers for this particular bottling. Fancy huh?

While this particular expression of Ailsa Bay whisky is heavily peated, the distillery was designed to produce 3 styles: unpeated light, unpeated rich, and peated. They decided to release the peated one first which is an interesting move, since peaty whisky is always a divisive topic for new drinkers. However, it does showcase that they now have access to heavily peated whiskies as none of their other malt distilleries produce heavily peated spirit.

All in all it’s exciting times for whisky fans. A whisky debut from a highly reputable whisky company, let’s have a taste!

 

Distillery: Ailsa Bay Distillery (within Girvan grain distillery)

Age: NAS

Cask: From Whisky For Everyone “Refill American oak, first fill bourbon, new oak and Baby Bourbon casks previously used by William Grant’s Hudson distillery in New York.”

ABV: 48.9%

PPM Liquid: From Malt-Review 21ppm

Price: £53.95 from the Whisky Exchange

 

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May 16, 2016

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The Glover 14 Year Old

the-glover-14-year-old-whisky

In terms of whisky backstory “The Glover” is like a Marvel superhero. Where to begin? I suppose we should begin with the legend himself Thomas Blake Glover aka the Scottish Samurai. Not really sure who coined that name for him but it is both pretty awesome and crass. Hollywood will probably jump on this story soon.

Mr. Glover was born in Aberdeenshire to an English coastguard and a Scottish mother in 1838. So I guess he’s only half Scottish? He’s credited with playing a vital role in the industrialization of Japan. He brought the first railway locomotive to Japan, which was name the Iron Duke (again with the awesome monikers). He took part in commissioning one of the first Japanese warships, the Ryujo Maru, which was built in Aberdeen. And he developed Japan’s first coal mine. Pretty impressive, especially since this was during a time when foreigners were not looked well upon in Japan.

So what better way to pay homage to such a man than to create a whisky that is the marriage of Scottish and Japanese whiskies? So that’s what Adelphi has done! They’ve made two blended malt whiskies which have, confusingly, both been named “The Glover”. The more expensive of the two is a 22 year old which is a vatting of just 3 casks from Hanyu, Longmorn, and Glen Garioch and resulted in 390 bottles. Clocking in at just over £1000 this expression was just a bit out of our price range. No doubt the high cost is mainly due to the inclusion of the highly sought after Hanyu whisky.

The Glover 14 year old, however, was priced at a much more affordable £100. With only 1500 bottles produced it’s quite a rare treat. We were able to acquire a sample from the good folks at Whisky Auctioneer. The exact composition of the 14 year old was not released, but it contains both Scottish and Japanese whiskies.

The 14 and 22 year old were released at the same time and lauded as the first Scottish-Japanese whisky ever launched. However, this is not quite true. Nikka uses the whisky from Ben Nevis Distillery (Nikka owned) in many of their blends and blended malts, especially the Nikka Black 8 year old. They don’t really advertise this however so it never got the special attention it deserved. Regardless, the Glover is a unique and rare whisky and has deservedly received quite a bit of attention in the whisky industry.

Bottler: Adelphi

Type: Blended Malt (Scotch and Japanese malts)

Age: 14 Years Old

Cask: Unknown

ABV: 44.3%

Price: £95.00 at the Master of Malt

 

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May 12, 2016

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Cadenhead Bunnahabhain 39 Year Old

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What a big surprise from Scotland’s oldest independent bottler! A 39 year old Islay whisky aged in sherry casks and bottled at cask strength with a retail of less than 200 quid! Impressive. It’s not surprising that these babies were swept up quickly but we were lucky enough to try it at a Water of Life Society tasting run by one of the committee members (Zsuzsa!). Known as the XL tasting this was a special tasting to celebrate her birthday.

This particular release comes from the vatting of 3 sherry butts. Presumably these are from full maturations as opposed to finishes. The darkness of the liquid would perhaps attest to that. It truly has a lovely reddish dark hue to it. Not much more information is available on this. Seeing as how Bunnahabhain are selling a 16 year old sherry matured whisky at Feis Isle 2016 for £250, this seems quite the bargain.

