Bruichladdich Golder Still Whisky Review!

An old & rare 23-year old Bruichladdich that was bottled over a decade ago and was distilled in my birth year. This one has been on my Bruichladdich bucket list for quite a while!

Bruichladdich Golder Still was the last of the "Still" trio of bottlings that were distilled in the 1980s and were released in series back in 2006, 2007 and 2008. All were unpeated and bottled at cask strength, and were named after both the colour of the whisky and as a nod to the cask types that had been used, with around 3,000-4,000 bottles released of each. First in the series was "Blacker Still", with an opaque black bottle, which was distilled in 1986 and was fully matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks before being bottled in 2006. The second was "Redder Still", with an opaque red bottle, which was distilled in 1984, matured in ex-bourbon casks for 20 years and finished in French red wine casks for around two years, before being bottled in 2007. The third, and the subject of this review, "Golder Still", with an opaque gold bottle, was fully matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks before being bottled in 2008. They weren't just any ex-bourbon casks though, they were experimental "dumpy" ex-bourbon hogshead casks that American cooperages played around with in the early 1980s. More of a squat puncheon shape than your typical American Standard Barrel, their shorter and wider shape provided a higher ratio of wood to spirit for increased wood contact. The idea doesn't seem to have caught on in the bourbon industry, but at least it gave us this delicious single malt! Bruichladdich's virtually-unpeated spirit from this era was a little different to the current cleaner, brighter style that we now know & love them for, but a fully-bourbon cask matured example from the distillery's time in the shadows is not something you see every day, so this should make for an interesting peek into the past. Two of the "pre-closure" examples that I've tasted have been during the distillery's outstanding warehouse tasting experiences on Islay, and they were both truly excellent.

It's important to remember that back in 2008 Bruichladdich had only been "reborn" for just over seven years, and prior to that it had been closed for almost eight. It was still privately owned then of course, and while their own spirit was definitely coming of age - the first Octomore was released late that year, and the excellent PC7 as well - the team was still largely relying on the stock that they had purchased from the previous owners as part of the deal. Many of the often quirky early releases were finished - or 'Additional Cask Enhanced' in 'laddie speak - in different casks to bring them up to scratch and help move them along, and they had famously exotic names and stories attached. The legendary trio of Jim McEwan, Mark Reynier and Duncan McGillivray were hard at work ensuring that this previously neglected Islay distillery stayed out of the darkness that they'd dragged it from, and they were already on their way to the phenomenal success that Bruichladdich enjoys today. All three of those legendary personalities are no longer directly involved with the distillery, but their legacy is undeniable - which makes tasting a Bruichladdich bottling of this era all the more special. Back then they did have a little more old stock to play with, even releasing the oldest Bruichladdich bottled to date - a 40-year old single cask, back in 2004, but a Bruichladdich distilled in the 1980s is still quite the rare thing. The recent "Rare Cask Series" releases, aside from being extremely expensive, are quite possibly some of the last casks from this era that we'll see released by the distillery. Ten years ago you could find a bottle of this Bruichladdich Golder Still for around $250 AUD, and in the last year or two it could still be found for around $550-600 on the secondary market. Those current "Rare Cask" releases from the distillery, distilled in the same era and aged a few years more, sell for around $1,400 AUD. And it's a similar story with the fabled Black Art bottlings. But that's just a sign of the times and of the boom that we're in, price records are being broken all the time, so we can't begrudge any distillery for wanting a high price for the last of their old stock. Suffice to say, if you managed to get one of these "Still" series of bottlings back then, you bagged yourself a serious bargain!

Distilled in 1984 and bottled in late 2008, Bruichladdich Golder Still was the largest release in the "Still" series, with 4,866 bottles leaving the distillery at a cask strength of 51.0% ABV. As with everything that Bruichladdich produce, it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. At 23-years of age, bourbon cask-matured and bottled over a decade ago it gives us a nice insight into a slightly different take on the distillery, which is not something to be taken lightly. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd, who was lucky enough to find a forgotten dusty bottle on a local store's shelves quite a few years ago now. The days of stumbling on to old dusty bottles like this seem to be long gone, unfortunately! Another sign of the times... Anyway, time for a dram!

Bruichladdich Golder Still, 23-year old, 51.0%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 1984, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon squat / dumpy hogsheads, bottled 11/2008. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 4,866 bottles.

Colour: Full gold.

Nose: Yes. The extra cask influence is apparent, with sweet toasted oak and loads of creamy vanilla custard. A little savoury honey as well. There's also spearmint, red & green apples, white pepper and a little sawdust. Ripe tropical fruit and dried lemon come through with more time.

Texture: Excellent. Medium weight. Syrupy, velvety & warming. No spirit-y heat at all.

Taste: Delicious. More red & green apples, creamy vanilla custard and a light golden syrup sweetness. Then white pepper and the toasted oak again. Some savoury honey, dried lemon again and a slight hint of salted liquorice.

Finish: Long length. Syrupy & sweet with ripe tropical fruit, spearmint lollies and white pepper balancing it out. A hint of the 'laddie lactic "funk" here too which is good news. Becomes a little dry then with more sawdust and mild white pepper under the syrup.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Really delicious. What a dram! There's definitely a notable wood influence, and 23 years in first-fill casks is a considerable length of time, but it's all worked beautifully for my tastes. The pepper, mint and liquorice have stopped things getting overly sweet, balancing everything out and adding extra complexity. It's interesting to see some of that 'laddie DNA (the tropical fruit & citrus, and that tasty lactic note) showing through as well, when you consider that this malt was distilled under Whyte & Mackay's ownership and has spent nearly a quarter of a century maturing in first-fill casks. There's no real downside here, from the nose to the finish, it all works beautifully. As we can usually expect from the team at Bruichladdich. What a showing!

This Golder Still was a real bargain at its original price, and if you can find it at a reasonable price on the secondary market, go for it. What a way to round out 2019! Now I need to get hold of a sample of Redder Still & Blacker Still to see how they compare. Never say never, and happy new year folks!


Cheers!

Glendronach 19 Year Old Single Cask Whisky Review!

A 19-year old Glendronach single Oloroso cask, cask #2406, distilled in 1991 and bottled back in 2011, as part of the fifth batch of SC releases. They're now up to Batch 17, so that's going back a while!

The Glendronach single cask bottlings have attained legendary status over the last few years. Unfortunately, the prices have increased massively as well, particularly for the older bottlings as you'd expect. In fact this Highland distillery's general popularity has exploded, alongside the current worldwide whisky boom, with the resulting pressure on their maturing stock demanding new and different expressions at younger ages or without an age statement. I'm not at all concerned by the latter, but some of those newer expressions are way outside the realm of what fans of the distillery would consider to be their house style. From a peated expression with no discernible sherry cask influence (reviewed here), to a spate of PX sherry or port cask-matured / finished releases - including a peated port finish - that are definitely not what you'd expect from Glendronach. They've also more recently introduced a couple of expressions bottled at 43% rather than the previous 46% baseline, including a couple that are travel retail / duty free exclusive. But all of that is just the reality of the current market, with the constantly increasing demand for sherry cask whisky and the subsequently increasing scarcity and prices of those casks creating a demand on supply that is not easy to fill. From Macallan to Aberlour to Highland Park and many more, almost all Scotch whisky distilleries that were previously famed for their sherry matured styles have had to change and adapt. And many have changed so much that they have lost a huge portion of their following in the enthusiast arena.

Thankfully that doesn't apply to Glendronach though, since they have re-released the much-loved 15-year old Revival expression (albeit with changes in cask recipe and overall style), and while becoming increasingly scarce the 18-year old Allardice and 21-year old Parliament can still be found for a reasonable price. A lot of that aforementioned pressure has been made all the worse thanks to the distillery being mothballed (closed) from 1996 to 2002. That meant that some of their age stated expressions contained stock that was significantly older than the stated minimum, which has of course now created more pressure on any older expressions. Looking at the 21-year old Parliament, an example bottled in 2019 must be at least 23 years of age, thanks to the distillery closure. Likewise the 18-year old Allardice, which if bottled in 2019 must also be at least 23 years of age, until the stock distilled after the distillery reopened finally comes of age in 2020. This was also the reason for the aforementioned 15-year old being discontinued for almost four years, only becoming available again in late 2018. All of this had distillery fans concerned about the future of Glendronach's single cask releases, which only worsened after the distillery was purchased by American spirits company Brown Forman in 2016, and the appointment of a new Master Distiller, Dr. Rachel Barrie, in early 2017. They shouldn't have worried, though, because each new batch of single cask releases seems to be larger than its predecessor, there are still older casks being released, and the last few batches have also included exotic cask types like port and virgin oak. So there doesn't seem to be any sign of the program slowing down, and Dr. Barrie is certainly not resting on her laurels. Which is good news!

