Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist Whisky Review!

The polar opposite Ardbeg from last week's review, the raw and undercooked 5-year old Wee Beastie! This blast from the past is a very, very different beast. Or should that be beist? 

Airigh Nam Beist is something of a legend in modern Ardbeg terms. It only lasted three years, and was last bottled in 2008 before being replaced in the line-up by a vastly different whisky in the non-age statement Corryvreckan. The name Airigh Nam Beist, pronounced "Arry-nam-baysht", means 'shelter of the beast' or 'shelter of the animals' in Gaelic. It is the name given to the small freshwater loch (lake) that sits between Ardbeg's water source, Loch Uigeadail, and the dam built at the distillery. But this whisky is also known by another name: Ardbeg 1990. Despite being bottled over three years from 2006-2008, and the bottling year is listed on the back label, all Airigh Nam Beist was distilled in the same year. They don't have exact age statements printed, but if your bottle has 2006 listed on the back label as the bottling year, you have a 15-16 year old Ardbeg, and if it has 2008, you have a 17-18 year old Ardbeg official bottling. Which prior to 2019's release of the 19-year old Traigh Bhan was a very rare thing, and is still nothing to be taken for granted. But Airigh Nam Beist is far more special, because while Traigh Bhan was distilled in the year 2000 under the distillery's current owners, the distillery was a very different place a decade earlier. Following a closure from 1981-1989, the distillery was revived under the ownership of Allied Distillers, but only operated for roughly two months of the year for the next 6-7 years. What's interesting there is that Allied also owned another distillery down the road that you may have heard of, named Laphroaig, and rather than employing separate crews to run Ardbeg over those two months of the year, they sent the Laphroaig distilling team up the road to Ardbeg to keep the lights on. And it just so happens that one member of that Laphroaig distilling team at the time was none other than Mickey Heads, who would go on to manage Ardbeg from 2007 up until his recent retirement. 

As you may imagine, the distillery wasn't particularly well-loved during this time and was in a sorry state of disrepair before it was closed again in 1996. But it was purchased by Glenmorangie - which would later be purchased by Moet Hennessy, and then became part of the LVMH empire - a year later, who brought the distillery back to life and have ensured that those green doors won't be closing again anytime soon. Stocks from those pre-Glenmorangie era are now quite rare, since alongside the two month per year operating status Allied Distillers had no qualms about selling quality casks to independent bottlers, which is not the case with the current owners. Bottlings from Gordon & MacPhail and Cadenheads from this era were particularly numerous, but they also seem to be drying up these days with pricing to match. Official bottlings though are even harder to find. Airigh Nam Beist had been on my bucket list for quite some time, until I stumbled across the chance to try it at a fantastic member's only whisky bar in London named Soho Whisky Club. Among the mind-blowing array of bottles adorning the walls at this small, expertly-staffed and quite reasonably priced (even with membership factored in) bar was one last generous dram of Airigh Nam Beist, bottled in 2008. And it was instantly cemented as one of my favourite official Ardbegs to date, among the likes of the 2009 Supernova, Ardbog and Alligator. Oh and the original Ardbeg Day bottling from 2012. 

Airigh Nam Beist sits apart from those younger, more typically-Ardbeggian bottlings, thanks to it's age, the casks used (all were first- and second-fill bourbon cask matured), and also it's comparatively lower bottling strength of 46% ABV - but 'ANB' doesn't suffer because of that, not at all. This is not a big, peaty bruiser of an Ardbeg, instead this is a more refined, balanced, creamy whisky that still shows it's smoky, coastal roots, but in a softer and more inviting way. It's even very different to the likes of the recent 'Twenty Something' bottlings that were distilled post-1997 under the current owners, and the much older 17-year old bottling that was distilled in the early 1980s and discontinued in 2004. In my opinion, it belongs right next to those older whiskies on the top shelves of Ardbeg's past bottlings. These days a bottle of Airigh Nam Beist will not be easy to find, and prices have jumped over the last couple of years. You'll be looking at 220-290 GBP on the British auction sites - which with the buyer's premium, shipping and if you're down under, the ridiculous Australian customs charges will make for one very expensive bottle. I'd estimate the total at around $800 AUD landed, which is quite the hefty sum. But for a now-legendary Ardbeg that was discontinued twelve years ago and has not been repeated since, you can still see the value there. Particularly when the recent Twenty Something bottlings hover around the $900-1200 mark at the same strength. The sample for this review came from a generous mate who decided to crack this 2008 bottling open at a recent session - and although the cork broke on contact, it was something of a show-stopper! 