 

Distillery: Bunnahabhain

Age: 39 Years Old

Cask: Three Sherry Butts

Distilled: 1976

Bottled: 2016

Number of Bottles: 648

ABV: 49.4%

Price: £195 from Cadenheads

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May 5, 2016

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The Laddie Eight

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We tried the new Bruichladdich Laddie 8 at a Bruichladdich tweet tasting on April 14, 2016. Check out @Bruichladdich #WhiskyEx on twitter to see some of the other participants’ notes. This particular expression is travel retail only, so keep an eye out for it at the airport duty free shops. The ‘Laddie’ range of whiskies was started to emphasize that age does not define the quality of a whisky. These expressions show case “young” whiskies that exhibit great flavour and character. Hence the punny name. As per usual for Bruichladdich the whisky is not chill-filtered and no caramel colouring is used, which means this is au naturale whisky. It’s also bottled at a nice 50% which is good because younger whiskies typically have a high ABV which means they are usually diluted more to make that 40-43% standard ABV. So you get more whisky for your mula.

For more information check out their website.

Distillery: Bruichladdich

Age: 8 Years Old

Cask: American and European Oak Casks

ABV: 50%

Price: ~£63 as seen on the Bruichladdich site

 

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May 4, 2016

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Port Charlotte 2007 CC:01

PC_CC_01_2007

We tried the new Port Charlotte 2007 CC:01 at a Bruichladdich tweet tasting on April 14, 2016. Check out @Bruichladdich #WhiskyEx on twitter to see some of the other participants’ notes. This particular expression is travel retail only, so keep an eye out for it at the airport duty free shops (also available at the distillery).

Port Charlotte is a range of expressions from Bruichladdich that is characterised by heavily peated malt. The range is a reference to the whisky that was produced at the now closed Loch Indaal distillery (also known as Port Charlotte distillery, closed 1929). Mark Reynier (Bruichladdich CEO) wanted to reopen the Port Charlotte distillery but well things happened and that wasn’t one of them. So the alternative? Make Port Charlotte at Bruichladdich.

So what’s with the unusual naming of this particular expression? Well the 2007 refers to the year of distillation, CC presumably refers to Cognac Casks, and I suspect “01” refers to the this being the first in a line of expressions from Cognac casks. So it’s a pretty cool code that defines a lot of the provenance of this whisky. Seeing as how Bruichladdich have been pretty modern with their transparency, craft/origin ethos, and marketting, this naming fits right in. Being a systematic being myself, I like it.

For more info see the article about this expression at the Bruichladdich site.

 

Distillery: Bruichladdich

Age: 8 years old

Cask: French Oak (insinuated to be ex-Cognac casks)

ABV: 57.8%

Price: ~£63 as seen on the Bruichladdich site

 

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April 21, 2016

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Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Oak (UK VS USA Version)

Macallan_12yo

This is an interesting one which seems to be at the heart of the controversy over the newish 1824 NAS whisky range. For many years the Macallan 12 year old has been a much cherished core expression from Macallan. It was the flagship whisky which introduced many to the joys of Macallan and to Scotch whisky in general. In 2012/2013 the 1824 series of no age statement Macallan’s was released starting with the Gold and prices for the Macallan 12 started going up. In the UK the 12 was thought to be discontinued but actually they have just reduced the amount available so that it’s harder to find and usually priced over 50 quid. However, the US seems to still have a steady supply of the 12 at very reasonable prices.

We tried the UK version of the Macallan 12 at a WOLS tasting and the USA version from a bottle I bought in the US and I was surprised to find that they were quite different. The first difference is the ABV. The US version comes in at 43% and the UK version is at 40%. With US bottlings having a volume of 750ml compared to the UK 700ml and the higher ABV you are getting a good deal more undiluted whisky in the US version. Couple that with the much more affordable US price tag and the whole deal seems quite unfair for the British. I really don’t understand why the ABV’s are different for the two markets but this is an important detail to look out for. Many people assume that an expression will have the same  ABV wherever they buy it but this could not be further from the truth. One retail trick I have seen is that some travel retail exclusive whiskies will be more diluted than their non-duty free counterparts.

The second difference I found between the two versions is that the US version seemed to be more flavourful. It had richer aromas and a stronger character. This could have something to do with the ABV but it’s clear that they are from different batches and perhaps they are blended slightly differently for the two markets. Anyway, we should probably get on to the tasting notes now. We included tasting notes for bother versions.

Distillery: Macallan Distillery

Age: 12 Years Old

Cask: Sherry Casks

ABV: 40% in Europe or 43% in the USA

Price: £62.86 at the Master of Malt or $49.99 at K&L Wines

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