This particular single cask expression was released before any of that had ever been imagined. Back in 2011 the distillery already had a significant following, largely thanks to then-Master Distiller Billy Walker (now looking after Glenallachie) who had purchased the distillery in 2008, but the entire whisky world was quite a different place - particularly in terms of pricing and popularity. This bottling was part of the fifth batch of releases, with the first batch released in 2009, and was distilled in 1991, when Glendronach's four pot stills were still direct-fired, and when they were still floor-malting a portion of their barley requirements on site - including a small amount of peat being thrown into the kiln. That malting floor was decommissioned in 1996, prior to the distillery closure, and the stills were converted to internal steam coils in 2005, a couple of years prior to it being sold by Pernod Ricard to the aforementioned Billy Walker, who I would argue actually resurrected the distillery properly. The bottling that we're looking at today is from Cask #2406, a Spanish Oloroso sherry butt (500-litre cask), which was bottled at a cask strength of 55.4% ABV. Interestingly it was bottled just one month shy of becoming 20 years of age, with a yield of 532 bottles, and is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd. Incoming sherry bomb! 

Glendronach 19-year old Single Cask, #2406, 55.4%. Highlands, Scotland.
Distilled 11/1991, fully matured in a single Oloroso sherry butt, bottled 10/2011. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 532 bottles.

Colour: Dark amber.

Nose: Sweet & spirit-y, lighter than expected as well. Sweet vanilla, dark chocolate, red apples, stewed peaches & plums, and a few dried cherries for good measure. A little leather, brown sugar and walnut with more breathing time.

Texture: Medium weight, sweet and syrupy but dries out quickly when a decent whack of spirit-y heat kicks in.

Taste: Not as sweet as the nose suggested, but still quite syrupy. More dark chocolate, more of a creamy chocolate mousse here, plus some brown sugar and black pepper. More red apple and some spicy wood notes with spirit-y heat fighting them back.

Finish: Medium length. The chocolate, apple and spicy wood notes carry through, but so does the spirit-y heat. Some more black pepper, leather and stone fruit further on, with a little toffee and more fruit trying to break through.

Score: 3.5 out of 5. But only just.

Notes: It's tasty, of course, but also certainly a little on the hot side, and certainly not as complex or satisfying as most sherry-matured Glendronachs of this age. Each of these single cask bottlings is unique, of course, which is all part of the fun, but this one isn't quite on the level of most that I've tried to date. There's plenty of chocolate and syrupy sweetness, but it doesn't have the sheer volume of flavour that I've come to expect from these older single cask expressions. So it's not quite the sherry bomb that I was hoping for on Christmas eve, but it's still an enjoyable Glendronach. Besides, if they were all the same, that'd spoil the fun!

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays folks, and as always many thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Batch 011 Whisky Review!

A review of a special whisky to mark a special occasion. And it's cask strength Laphroaig, so you know it's tasty!

I've been a huge fan of Laphroaig's 10 Year Old Cask Strength expression since I first encountered it, quite a few years ago now. I've since managed to taste most of the different batches now, and have reviewed a few of those as well (Batches 6 & 9 here, and Batches 8 & 10 here). To date, the brilliant Batch 006 & 007 bottlings are my picks of the more recent releases, but Batch 001 and the un-numbered / pre-batch number "red stripe" bottlings from the mid-2000s were also exceptional. The distillery is now up to Batch 011, which was bottled in March 2019. Batch 11 has seen a slight change to the packaging, with the return of the "green stripe" on the front label & outer tin, something that was last seen in the early 2000s. It's only a subtle change, but it's something exciting for Laphroaig fans, and it's a subtle nod to the end of a chapter, and the start of a new one. Which is rather fitting, because this review is dedicated to Laphroaig's national brand ambassador to Australia, Dan Woolley. No, don't worry, he's not dead, but he is moving on since his role has been made redundant. In fact he officially gave up the reigns as of Friday the 13th (slightly ominous!), so I thought it was a fitting occasion to review a special Laphroaig and give him a nod for the outstanding job he's done over the last five years as the national whisky ambassador for Beam Suntory's brands in Australia. But all is not lost, because he's opening his own malt whisky distillery, and will be launching his own Australian single malt whiskies in early 2020! Which is very exciting, because I have no doubt that he's going to kick some serious posterior with some seriously tasty (and reasonably priced) whisky. I've tasted a couple of pre-release teasers to date, and some new make spirit, and believe me when I say that this is definitely one to watch. Break a leg mate!

Back to the review at hand. I'm sure there are a few readers sitting there in their pyjamas thinking "Oh, it's just Laphroaig 10 at a higher strength, it's not that special". Well, wash your mouths out, because if you're yet to taste one of these scarce "10CS" releases, you really don't know what you're missing. If you'll excuse the pun, these bottlings are essence of Laphroaig in a bottle, with the volume (of flavour) turned up to 11! There are probably also some American readers sitting there looking at their 750ml bottles thinking "Oh, it's only a Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, that's not that special". Well, you're spoiled rotten, because the whisky that you can purchase at your local specialist bottle shops (sorry, liquor stores) for some ridiculously low prices (generally under $80 USD!) is all but unobtainable down here in Australia. The only safe way to get this beloved elixir in Australia is to buy it directly from the distillery shop, or from another overseas retailer like Master of Malt or The Whisky Exchange. All of these options then incur high shipping costs, and ridiculous amounts of duty, excise and GST (our version of VAT or sales tax), plus an extra handling fee from DHL. The combined result is a single bottle of this whisky landing at around $220 AUD, which is a serious jump from the original distillery price of around $120 AUD. Unfortunately both this magnificent liquid, and since 2014 also the annual Cairdeas releases, are not bestowed on Australian Laphroaig fans by the official importer. I've already done my fair share of whingeing on this subject, such as in those two previous reviews linked above, so I'll leave it at that for now. But it would certainly be nice if they'd do us a favour and change that!

After privately importing both this bottle of Batch 011 of the "10CS" and a bottle of the 2019 Cairdeas (reviewed here) direct from the distillery shop, and hearing of Dan's news, I decided to crack it open. And on my own birthday a few weeks ago, no less. Well, when I say direct from the distillery shop it actually went via Germany, after the Beam Suntory higher-ups have seemingly appointed a new distributor for their web orders. To cut a long story short it was a bit of a mess, with some serious teething issues, because most buyers waited at least one or two months AFTER payment before they finally received their order, with very little communication from said distributor in that time. Regardless, it arrived eventually, and it was worth every second of the wait. Spoiler alert: it's glorious! Batch 011 was bottled in March 2019, after being matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks for at least 10 years, at a cask strength of 58.6%. It's non-chill filtered, and ostensibly naturally coloured, and as per usual there is no information on the number of bottles. But with the exception of those spoiled Americans mentioned above, you can't expect stock to last very long at all. Let's get into it!

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Batch 011, 58.6%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured in ex-bourbon casks, bottled March 2019. Non-chill filtered, assumed natural colour.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Oh yes! Instant teleportation to a damp, rocky & overcast beach on Islay! Plus loads of lemon juice, rock salt, muddy peat, dry ashy smoke with extra ash, sweet vanilla fudge and gooey honeycomb. Some white pepper, dried stone fruit, and dark toffee with more breathing time. 

Texture: Amazing! Heavy weight, but not too heavy, oily, very rich & intense. A little chilli heat, but in a pleasant way.

Taste: Soft & sweet entry, then a big & fast crescendo of tobacco leaf, smoky vanilla fudge, muddy & dirty peat and a big pile of cigar ash. Red chilli flakes, some iodine and more peat further on, but the peat is dryer and more spicy here. 