Ardbeg 1990 Airigh Nam Beist, NAS (but see below) 46%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled in 1990 and bottled in either 2006, 2007 or 2008 as stated on back label (so 15-18 year old depending on bottling year). Matured in first- and second-fill bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Full gold, tinges of copper. 

Nose: Sweet, creamy and coastal. Sweetened vanilla cream, sweet & sour pineapple chunks, black pepper and natural lime juice. Warm tar and sharp coastal notes - seaweed, hot sand, damp rocks and drying sea salt. A hint of dark toffee and sweet white (honeydew) melon in the background. 

Texture: Medium weight. Refined & inviting, creamy & oily. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Creamy vanilla, some ashy, spicy peat and brine. More black pepper and a touch of that pineapple again but it's sweeter here. The lime juice again too but it's more subtle here. Charred, caramelised oak as well, with a little salted butter. 

Finish: Long length. That creaminess is delicious! Vanilla and sweet & sour pineapple again, and the black pepper. Sea salt and oyster shells. A touch of Ardbeg's classic tarry natural rope and a hint of liquorice, with that spicy, ashy peat carrying through 'til the end. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Well. Fantastic. Love it. Quintessentially Ardbeg, but with that gentler, creamy character joining in and adding a new dimension. There's still plenty of peat and plenty of coastal Islay-ness to play with as well, and there's no shortage of... well, anything actually! The classic Ardbeg DNA of sweet fruit, black pepper, lime & tarry ropes are all there - and that's missing from some of their modern / current bottlings if you ask me. But it's also so inviting, and even refreshing. A more poetic writer might call it restorative. And it's just as delicious as I remember it being from that all-too-brief encounter in London three years ago. There can't be many casks of Ardbeg from the early 90s left now, which is a shame, because that Laphroaig crew certainly seem to have done a great job! And thank god (or the spaghetti monster, or the whisky gods) that the casks that they used were still good quality, and that at least some of those casks were left alone so that the new owners could give them their due when the time finally came. 

So, is Airigh Nam Beist "worth" the secondary prices that it commands in 2020? In my opinion, as an Ardbeg lover that had yet to properly discover whisky when this stuff was still readily available, the answer is going to be yes. You'll probably need to be an Ardbeg lover to agree with me there, but this is really a piece of the distillery's history, and it's from a darker period in that history when things weren't looking so great - although you'd never be able to guess it from the experience that 'the Beist' provides. And it won't be repeated. Get your whisky hunting gear out folks!

Cheers!

Ardbeg Wee Beastie Whisky Review!

Ardbeg are the latest Islay distillery to join the 'single digit age statement' movement, and it's a permanent addition to their core range - so it's not going to go mental like the limited editions do. Well, hopefully...

Ardbeg have been quite busy over the last couple of years, between the recent An Oa core range bottling, two batches of the Traigh Bhan 19-year old annual release, and a few 'Twenty Something' older bottlings, plus the pending release of a core range 25-year old bottling, they haven't exactly been resting on their laurels. That's not including the two versions of the annual 'Ardbeg Day' bottling - with the pinot noir cask-finished Blaaack being the latest iteration, and I'll be surprised if we don't see more Supernova bottlings in the near future - just remember that they're no longer all distilled from 100+ ppm malted barley, they're now a mix of that super-heavily peated spirit and casks of regular 50-55 ppm Ardbeg that the distillery found to be 'particularly peaty'. Thankfully, the venerable 10-year old, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan are still with us as well, and let's hope they don't go anywhere! Ardbeg 10 Year Old is still one of the best bang-for-buck Islay single malts out there, particularly when you consider the bottling strength of 46% and the lack of chill filtration or added colouring - there really aren't many distilleries that can tick all of those boxes at the same price level. They're also working on a significant expansion of the distillery, including the addition of a second pair of stills which are expected to fire (or should that be steam) in to life in mid-2021. Adding to all of this excitement is the recent arrival of a new Distillery Manager, ex-Lagavulin manager Colin Gordon, following the retirement of Mickey Heads, although Mickey will continue to chair the Ardbeg Committee fan club / loyalty program. Colin has also managed the Port Ellen Maltings, so it's safe to say that he knows his malt!

