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!