Finish: Long length. Chilli-chocolate mousse, old bandages, more white pepper. Some smoked fresh oily fish, more muddy peat and drying ash. Then more lemon juice, a wet rock-like minerality and salty, briny, sweet loveliness. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Absolutely delicious. You'll have to be a fan of the heavier Islay whiskies, and of young cask strength whisky in general, but if you can tick those boxes then you're going to love this. It's an intense, concentrated dram with loads of character and masses of flavour. The nose is sweet and (low tide) coastal, the palate adds ash and spice, and the finish is hugely long with almost pure essence of Laphroaig. There is no down side to this experience, no hint of lost promises between the nose and palate. In fact it reminds me very much of Heartwood's Mr. H and his favoured dinosaur-shaped flavour-profiles, with the long thin neck building to the big fat body, going into the long tapering tail. Which of course is a spot-on description of the ideal cask strength malt whisky!

I'd have to put Batch 011 on par with 006 & 007, which are my favourites of the numbered batches to date. While each batch is distinctly different, this is right up there with the best of them - without a doubt. It was absolutely worth every second of that long wait. In fact I wouldn't hesitate to do it all again to get myself a second bottle! If you were one of the many that got a little impatient during that process, and if you've lost touch with Laphroaig or you find the standard 10-year old a little soft, do yourself a favour and get a hold a dram of this beastie. Word of warning though, if you do get a dram then you're immediately going to want a  bottle of your own! 

To John Campbell, the Laphroaig Distillery, and of course Dan Woolley at the start of his new chapter: Slainte mhath, and here's to many more tasty drams from here on in!

Cheers!

Port Charlotte Valinch Grenache Blanc Whisky Review!

A hand-filled, cask strength distillery exclusive Port Charlotte "Valinch". But that's not all folks, because this one has been fully-matured in a white wine cask! Not something you see everyday!

White wine (not fortified) cask-matured whiskies are still quite an uncommon thing. While there are quite a few Sauternes / Moscatel / Muscat and other sweet dessert wine-matured examples, there are very few single malts matured in 'regular' white wine casks, and those are most commonly chardonnay casks. The majority of white wine does not spend a significant amount of time in wood before bottling, so these casks aren't as easy to source, but they also don't seem to be in particularly high demand from whisky producers when compared to red- and fortified wine casks. The most easily-accessible example seems to be Glen Moray's Chardonnay Cask Finish, which spends its final eight months of maturation in French Chardonnay casks. Even here in Australia, where wine cask-matured malts are far more prevalent than elsewhere in the world, I'm only aware of a couple of whiskies that have spent time in standard white wine casks. I've only tried a couple of examples myself, both Scotch whiskies from chardonnay casks, and both have been single cask bottlings that are far from the mainstream. The best example that comes to mind was from Edradour Distillery as part of their SFTC (Straight From The Cask) series of bottlings. It was a fantastic whisky, with Edradour's heavy and flavoursome spirit picking up brighter and more tropical & citrus fruit notes than I'd usually associate with the distillery.

This example is a little different, though. This is a Port Charlotte single malt from Islay's Bruichladdich Distillery, which means it's a heavily peated single malt - to 40 ppm on the malt. I'm not aware of any other official bottlings of heavily peated Islay single malt that have been fully-matured in (not sweet and/or fortified) white wine casks, so this is very exciting. If anyone was going to do it though, it would be Bruichladdich! The distillery's "Valinch" range of bottlings are often matured or finished in exotic or unusual cask types, which is fantastic, because they're distillery-exclusive hand-filled single casks, only available to distillery visitors who have made the pilgrimage to Islay. Well, unless you buy them at auction on the secondary market, I guess, but that's a topic for another day. These Valinch bottlings tend to be very special, and they're also very reasonably priced at 75 pounds per 500ml bottle. There is always an un-peated Bruichladdich cask and a heavily-peated Port Charlotte (formerly labelled as "Cask Exploration" rather than "Valinch" bottlings) to choose from, and they're always cask strength single casks, and of course are always non-chill filtered and naturally coloured - as is the case with everything Bruichladdich release. If you're going to the effort of getting yourself to Islay, you really need to visit Bruichladdich. Aside from their excellent tours and incredible warehouse tastings, their distillery shop alone is well worth the trip. The full core range and usually the latest limited releases are always available to taste and purchase, but the two casks on the Loch Indaal-facing side of the shop are a major drawcard and a huge part of the distillery's appeal. So far on my two journeys to Islay I've picked up a Syrah red wine cask-matured Bruichladdich, and a sherry cask-matured Port Charlotte. Both are fantastic, but neither are as exotic and unusual as this particular example!

This Port Charlotte has been fully-matured in a Grenache Blanc white wine cask. Grenache Blanc is a white grape of French origin ("Blanc" meaning "white"), although it can also be found in Northern Spain, the United States and a few other countries. While it may be alien to us whisky folk, the grape variety is actually quite common, mostly in the Rhone region of Southern France. Typical flavours are green (unripe) fruit & citrus, with oak ageing typically adding apple notes, although the wine is often blended with other grape varieties. There is no oak-type specified with this bottling, but based on the colour of this whisky I'd have to place it as French oak, and probably a hogshead. To use its full name, Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 06 "Cuan-Ard" (roughly meaning "wide bay"in Gaelic) spent 10-years in that white wine cask, cask #1615, before being bottled back in 2015 at a cask strength of 58.6%. The Port Charlotte bottling labels were changed from "Cask Exploration" to "The Distillery Valinch" at the same time as the Port Charlotte 'brand' went through a redesign, including the new squat green bottle with plain white or grey labels. The numbering system was scrapped at the same time as well, although the Bruichladdich Valinch releases are still numbered in sequence. Right, let's get into it!

Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 06 "Cuan-Ard", 10 year old, 58.6%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 10/2005, fully-matured in a single Grenache Blanc white wine cask, bottled late 2015. Distillery exclusive hand-filled. Cask number 1615, 432 x 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Sweet & fruity, lightly acidic with a touch of earthy peat. Semi-sweet honey, sweet white grapes and buttery toasted oak. Some soft liquorice, white pepper, and roasted nuts - macadamia and brazil nuts, with sea salt.

Texture: Medium weight. Silky, sweet and lightly peaty. A little heat, but pleasant.

Taste: Sweet & syrupy. Tinned fruit syrup, more honey & white grape, some honeydew melon and white pepper. Soft earthy peat, with a little ashy herbal smoke behind. Some bitter liquorice and a touch of orange.

Finish: Medium length. That bitterness carries through briefly, but it's more herbal or even vegetal here. Switches back to the fruity sweetness alongside buttery toasted oak, more salted macadamia & brazil nuts, then that white grape & melon in sweet syrup come back, with a little ashy dry smoke behind. 

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: A very tasty PC, and a great example of the Valinch bottlings that offer a slightly different take on Port Charlotte. It's a very sweet & fruity one this, and don't expect a big peat- or smoke monster, the fruit & syrup comes first, with a little earthy peat and a good pinch of salt coming along for the ride. The nose is my personal highlight of this particular dram, but the whole package is very enjoyable, there're no areas of disappointment here. The white wine cask has worked really well in my opinion, with those grape and melon notes providing an interesting twist. And thankfully there's no aggressive or dominant influence from the wine itself.

Port Charlotte seems to be quite a versatile malt really, I can't recall tasting any that I haven't enjoyed to some extent. The softer, more earthy peat and trademark BBQ smoke helps, of course. But these cask strength single casks are a great way of hitting the mental 'refresh' button and seeing the spirit from a different angle. Which is what a distillery exclusive bottling should be striving for, if you ask me. And Bruichladdich would have to be offering some of the best examples around. Can't wait to get over there again and see what's on offer!

Cheers!

North Star Spica 29 Year Old Whisky Review!

A 29-year old blended Scotch whisky, bottled at cask strength, and selling for an very reasonable price. This whisky is outside my personal malty comfort zone, so this should be interesting!

I haven't reviewed many blended whiskies before, and it's been around five years since the last one. For a re-cap, whisky made from anything other than 100% malted barley is a grain whisky, not a malt whisky, and if you blend a grain whisky with a malt whisky you have a blended whisky (not to be confused with a blended / vatted malt whisky). In all honesty I don't usually buy them, purely because they tend to be on the boring side, and are often lacking in the character department. They can also be rough, harsh, or remarkably unremarkable. Note that I'm not talking about blended / vatted malts here, but rather blended whiskies, most of which are made for mixing anyway, but of course there are exceptions. The long-discontinued Bailie Nicol Jarvie blend comes to mind there, and the previous iteration of Black Bottle (the round green bottle version) was enjoyable, but that's about it in my experience. There are too many factors involved to pin the blame on any particular aspect of blended whisky, but I would generally point to chill filtration, added colouring, low bottling strength (usually the minimum of 40% ABV), little-to-no identifiable cask influence or distillery character - which is intentional, of course -  and far too much cheap and/or immature grain whisky being in the mix for my liking. Don't get me wrong, some single grain whiskies can be excellent, when well-aged in quality casks, but for obvious reasons that level of grain whisky isn't usually seen in blended whiskies. 