As is the case with everything Ardbeg does, much marketing noise was made about this most recent addition to the distillery's 'core range' of permanent expressions. The email broadcasts, video advertisements, press releases, pre-release reviews and social media promotion were all coming thick & fast. But the news was good, because most of the 'Ardbeg haters' have always had one major sticking point that they can't seem to get over: the lack of age statements in the distillery's core range of permanent bottlings. Indeed, prior to this release and aside from the aforementioned Traigh Bhan and 'Twenty Something' annual releases - which means they're not core range bottlings - the only permanent release of age-stated Ardbeg was the 10-year old. Personally I've never had a huge concern over NAS whiskies, provided that the whisky itself doesn't suffer (as in decent strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour) and that the quality is left intact. And with Ardbeg's NAS bottlings that does tend to be the case - in fact they're probably one of the better performers around by that criteria. But as more distilleries have ramped up production to meet the ever-increasing demand that has exploded over the last decade or so, and as the spirit made under that increased production comes of age, we're seeing more distilleries from all walks of Scotland bringing age statements back into the fold. And regardless of what that number is and regardless of the other qualities of the whisky itself - remember that age and maturity do not always go hand in hand - it does seem to be working. Although I'm sure those same Ardbeg detractors will dust off their soapboxes when the next NAS Committee Release is announced!

Wee Beastie is a 5-year old single malt, which Ardbeg claim to be the youngest they've ever released, although technically 2004's 'Very Young' cask strength bottling was also 5-years old - there's no exact age statement on that one, but as printed on the label it was distilled in 1998 and bottled in 2004, which constitutes a 5-6 year old age statement in my book. The distillery also claims that they set out to produce "the rawest, smokiest Ardbeg ever", which to the casual observer / imbiber would be expected from a 5-year old peated whisky, even before the whisky's name is mentioned or the pretty and very emotive packaging is seen. But that's not necessarily the case, and in my opinion this is far from the smokiest Ardbeg ever made. It is certainly raw, though, and it does offer a very different experience from the rest of the distillery's range, but this is no massive peat monster. Wee Beastie was matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, but there's no mention of whether of not they were first-fill casks. In my opinion, based on smell & taste, there weren't many (if any) first-fill casks of either variety in this mix. And that's fine, of course, and it probably adds to the punchy, raw, unapologetic nature that they were looking for with Wee Beastie - and that approach certainly works for the likes of Lagavulin 8-year old. It also helps this 5-year old whisky stand further apart from Ardbeg 10, which uses a roughly 50/50 mix of first- and second-fill ex-bourbon casks. Wee Beastie is bottled at a slightly higher strength of 47.4% ABV, and is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Stock has finally landed in Australia in decent quantities, where it's selling for around $85 AUD - and that puts it on par with the 10-year old, which instantly puts a rather large obstacle in its path.  Let's see how it fares. 

Ardbeg Wee Beastie, 5-year old, 47.4%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, presumably refill. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Medium-gold. A good shade darker than the 10yo. 

Nose: Hot tar, fresh plastic / silicone (e.g. tupperware), wood ash and sour lemon juice. Green banana and smoked unripe pear. A bit of a prickle with hot chilli flakes and a little table salt, and some green pepper. Hints of hessian sacking and dark chocolate underneath. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Sweet, raw and immature - spirit-led, which is not usually a bad thing, but in a raw, under-cooked way here. Tongue-tingling heat but it fades quickly. 