This particular blended whisky has the potential to be another exception. It's non-chill filtered, naturally coloured, and bottled at cask strength. It's matured in a combination of American and European oak casks, with an overt & significant sherry cask influence. Oh and it's also spent at least twenty-nine years in those casks. Now in general single malt terms, this was extremely cheap - it cost me $160 AUD. In general blended whisky terms, that's expensive, but not for a 29-year old age-stated blend at cask strength. Having a quick look at the blended whisky competition at this price level, the Johnnie Walker King George V, at 25-years of age and 43% ABV, is priced at $529 AUD. The 25-year old Chivas Regal, at the minimum bottling strength of 40% ABV, is priced at $430 AUD. And when you step up to a single malt, you're looking at anywhere from $700 for the likes of Talisker or Glenfarclas, to $1,900 for the likes of Highland Park. All of which begs the question, why is this 29-year old cask strength blend so cheap? At first I was a little concerned, with images of those anonymous European supermarket blended whiskies coming to mind. I had sampled a few North Star bottlings in the past, and some had been far better than others, but they do have a good reputation, so my curiosity won out in the end. I'll be the first to state that age statements aren't everything, and that age and maturity are two different things, and that broadly speaking I actually tend to prefer younger whisky to older whisky. But I can't deny that the 29-year old age statement is what piqued my curiosity here and ended up getting this blended whisky over the line for me. I may not have bought it otherwise. In fact I generally don't buy independent bottlings myself unless I've tried the exact bottling personally, or at least have heard positive feedback from very trusted sources. So this purchase was a bit of a gamble, but at this price point it was worth the punt. 

North Star spirits is a relatively young Glasgow-based independent bottler, founded in 2016 and owned & operated by Iain Croucher - who was previously in the employ of independent bottler A.D. Rattray. Every whisky released by North Star is bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Aside from their bottlings of single cask & small batch single malts, the company also releases two well-aged blended malts, named Vega and Sirius, and one well-aged blended Scotch whisky, named Spica. Yes, they're all named after stars, and the word "Spica" is derived from the Latin term for "ear of wheat", which is a nod to this being a blend (containing grain whisky). There have been two bottlings of Spica to date, the first a 20-year old, and subsequently this 29-year old, with both consisting of only 1,000 bottles each. There's no mention of what distilleries or even what whisky regions were involved here, and there's no mention of the proportion of grain vs. malt whisky in the blend, although the grain component is certainly evident. Spica 29-year old is bottled at a cask strength of 45.5% ABV, is matured in both American and European oak, and is non-chill filtered and natural colour. Let's see if my gamble has paid off...

North Star Spica Blended Scotch Whisky, 29-year old, 45.5%. Scotland. 

Distilled 1989, matured in American & European oak, bottled 2019. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 1,000 bottles. 

Colour: Dark amber. 

Nose: Rich & medium-sweet, with quite a nose prickle for a 29-year old anything. Needs some extra breathing time! The grain is obvious too, with an acetone solvent-y note and toasted coconut. Becomes more savoury and mellow with that extra breathing time, with sweet earthy mushrooms, rose water-flavoured Turkish delight, and a good serving of dark, musty old sherry. Caramel fudge and some old leather, plus a few red apples for good measure. 

Texture: Medium weight, quite savoury, still a bit of heat to it but much less than on the nose. 

Taste: More sweet earthy mushrooms, slightly leathery again, more old musty sherry and red apple. Then the grain comes through with that peppery heat and toasted coconut. Recedes into caramel fudge again, a few almonds and some orange. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Some vanilla coming through, with that caramel fudge again, still quite peppery and a little solvent-y though. More orange, some sweet lemon and a few almonds. The sherry comes back to finish, along with some dank old oak. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5, but only after that extra breathing time. 

Notes: An interesting experience here, and a bit of a lesson in giving a dram more breathing time to see what happens. Likewise this whisky has relaxed and improved massively since I first opened the bottle. I'll generally open a bottle, have a dram or two and then wait at least two weeks before reviewing, and to its benefit this one has had more than three. This is a surprisingly savoury whisky, and without that solvent-y grain getting in the way it would be a real sherry bomb. But we can't expect that at this price level! It does feel like the malt and the grain never completely get along, it's almost like they're taking it in turns, with only one having the spotlight at any one time. So you're not going to mistake it for a good 30-year old malt whisky - although you'd already know that from the price - but there's a good amount of character and a good weight to the whole package that works nicely.

There's a good subtle level of wood influence, not too heavy and it only really shows up in force on the finish. Which I suppose could've been helped by having that grain spirit in there, keeping things a little lighter and fresher. It's not going to convert me away from younger single malts, but at this price point and at this age, I don't really have any grounds for complaint. In fact it offers a very good value experience, particularly considering it's naturally coloured, non-chill filtered and bottled at cask strength. Certainly worth a try, just make sure you give it plenty of breathing time!

Cheers!

Springbank 15 Rum Wood Whisky Review!

A 15-year old Springbank that was fully matured in rum casks? Gimme gimme!

Following on from the delicious Springbank 14-year old Bourbon Wood that was released in late 2017 (reviewed here), there's a new arrival in the 'wood' range from this undeniably old-school Campbeltown distillery. There are a few differences, aside from the cask type of course, between these two bottlings. While the Bourbon Wood was fully matured in both first-fill and refill ex-bourbon barrels, this Rum Wood expression only states that it was matured in rum barrels, which means they were probably first-fill, since Springbank aren't afraid to declare if a cask was refill. The big difference though is that the Rum Wood does not seem to have been bottled at cask strength, weighing in at 51.0% ABV, while the Bourbon Wood was cask strength at 55.8%. That said, this is one very exciting malt. It was only released in August this year, so it won't be in Australia until early 2020, but I was lucky enough to trade samples with a fellow whisky geek who ordered a bottle direct from the UK. As I mentioned in that Bourbon Wood review linked above, these bottlings are a continuation of the "wood finish" range from this small Campbeltown distillery, but they've had a face-lift to bring them into line with the current Springbank packaging. This range has previously included some very exotic cask types such as Calvados (apple brandy) and Gaja Barolo (Spanish red wine) casks, among many others. So it'll be very interesting to see what comes along in future, but personally this rum cask-matured example is extremely exciting, and I've been looking forward to trying it since pictures first started appearing on social media.

Why am I so excited for this release? Well, for three reasons really. Firstly, because rum cask maturation & finishing is becoming more popular in single malts, and it seems to work! Most of the examples that I've tasted to date have been very good. Secondly, because despite having one of the most diverse ranges of exotic cask maturation & finishing, this is a first for Springbank. While they've released rum cask finished whiskies before, and there have been a few of the mysterious and elusive "cage bottlings" that were matured in rum casks, this is a standard albeit limited release that was 100% fully-matured in rum casks, and this is the first time they've done such a thing. And thirdly, because I've been lucky enough to taste one of those aforementioned Springbank cage bottlings that was matured in a second-fill rum cask, and it was completely and utterly brilliant. The dirty, funky Campbeltown spirit mixed with the funky brown sugar & tropical fruit from the rum cask created a truly brilliant whisky experience. So I have high hopes for this one! Actually, hold on, let's add a fourth reason, which is simply because I'm a huge Springbank fan, and I can't get enough of their whisky. Now you may notice that they haven't specified the type of rum casks used, or where they came from. That could be down to a few different reasons. There a may have been a mix of different casks of different origins in the vatting, or the supplier of the casks may not want those details made public, or finally that they simply don't know any specifics, other than the fact that they were rum casks. Personally I'm betting it's a mix of reason one and reason three. This situation is nothing new though, many rum cask-finished or -matured whiskies do not state which type of rum those casks previously held, or where they came from, most likely for one or more of those same three reasons.

Springbank Distillery produces three different single malts under the one roof. They are the un-peated and triple-distilled Hazelburn, and the heavily-peated (to 50-55 ppm, but don't expect an Islay-type experience) and double-distilled Longrow, and finally the namesake Springbank malt, that is distilled 2.5-times, and distilled from lightly-peated malt (peated to 15 ppm) - all of which happens at the distillery, aside from the growing of the barley itself. From malting, to milling, to mashing, fermenting and distilling, maturation and bottling, it all happens in this seemingly eclectic group of old stone buildings hidden in the middle of Campbeltown centre. Hazelburn and Longrow spirits each make up 10% of the distillery's production, with the namesake Springbank taking up the remaining 80% - and with an annual production capacity of just 750,000 litres, there really isn't that much of this precious liquid to go around. So when they manage to release 9,000 bottles of a limited bottling like this, it tends to sell out very quickly around the world. As mentioned, this whisky hasn't landed in Australia yet and from all reports it isn't expected until early 2020 (boo!), but it's essentially completely sold out in Britain and Europe already. So when it does land down under, don't expect it to last very long! So, a 15-year old Springbank that was fully matured in rum casks, before being bottled at 51.0% ABV. Being a product of Springbank Distillery of course means that it is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Very exciting, so let's get to it!

Springbank 15 Year Old Rum Wood, 51.0%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Fully-matured in un-named rum casks, presumably first-fill. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 9,000 bottles.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Surprisingly mild to start with, white some white pepper, sweet cream cheese, a little flint and a light ashy & cold smoke. With time & warmth it becomes more typically Springbank, but none of those notes go away. The farmyard & dunnage warehouse "funk" is there, but it's definitely a milder version than usual, they're not in the forefront. There's also some red apple, menthol, and a brown sugar caramel.

Texture: Medium weight. Very oily, sweet and lightly funky. No spirit-y heat at all. 

Taste: Sweet and surprisingly light again, but it's still a Springbank. More red apple and sweet cream cheese. White pepper and cold ashy smoke again, and some rum funk shows itself - tropical fruit, old olive oil, dry grass, a little leather and flinty menthol. The earthy & funky dunnage notes are there, but they're a supporting act in this dram.

Finish: Medium length. More white pepper & sweet cream cheese, a little vanilla pod, more grassy & flinty notes. Then more ashy cold smoke, a little dry wood and more of that brown sugar caramel.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Ah, Springbank. Is there anything they can't do? It's not as funky or dirty as I expected, but it's a very tasty whisky! While it's a lighter & sweeter style of Springbank, the typical funk is still there, although it's more subdued and in the background than you might expect from this Campbeltown staple. It's extremely well balanced too, nothing is dominant or overwhelming, and it's extremely easy drinking at 51% ABV - could this be a summer's day Springbank? I think so, and I'll gladly volunteer to test that hypothesis. As with everything that Springbank touch there's plenty of character here, and it's a nice new side to the distillery, with a lighter, more balanced and almost refreshing experience compared to the darker, dirtier and funkier examples like the 12 Cask Strength.

I'm thinking that cage bottling set me up with the wrong expectations here, because on it's own merit this is a seriously tasty whisky. The nature of those cage bottlings is that they're a one-off, and they're completely unique, so I should've known better. This Rum Wood expression should definitely be on your radar, and I can't wait for it to finally turn up in Australia.

Cheers!

Ledaig Oloroso Cask 2004 Whisky Review!

A distillery-exclusive cask sample, to be exact!

This nondescript little 200ml bottle was a must-buy on my second pilgrimage to Scotland, which included a trip to the Isle of Mull and of course it's only distillery, Tobermory. After nosing and tasting this one I couldn't leave without it, but I should've bought a dozen. Not that I had the luggage space or weight allowance to do so, of course, but you get my point! I've previously reviewed the second cask sample that they had for sale at the time, a red wine cask-matured Tobermory, here, and it was brilliant as well, although completely different in character of course. It was very fruity, sweet and high strength at 62%, while this Ledaig is more mellow, but deeper and darker in character. The distillery was in the midst of it's two-year production shutdown at the time of our visit, which involved a lot of major maintenance, including replacing two of the stills and four of their wooden washbacks. In fact the distillery only resumed production earlier this year, and they're still planning to replace their other two stills - this time without shutting down completely. While it's never quite the same to visit a distillery during what they call "silent season" when they aren't producing spirit, Tobermory were still open for tours and tastings, so not all was lost and it was definitely worth the half-hour ferry trip from Oban. In fact the island and the namesake town of Tobermory, complete with it's famous multi-coloured houses around the harbour, were well worth the trip on their own, even without the resident distillery taken into account!

Tobermory Distillery is in the area of the town previously-named Ledaig (pronounced "Le-Chayg" or "Le-Chig"), and the distillery originally bore the same name from 1798 (although it wasn't officially licensed until 1823) all the way through to 1979, when it was re-named Tobermory. It's not quite that simple though, because this distillery has been through some very rough patches in it's 220-year history. In fact it has been shut down / mothballed for almost half of it's life! It first closed in 1837, not even 40 years after being founded and only 14 after being licensed, and was closed for a whopping 41 years. It was then purchased by DCL, a precursor of today's Diageo, in 1916, who then also closed it down for another 40 year period in 1930, before being purchased by a shipping conglomerate in 1972 who went bankrupt three years later. The distillery was then purchased by a property group who re-opened it under the name Tobermory, but that only lasted three years, subsequently closing again for another 11 years and resulting in the distillery warehouses being converted into apartments. You certainly would not have wanted to be a distillery employee during those times! Thankfully Burn Stewart purchased the distillery in 1993, giving some much-needed stability, and since the purchase of that company by South African corporation Distell in 2013 it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. In fact Distell seem to be heavily investing in their three Scotch whisky distilleries (Deanston & Bunnahabhain being the others) with major repair, maintenance and general face-lifting work underway. Which in Bunnahabhain's case was very sorely needed!

The distillery re-vitalised the Ledaig name in 2007, giving the moniker to their peated spirit, while the un-peated brand remained Tobermory. If you were to look at all of that tumultuous history you could be forgiven for assuming that the distillery wasn't anything special, but that's certainly not the case. In fact if you ask me it's one of the best examples of an Island single malt with a nice coastal influence and weighty, almost "funky" & dirty spirit character, particularly in the case of the peated malts. Ledaig is peated to around 35 ppm on the malted barley, sourced from commercial maltings on the mainland, and is a worthy competitor for the peated malts coming from Islay. This particular Ledaig is a cask strength cask sample that has been fully-matured in a single first-fill Oloroso sherry cask for 14 years, before being bottled at 53.4% in late 2018. None of the single malts from Tobermory are chill filtered or artificially coloured, and this is no exception - great stuff! The Ledaig spirit seems to work very well with sherry casks, including the 18-year old official bottling (reviewed here) which is finished in Oloroso casks, and the best example that I've tasted to date would be this 10-year old cask strength single cask from Signatory Vintage. So let's see if this cask sample from the distillery can beat it!

Ledaig 2004 Oloroso cask, 53.4%. Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland.
Distillery exclusive 200ml hand-filled cask sample, fully-matured in a single Oloroso sherry cask, bottled late 2018. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Dark amber.

Nose: Dirty, funky Ledaig yummy-ness. Deep, muddy, damp peat, lanolin (sheepswool oil / grease), rum & raisin ice cream, engine oil & dirty old bearing grease - or even saw-blade oil-based coolant. Then lovely "rancio" (nutty, leathery, fermented / cured salami) old sherry. A nutty & crumbly vintage cheddar. Sweet & spicy cured pork and dusty, damp old wood - like a dirty old barnyard. Some dried raspberry & dark chocolate. Yes please!

Texture: Beautiful. Medium weight, ashy, dirty & muddy. No spirit-y heat at all.

Taste: Dirty, spicy & ashy. More deep, muddy peat, a few dirty old seashells, and more dark chocolate. Dry ashy & spicy smoke, more lovely nutty "rancio" old sherry & cured pork, more crumbly vintage cheddar, more dried raspberry and some sweet date syrup with a touch of sea salt. Again, yes please!

Finish: Long. A little liquorice and ginger spice behind that ashy & spicy smoke, then more lanolin, more old wooden farm buildings and dirty old grease. That muddy peat and sweet raisins again, plus some orange peel and engine oil.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Delicious dram. It does slightly remind me of the standard Ledaig 18-year old, but with more sherry and loads more "funk". This is easily one of the dirtiest Ledaigs that I've had in quite some time! That lanolin and farmyard note is very enjoyable, although this would not be a whisky for the newcomer - you need to be fan of the dirtier, more characterful malts to appreciate something like this Ledaig. This malt really does give you an image of an old sheep farm on a damp Hebridean island - like the Isle of Mull, for example! It could possibly be confused with a similarly-aged Longrow, which is high praise, but it's a little deeper & darker, and it's very well balanced between the muddy peat, dirty & funky farmyard notes and that great old sherry cask. If you're a fan of this style of malt, line up something like this Ledaig alongside a sherry-matured cask strength Longrow and a sherry-matured cask strength Benromach. I guarantee you'll be in for one hell of a ride!