Taste: Raw, sweet and straight-forward. Thinly flavoured, if that makes sense. Thin, runny caramel, a little vanilla, some heat rub (e.g. deep heat), more green pepper, verging on green chilli flakes. Hot tar again, more plasticky pear & banana, and some vegetal peat and more hessian sacking underneath. 

Finish: Medium length, raw & herbal. More hessian and table salt, sweetened plasticky fruit and sour lemon. A little ashy smoke, vanilla, and a hint of salted butter. Dried green herbs and green pepper again, turning slightly bitter. 

Score: 3 out of 5. Almost a 2.5, but extra breathing time (both in the glass and in the bottle) helped. 

Notes: Well it's certainly improved after a month of breathing time in the bottle. That plasticky, raw, under-cooked thing has been subdued a little, but it's still very much there. There's only a little discernible cask influence, which does make me think it was mostly refill cask-matured, and there's not a lot of character or depth & complexity on offer. So this Ardbeg is very spirit-led and quite clean, which is not not normally a bad thing, but without the balancing effects of cask influence or the calming effects of prominent peat influence, and if you ask me it also hasn't had quite enough time in casks for the extractive and oxidative processes to do their thing - see Lagavulin 8 or 12, Port Askaig 100 Proof, or even the regular Caol Ila 12 for good examples of what I'm talking about there. I've had plenty of younger whiskies (and some that weren't old enough to be whisky) at higher strengths that had more depth and more character, and were more rounded - and they didn't have this raw, green, thin, under-cooked thing that shows through in the Wee Beastie. So this is not age-ism by any means. But to be fair, most of those did cost significantly more than $85 AUD! 

The casks just haven't added much depth, balance, richness or maturity to this young whisky like they could have if there were more first-fills involved - see the aforementioned 'Very Young' and 'Still Young' Ardbeg bottlings (which were both cask strength) for reference if you can find them, or the likes of Kilchoman's Machir Bay and/or Sanaig for example - in fact Kilchoman even use the same malt as Ardbeg and the pricing is much closer to Wee Beastie, so they're perfect examples. Now I need to try some Ardbeg new make spirit, just to see how much difference the five years have made to the Wee Beastie. It's not exactly a beast, in my opinion, but it's certainly raw, powerful and clean. For my money though, it doesn't challenge the 10-year old's crown. Ardbeg 10 is still the leader of the sub-$90 (AUD) Islay category, and let's hope it stays that way!

Cheers!

Octomore X4+10 Whisky Review!

Not the most romantic name for a unique and totally bonkers Octomore release, is it? Bruichladdich do love their acronyms and codenames! Although this one is nice & easy to decipher. 

Octomore X4+10. The 'X4' refers to the distillation, while the '+10' refers to the age. An experimental, "why not?" whisky from the kings & queens of "why not" whisky! This is a quadruple-distilled Octomore that has been aged for 10-years. As you can probably guess, quadruple-distilled means this whisky was run through the stills at Bruichladdich four times. Each run 'purifying' the spirit, and concentrating the alcohol, and 'lightening' and 'refining' this single malt. Speaking of which, yes this single malt whisky is still single malt whisky, since the final distillation strength was a ridiculous 89% ABV after those four distillation runs - and the maximum 'legal' distillation strength for all Scotch whisky is 94.8%. That's a concentration of ethanol that is normally reserved for a column / continuous stills rather than pot stills. This is not the first time that Bruichladdich have played around with quadruple-distillation, and it's not even the first time they've done this to an Octomore - that honour went to the "Discovery" Octomore that was bottled for the annual Islay Festival Feis Ile back in 2014. That one was bottled at 7-years of age, and it was watered down to a whopping 69.5% ABV. This second take was bottled in late 2019 at 10-years of age, at an equally-whopping 70% ABV - most likely cask strength, but that's not officially stated. That makes X4 the highest strength whisky that Bruichladdich have ever bottled, and it's not likely to be beaten any time soon. In fact it'll also be one of the highest strength single malt Scotch whiskies ever bottled! This has been labelled as an Octomore "Concept" bottling, but this is not an OBA - Octomore Black Art - Concept bottling - that title has only been seen adorning that one legendary, incredible whisky (reviewed here) from 2017, so far at least, as was the orange tin that housed it. Instead this is Octomore Concept 0.2, X4+10. 

As was the case with OBA, there were a total of 3,000 bottles of Octomore X4+10 released, and they too sold out very quickly through the distillery's own website. Controversially, they were also 500ml bottles, although I don't see why that's still a controversial thing - pricing not considered, smaller bottles equals more bottles in the release, which means more people (hopefully) get to buy the whisky, which means more people get to try the whisky. And don't forget that regardless of that initial price, the same whisky in a full-size bottle would be considerably more expensive; no distillery or bottler is going to give you another 200ml of whisky for nothing. Bruichladdich also put their Valinch distillery-exclusive bottlings in 500ml bottles, and likewise the legendary OBA, with quite a few other distilleries following suit. Maybe I'm just more comfortable with it since I'm in Australia, where a huge proportion of Australian whisky goes into 500ml bottles. You just need to factor that in to your consideration of the pricing, and if it still makes sense to your personal budget, and what you consider to be good or reasonable value, then you suck it up and move on. If the same bottle in 700ml form would be well over your usual budget, then you either make an exception based on how much you want said bottle, or you move on. Speaking of pricing, X4+10 was priced at 150 GBP from the distillery, and when you factor in shipping (usually another 30 GBP to Australia), local customs charges and taxes that makes for a very expensive bottle of whisky - and yes, that's with the 500ml thing factored in. Needless to say, within days of this whisky selling out from the source, and before many had even been shipped, there were countless listings on auction sites, European Ebay sites and other resellers (including bottle shops) that were attempting to flip their bottle/s for a profit which ranged from massive to obscene. And unfortunately, most of those were probably sold. So we can't really blame the distillery for wanting to make a few extra pounds on their limited, unique releases, can we? 

X4+10 was distilled somewhere around 2008-2009, which would have put it in-line with the Octomore 6-series. But it evidently wasn't, or at least it wasn't distilled from the same batch of malted barley, since most of the 6-series used 167 ppm barley, except the legendary and incredible 6.3 which used 258 ppm barley grown on Islay at Octomore farm. X4+10 used 162 ppm barley, which as far as I can recall doesn't match any of the previous bottlings of Octomore - so it may have been distilled from it's own specific batch of malted barley. But that ppm number doesn't matter in this case, because this whisky will not taste like any other Octomore, or any other peated whisky. That quadruple-distillation will have refined, 'purified' and effectively 'lightened' the spirit to the point where it was very different to all of those that had come before it - except that aforementioned Feis Ile bottling, at least. The phenolics will most likely be gone, or at least undetectable. But has this whisky also been stripped of it's character? We'll have to find out, but being a Bruichladdich product, I doubt it - although it is certainly guaranteed to be different. Adding to the effect of the quadruple-distillation on those phenols is the ten years of maturation, which for X4+10 has been in a combination of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and ex-sweet wine casks. Anyone who has tasted the previous iterations of 10-year old Octomore will attest to them being obviously different to the 5-year old versions, with the peat influence softening a little and becoming more integrated and/or refined - which is generally what extra time in active casks does to peat influence. Now all of this begs the question, if this quadruple-distilled spirit wasn't going to taste like an Octomore, why use Octomore barley, and why make an Octomore like this at all? Scroll back to the opening sentence of this review for the answer: "why not?"! The sample for this review came from a sample swap with a fellow whisky nerd, and since I would likely have never tasted this whisky otherwise, I have to say thank you! Time to clear our sinuses...

Octomore X4+10, 10-years old, 70% ABV. Islay, Scotland.

Quadruple-distilled from barley peated to 162 ppm, matured in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and ex-sweet wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 3,000 bottles. 

Colour: Bright gold. 