I do wish sherry-matured Ledaigs were easier to come by, especially when served at cask strength, because they can be utterly fantastic. This really is an under-rated peated single malt that easily stands up to the heavyweights from Islay and Campbeltown. Unfortunately this is now the last liquid souvenir that I have from our trip to Mull, and yes, I definitely think I should've bought a dozen...

Cheers!

Signatory Vintage Caol Ila Whisky Review!

A single first-fill bourbon cask Caol Ila, bottled at cask strength. This dram has been described to me as a worthy challenger to the delicious Port Askaig 100 Proof, so the level of anticipation is quite high!

Selected by Melbourne's The Whisky Company, who are the Australian importer & distributor for independent bottlers (and Edradour owners) Signatory Vintage, this single cask was only sold in Australia, both directly through The Whisky Company themselves, and through Single Malt Whisky Club Australia (singlemalt.com.au - that'll be easy to remember!) as their malt of the month. Established in 2005 and founded by whisky fans Brad Wright and Andy Anderson, the free-to-join SMWCA - for short - is essentially a subscription service that selects one bottling of whisky each month, and then sends it out to their members - with an opt-out option for each bottling via email, of course. Those bottlings have ranged from lesser-known independent bottlings, to small-batch Australian single malts, to rarely-seen whiskies from "new world" distilleries, and of course plenty of very tasty single malts from Scotland. As far as I'm aware the SMWCA was the first service of its type in Australia, and let's remember that our whisky 'scene' would have been very different back in 2005 - whereas it is now at an all-time high, back then you would not have seen anywhere near the relatively huge range of single malts available that we enjoy today. So it would've taken quite a lot of  brainpower and original thinking - and no doubt also quite a lot of whisky - to launch this sort of operation back then.

This Caol Ila is something out of the norm for the SMWCA, though, because this is a cask strength, single cask, heavily peated single malt from the largest distillery on the glorious Isle of Islay. At the relatively young age of nine years, 312 bottles were yielded by this single first-fill ex-bourbon hogshead (re-coopered 250-litre cask), and as is the case with all single cask bottlings, once it's gone, it can never be repeated. It's not a very common thing to find a Caol Ila that has been matured in a first-fill cask either, most - particularly the official bottlings from owners Diageo - spend their years in refill casks, whether they are destined to be blended away in mass-market blended whiskies like Johnnie Walker, or bottled as a single malt. Likewise most of those official bottlings are bottled at 43% ABV, and are chill filtered and occasionally also artificially coloured. There are some exceptions, but unless you're lucky enough to snag a bottle of the distillery's annual Feis Ile or Distillery Exclusive bottlings or the un-peated expressions that are part of the annual Special Releases, you're probably going to need to turn to the independent bottlers for your high-strength Caol Ila salvation. Thankfully it's quite an easy thing to find a good quality independent bottling of Caol Ila, with bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory Vintage regularly releasing cask strength expressions from the distillery, as do some of the smaller companies, often in different cask types and with more natural presentation as well.

Caol Ila is often seen as a softer, more gentle entry into Islay's peated malts, and for the standard 12-year old official bottling that's true, but there are certainly exceptions. When bottled at cask strength and without chill filtration or added colouring, this unglamorous (see above photo) and often under-appreciated workhorse of a distillery - producing around four million litres of spirit per year - is certainly capable of producing some absolutely outstanding single malts. It's trademark grassy & malty character, alongside a softer style of peat and smoke offer a lighter and more approachable style than is often showcased by some of the other Ileachs - including its stablemate Lagavulin. But rest assured, this is still very much an Islay whisky. As an interesting aside, both of those Diageo distilleries use exactly the same malted barley, peated to 35 ppm and of course sourced from the company's Port Ellen Maltings, but the resulting malts are remarkably different. That's largely down to the different fermentation times, the size, shape, design and fill level of their stills, and the cut points used during the distillation runs, among other factors. On paper this 9-year old single cask bottling at 57.2% ABV offers one of the best opportunities to see just what Caol Ila can do when it's allowed to shine. Before you ask though, this whisky has already completely sold out from singlemalt.com.au / SMWCA, who kindly provided the sample for this review. So unless you grabbed a bottle yourself, you'll just have to sit back & enjoy the ride!

Signatory Vintage 9-year old Caol Ila single cask, 57.2%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 10/2009, matured in a single first-fill ex-bourbon hogshead, bottled 10/2018. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 312 bottles, exclusive to Australia.

Colour: White wine, very pale - and beautiful for it!

Nose: Yep, it's cask strength Caol Ila alright! Grassy, softly peaty and sweet - but that's a spirit sweetness, not a cask sweetness. There's some lovely fresh malted barley on show, a little vanilla and some sawdust from the cask, a herbal & grassy smoke, and a decent touch of aniseed.

Texture: Medium weight, with plenty of distillery character. Soft & warming with only a little heat.

Taste: Nice, of course! An earthy peaty-ness, much more obvious here than on the nose, but it fades quickly and is replaced by that herbal smoke, more aniseed and those grassy malted barley notes. More sweet spirit with a bit of baked vanilla custard and some buttery oak behind it. Echos of a couple of dried strawberries around the edges too.

Finish: Long. A big pinch of black pepper first, then that aniseed again which also comes back later on. Sawdust again, or maybe pencil shavings, and that lovely golden malted barley grassy-ness - not something often seen in heavily peated malts. A slight hint of meatyness too - like a touch of vegemite. More aniseed, black pepper & grassy spirit to finish.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Tasty stuff, as expected! It's surprisingly malt-forward and spirit-driven for a first-fill cask, in fact I'm not sure you'd pick it for a first-fill - and it's all the better for it! There are definitely shades of the aforementioned Port Askaig 100 Proof here - they're both from the same distillery after all - but this is a sweeter and more rounded malt with more cask influence (the Askaig being refill casks), and more aniseed & pepper. And before you go searching, yes, I gave both the same score! This Signatory bottling is definitely a great example of young, spirit-forward cask strength Caol Ila, with a good balance to it as well. This was clearly a well-chosen single cask, and sold (past tense) at quite a reasonable price no less.

If you've tried the standard 12-year old Caol Ila expression but would like some more power, do yourself a favour and find a bottling like this. They really show a different side to this quiet giant of an Islay distillery, and it's a side that isn't shown often enough!

Cheers!

Ardbeg Traigh Bhan Whisky Review!

The first age statement Ardbeg core range release in a long time, and one that at first glance - and I'm hoping - could echo the brilliance of the long-departed Airigh Nam Beist. Exciting stuff!

It seems these days that for every Ardbeg fan there are two very vocal Ardbeg haters. For such a brilliant distillery, they certainly get more than their fair share of criticism, mainly from the "old guard" of whisky drinkers that think we're still in the last decade, or even the last century. The industry has changed, as it has many times in the past, and it has reached new record highs because of it. The main tired old argument is that non-age statement (NAS) whiskies aren't as good as age statement whiskies, which of course is complete crap. Yes, some of the component whiskies are probably younger than the older expressions that they often replace, and yes, it's nice to know how old a whisky is, but does that omission alone make them inferior? Absolutely not. Ardbeg seem to take the brunt of this attack, which is surprising when you consider that they were certainly not the first Islay distillery to produce an NAS whisky, and they've stuck to their guns with the ever-reliable 10-year old flagship expression. We should also remember that while NAS whiskies may seem new to some, they're far & away not a new thing. In fact in the long-term scheme of things it's really the age statement whiskies that are the new thing.

Ardbeg are probably an easy target because prior to the release of the "Twenty Something" series and the very tasty 21-year old a few years ago, there was only one age statement whisky in their line-up (the 10-year old), including the rest of their core range, the delicious Uigeadail and Corryvreckan and the more recent An Oa, and the annual Ardbeg Day and other committee releases. Far more importantly to myself, Ardbeg do not chill filter or artificially colour anything in their range, and they generally bottle at 46% and above, and prefer releasing "married" fully-matured whiskies rather than the more common short-term cask finishing - which would likely be one of the reasons for their lack of age statements. So when all of those other boxes are ticked with each & every release, I can easily forgive the lack of a number on the front label!

All of that has changed with the arrival of this new release. Named Traigh Bhan (pronounced Tri-Van) after the beach on the western coast of Islay, this new 19-year old expression is going to be an annual small batch release, and is matured in ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks. What I do find curious is why they chose to go with a 19-year age statement rather than the more common 18. Did the whisky need that extra year of maturation? Or was that simply the age of the youngest component casks in the recipe and therefore what had to be the age statement by default? The batch code declares that the youngest component casks were distilled in 2000, less than three years after the distillery was re-opened under the current owners - and for that reason we can safely assume that there aren't a huge amount of much older casks in the mix. What is also interesting is that they're calling this whisky a core range release, which normally refers to an expression being constantly available, when this is actually an annual small-batch release, and they've already declared that each batch is going to vary in its cask recipe and also its strength. But let's forget all that, the proof is in the pudding!

An Ardbeg of this age level - if you can find one that is - can be truly excellent, and I'm hoping this release takes me back to the brilliant Airigh Nam Beist that was bottled annually in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (all from 1990 distillation) before being discontinued. But Airigh Nam Beist was fully matured in first-fill bourbon casks and was bottled at 46%, whereas Traigh Bhan was matured in both bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks, both fully-matured and then married rather than being finished, and is bottled at the rather strange strength of 46.2%. As with almost all Ardbeg releases there is no mention of how many bottles were released, so we can safely assume that it was a reasonably large figure. By the way the sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd, so there's absolutely no bias here - well, other than being a self-confessed Ardbeg fan! Something that Ardbeg and Moet-Hennessy Australia need to be commended for is the lack of delays in getting their special releases to the other side of the planet in time for the official release date. That doesn't happen very often in Australia, in fact I can't think of a single other brand that accomplishes it. We're usually left to wait for 3-12 months before we receive a new release, by which time the initial worldwide buzz has often dissipated, and it also opens the door for parallel importers. So that's great to see, and it's very much appreciated Ardbeg!

The distillery has a very useful page setup on their website which explains this whisky in a little more detail, including how to interpret the batch code, which in this case is the rather lengthy TB/01-15.03.00/19.MH. Which decodes to Traigh Bhan, Batch 01, youngest component distilled 15/03/2000, 19-years old, Mickey Heads (Ardbeg Distillery Manager). This was a relatively expensive release in Australia, coming in at $299-320 AUD, although Moet-Hennessy Australia should again be commended for keeping in step with the international pricing. For reference that figure is around double the AUD asking price of the venerable 18-year old core range bottlings from the likes of Talisker & Glendronach, but those aren't limited, small batch or yearly releases, and an older age-stated Ardbeg was never going to be a cheap bottle of whisky. Is it worth it? Well, it's an Ardbeg, so most likely yes! But there's only one way to find out...

Ardbeg Traigh Bhan 19-year old, 46.2%. Islay, Scotland. 
Youngest component distilled 15/03/2000, matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Medium gold, a shade darker than the Ten.

Nose: A softer & rounder Ardbeg, as expected of course. Sweet charred / BBQ'd pineapple, black pepper, sweet lemon drops and a bit of black jellybean (aniseed). A soft drying salinity, and a hint of dried strawberry, plus a touch of muddy peat and the tar & old (natural) rope that Ardbeg does so well.

Texture: Medium weight, soft & sweet initially but then turns spicy & drying. Only a slight touch of heat.

Taste: More BBQ pineapple and black pepper, plus some smoked paprika, sweet lemon drops again, and some drying dark chilli chocolate. More old rope and a little coastal minerality, like damp volcanic rock or flint.

Finish: Short-medium length. More dark chilli chocolate and  black pepper, a bit of soft leather, and a touch of past-ripe banana. Dried strawberries again, and more black jellybean under some spicy & buttery old oak.

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Almost a 4, but not quite.

Notes: Another tasty Ardbeg. It's definitely a softer & rounder style, particularly on the peat side of things, but it's also quite a spicy & peppery one - as in flavour, not alcohol heat, with plenty of chilli chocolate and black pepper. The Ardbeg sweetness & citrus is there on the nose & palate, and that charred pineapple note is very nice, but it does get a little subdued on the finish which is where the spice takes over. I'd have to say that it's not on the level of the legendary Airigh Nam Beist, but it's still a very enjoyable dram. It's definitely a softer Ardbeg, and I can only imagine how great it would be at cask strength, but I can completely understand why they would bottle this one at 46% instead. If you're a fan of Ardbeg Ten you'll find this one familiar in overall style, and I'm betting you'll enjoy it - as I did. And an Ardbeg of this age is undeniably quite a special thing.

So is / was it worth the asking price? For an Ardbeg fan, yes, I think it is / was. As with all of their limited releases it'll inevitably be compared with the Ten, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, which still offer great value, but as with all of their limited releases such comparisons are basically pointless. They're very different whiskies, and are a different style of Ardbeg that is still very worthy of their cult following.

Cheers!

Talisker Storm Whisky Review!

Storm was the first in the range of recently launched non-age statement Taliskers, hitting the shelves back in 2013. It's been a few years since I last tasted it, so this'll be fun!

Talisker Distillery, located in the village of Carbost on the Isle of Skye, produces some excellent whisky. The 10 Year Old, 18 Year Old and higher strength 57 North are tasty and dependable drams, and the 8 Year Old Cask Strength from 2018's Special Releases was fantastic. You would think that five core range bottlings (including the yearly Distiller's Edition and 25-year old) and the occasional limited release would be enough, and it would be for many distilleries. But Talisker go way beyond that, adding the non-age statement Skye, Storm, Port Ruighe, Dark Storm and Neist Point expressions to that line-up. In fairness the latter two are travel retail / duty free exclusive, but there are also a few older releases above all of these that I haven't included in the list. All of which adds up to a massive range of single malts for what is a medium-sized distillery that produces around two-three million litres of spirit (no official figures are available) per year. But that's not all folks, Talisker malt whisky is also a major component of quite a few blended whiskies, most famously the Johnnie Walker range - particularly Black Label. The distillery's marketing department is certainly kept busy, or maybe the marketing department is keeping the distillery team busy!

As part of Diageo's Classic Malts the distillery gets plenty of time in the limelight, and although Lagavulin isn't far behind these days Talisker would still have to be the most well-known of the  bunch. Adding to that fame is the "Made by the Sea" tagline, and the fact that despite being overwhelmingly matured on the Scottish mainland rather than on Skye, many of the distillery's whiskies do have an undeniable maritime / coastal character. Some more than others, though. Another point that adds to that fame is the reasonable pricing of the venerable 10-year old expression, which has been around for a long, long time now and can be seen sitting on the back bar in pretty much any decent bar or pub around the world. That sort of market penetration gives a product quite the following over time, and each time the distillery releases a new younger bottling the whisky world holds their breath, pitchforks at the ready, awaiting the news that the 10-year old has been discontinued. But - touch wood - it hasn't happened yet, and the 10-year old is still a dependable single malt that can be found for a reasonable price, albeit significantly higher than it was a few years ago, since it now has to sit above a couple of those newer non-age statement bottlings that I mentioned above. If you ask me Talisker has always been a great introductory light-medium peated whisky, but it seems that some feel differently, thinking it too intense for the novice palate, which they addressed by introducing milder and more tame expressions. And many other distilleries have done the same in the last few years.

That said, that may not be the case here. The idea behind Talisker Storm is that it's "an intense Talisker, with a profoundly maritime character". Which translates to it being more intense than the venerable 10-year old, and to achieve that they've used a mix of refill and rejuvenated (shaved & re-toasted or re-charred) American oak casks - so probably all of the ex-bourbon variety - of different ages. Thankfully they've largely stuck to their traditional bottling strength of 45.8% ABV in this expression, and most of their bottlings for that matter, but on the flip-side the vast majority of Talisker whisky is chill filtered and pumped full of E150a artificial colouring, and Storm is no exception to that. After being rather disappointed with the non-age statement Game of Thrones Talisker bottling (House Greyjoy, reviewed here), and not being a huge fan of the travel retail expression Dark Storm, both of which were partly- or fully-matured in heavily charred refill ex-bourbon casks, I'm interested to see how this one fares. Will this Talisker be more of a Talisker? Or will this 'Storm' turn out to be more of a light breeze? Time to find out...

Talisker Storm, NAS, 45.8%. Skye, Scotland.
Matured in rejuvenated (shaved & re-toasted / re-charred) and refill ex-bourbon casks. Chill filtered, artificially coloured.

Colour: Amber-gold. Does look paler than the 10-year old actually, possibly less added colouring?

Nose: A little flat and bitter to start with. Salted caramel, some baked apple and marzipan. The Talisker salt & pepper are there, but they're a little muted and there's much more salt than there is pepper. Some damp wood, or even driftwood comes through with extra time, as does some stewed stone fruit with a slight bitter note behind it.

Texture: There's that intensity that they were talking about, wouldn't have guessed that from the nose. Light-medium weight, relatively clean but with a little peat & chilli spice.

Taste: A little sour, more salt and pepper here, plus that salted caramel, and dry charred oak rather than the damp driftwood. There's a nice dry earthy peat to this Talisker, plus a solid pinch of dry chilli flakes, and a very slight iodine note.

Finish: Medium length. There's more of that bitterness here, plus a little tangy sourness. Charred fresh oak and a little pepper, and that dry earthy peat adds a little more depth. Slight bitter liquorice and stewed stone fruit to finish, and that slight iodine note again.

Score: 2.5 out of 5. Not miles away from a 3 though.

Notes: I do get the extra intensity in the Storm compared to the standard 10-year old, but overall this is still quite a mild whisky. Which is fine of course, but an Islay and/or cask strength drinker won't find this to be an intense dram and could be a little disappointed after reading the marketing blurb. But it does have a decent depth of flavour for what is a relatively lightly peated, crowd-pleasing malt. If it had been non-chill filtered and perhaps slightly higher strength then things would've been turned up a notch, but the distillery has stuck to their guns on both counts. It does have that notable maritime influence that a lot of the more recent NAS Taliskers (particularly the 'Skye' expression) are missing, and there's more of the pepper & peat that Talisker fans tend to look for. Storm is priced around 10% below the 10-year old in Australia, which is probably the right level for it, but the 10 often dips under that when it's on special, so it would be my pick between the two in that scenario.

If you're wanting an actual intense Talisker, you'll be better served by the 57 North. Well, assuming you can't find last year's 8-year old Cask Strength special release, that is. Despite being considerably more expensive, if you're after more volume of flavour and intensity the 57N is the bottling to go for. And the higher strength (57%) justifies the price jump. Which reminds me, the recent announcement of Diageo's Special Releases for 2019 included a 15-year old cask strength Talisker, and although the details are yet to be shared, if the aforementioned 8-year old is anything to go by the 15 will not be one to miss. Exciting stuff!

Cheers!

Octomore Farm 9 Year Old Whisky Review!

A private (and technically independent) single cask bottling of 9-year old Octomore! This should be very interesting!

I say technically independent, because this whisky was still distilled, matured and bottled at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, so it's more of a private bottling than a typical independent bottling. What we have here is a single cask Octomore, named after James Brown's Octomore farm where the Islay-grown barley used for the _.3 expressions comes from, and where the water source for Octomore is located. The farm is a couple of miles south of the distillery in the village of Port Charlotte, which is also where the old Loch Indaal Distillery warehouses, owned & used by Bruichladdich, are located. As you can probably guess these casks are owned by James Brown himself (the Islay farmer, not the soul singer!), and they're sold & distributed by Derek Mather, the owner of Artisan restaurant in Wishaw (south of Glasgow) and a die-hard Bruichladdich fanatic. As far as I can find there have only been a few bottlings of Octomore Farm released, all single casks at cask strength, and all from ex-bourbon casks, and you'll find a bottling of Bruichladdich's 50 ppm spirit, named LochIndaal and basically never seen as an official bottling, under the same name. Bruichladdich officially bottle three different single malts, the un-peated Bruichladdich, the heavily-peated (40 ppm) Port Charlotte, and the super-heavily peated Octomore. But if you dig further into the independent and more obscure official bottlings you'll also find the LochIndaal spirit which is slightly more heavily peated than the heavily peated Port Charlottes. As far as I'm aware, aside from a mysterious 'Futures' bottling and a single distillery-exclusive Valinch bottling, all other Lochindaal bottlings have been private casks or independent bottlings. Forgive the digression there, let's get back to it!

Octomore typically uses super-heavily peated malted barley sourced from Bairds Maltings in Inverness, although the Octomore _.3 expressions (there have been four bottlings to date) have used Islay-grown barley which is transported to Inverness for malting, and sent back to Bruichladdich to make Octomore. Each batch of malt varies in it's peaty-ness, with the highest so far measuring in at a whopping 309.1 ppm which was responsible for the delicious Octomore 8.3. The second highest was the original Islay barley Octomore, the fantastic 6.3 that weighed in at 258 ppm and was released back in late 2014. That little beauty is still my favourite Octomore bottling to date, and it just so happens that the Octomore Farm bottling we're looking at today was distilled from that same batch of Octomore Farm-grown barley, peated to that same huge number of 258 ppm measured on the malt. It was also distilled in the same year (and probably the same distillation runs) in 2009, but rather than being bottled at 5 years of age it was left sleeping in it's single bourbon barrel-home for a further four years, before being bottled in 2018. That little factoid is also very exciting, because during the Bruichladdich warehouse tasting that I attended on my second Islay pilgrimage in 2018 one of the three casks tasted was an Octomore 6.3 'remnant' that had been left in the cask for nine years, and it was absolutely incredible. Quite possibly the best Octomore that I've ever tasted, in fact. On paper this private bottling should be along those same lines, so I have very high hopes for this one!

So, this Octomore Farm private bottling is a 9-year old single ex-bourbon cask, distilled from Islay barley peated to 258 ppm, and bottled at a cask strength of 61.8%. Being a Bruichladdich product (kind of) it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. The sample for this review came from a fellow whisky nerd who ordered a bottle of this very rare whisky while living in Europe, and was generous enough to share it on a recent trip back to Australia. Exciting stuff!

Octomore Farm 9-year old Octomore private bottling, 61.8%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled Feb 2009 from Islay barley peated to 258 ppm, matured in single ex-bourbon barrel #336, bottled Mar 2018. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Medium-gold.

Nose: Interesting! It's fresh, sweet & sour, and very malty. And surprisingly subtle! There's crumbly, chalky, earthy peat, fizzy lemon squash, a bit of aniseed - maybe fennel seed, actually (perfume-y aniseed-like flavour but fresher & lighter than liquorice). That trademark 'laddie lactic sweetness is there too, like a lightly sweetened cream cheese.

Texture: Heavy weight, very thick & rich, and peaty of course. There's a bit of heat, but this is a 9-year old whisky at nearly 62%, so that's to be expected.

Taste: Big & peaty, but again it's fresh, sweet & sour, and remarkably malty. More fizzy soft drink but it reminds me more of cola here rather than lemon. Some red chilli heat, more fennel, and a huge chunky, bitter, earthy peat that isn't going anywhere.

Finish: Long, of course! That big chunky, earthy peat is still there, as expected, and so is that aniseed / fennel seed, and a beautiful gristy, smoky malty-ness. Slight vanilla, some blow-torched bitter lemon peel, that fizzy freshness again, and some lemon cream cheese cake frosting / icing.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Whoa, this is fantastic! Really, really good stuff. Call me crazy, but it does very much remind me of Octomore 6.3 - which is high praise- and that 9-year old "cask remnant" 6.3 from last year's warehouse tasting at the distillery. Which does make sense, but I didn't really expect it for some reason. There are some differences though, a bit more heat and a bit less cask influence in this bottling I'd say, but it's absolutely delicious regardless. This is a purist's Octomore, with no fancy cask finishing or exotic wine casks to be seen, just a beautiful peaty spirit with loads of Octomore and Bruichladdich character. There's a surprising amount of distillery character here actually - surprising because of the massive peat levels in play - and that remarkable fresh, malty, almost "clean" flavour that is present in this super-heavily peated whisky at nearly 62%. Which is the magic of Octomore of course, right here in plain sight. This single cask has reminded me just how fantastic 6.3 was, and now is, with a few more years of maturation under its belt. What a treat!

Needless to say, if you're a fan of this style of malt and you manage to stumble across a bottle of this Octomore Farm variant, you're going to want to buy it. And if you don't, I will! Very well done to all of those responsible for this fantastic whisky. Please keep 'em coming, and if you could make them just a little easier to get in Australia, well that'd be great too!

Cheers!