Nose: Extra breathing time required here, of course! Once the expected spirit-y heat pulls back, there's a sweet, fruity whisky underneath! Blowtorched dried orange segments, burnt butter-toffee, some sweet tropical fruit - think melon and under-ripe banana. Sweet & sour vanilla yoghurt - almost the 'laddie trademark lactic 'funk', but it's not quite the same here, it's 'cleaner' and more straight-forward. Freeze-dried strawberry, a few puffs of icing sugar and light, airy honeycomb (a.ka. cinder toffee). 

Texture: Heavy weight. Somehow big & thick and agile & delicate at the same time. There's definitely heat, but it won't kill you in small doses - hopefully!

Taste: New make spirit, but it's a thick, mature, oxygenated version of new make spirit. More burnt butter-toffee, some leafy floral herbs (heather?), more burnt dried orange and thick hot chilli oil - with extra macerated red chilli for a garnish. A touch of thick honey on lightly burnt toast. Hot embers too - as in, you've swallowed some hot embers!

Finish: Short-medium length. The spirit-y heat is still leading, with that hot chilli oil, plus a touch of raw ginger and that heathery floral note again. Hint of aniseed too, and a touch of raisin-y sweet grape must - almost PX-like, or what I imagine paxarette would've been like. That'll be those sweet wine casks showing themselves, then. Spirit-y almost the whole way through, but that's par for the course!

Score: 3 out of 5. 

 

Notes: This is a tough whisky to score. On the one hand, the quality is immediately obvious, and the fun factor is undeniable. But on the other, it's completely insane and is nothing like any whisky that has come before it, and I'm not sure that it should be repeated, for many reasons! As expected, this is nothing like any 'regular' Octomore - if there even is such a thing - that has ever existed. What's impressive though is that there is definitely still Bruichladdich DNA on show, the distillery character is there - just in a different guise from what we're used to. And it makes the delicious but very scarcely peated Octomore 10.2 feel like a peat monster in comparison! This whisky could've been called anything other than Octomore, but I can see why they've left that part alone - the challenge, the mystery, and the 'why not' ethos does also occasionally include messing with peoples' heads!

The experiment certainly does seem to have worked, and I'm glad the distillery left this bonkers creation in casks for a decade to settle down - although they probably did that just to see what would happen! If you're drinking X4+10 for pure enjoyment, then you'd probably want to add water. But there's also something alluring about it's purity and power at full strength that makes for one hell of an experience, provided you're accustomed to high strength whiskies to begin with. For the sheer fun factor, this is a fringe-dwelling Octomore to remember!

Cheers!

Machrie Moor Fingal's Cut Sherry Finish Whisky Review!

This distillery exclusive Machrie Moor sounds like Arran's challenger to Uigeadail's peat + sherry crown, and something tells me it's going to be a cracker!

Machrie Moor is the name given to the heavily peated single malt made by Arran Distillery, located at Lochranza on the Isle of Arran off Scotland's west coast. Arran has been around for a while now, having started production in late 1995, but they've recently opened a second distillery on the opposite end of the island, named Lagg, and the original distillery is now named Lochranza Distillery - but still produces Arran single malt. Construction began back in 2017, before the first Lagg spirit flowed from the stills in March 2019 - which means that their own whisky won't be ready until at least March 2022. Interestingly, Lagg has been classified as a Lowland distillery by the Scotch Whisky Association's official regions, while the original distillery at Lochranza is part of the 'Highlands & Islands' region. That has happened because while the sister distilleries are only twenty miles apart, the new site is below the fault line that separates the Highlands from the Lowlands, which runs right through the Isle of Arran. It's still an island distillery of course, but since that isn't officially a separate region (it should be) and is lumped in as part of the Highlands, it's been placed in the Lowlands classification. As an aside, if Campbeltown had lost its regional whisky classification - which would have happened if Glengyle Distillery had not been brought back to life - it would also have become part of the Lowlands region. And just like those produced in Campbeltown, the whisky that Lagg Distillery produces will be nothing like the typical / expected Lowland style of malt, because Lagg is going to be producing heavily peated spirit! In fact Lagg will be taking the reins for all of the peated spirit to come out of the island, while the Lochranza distillery will move to producing only unpeated spirit. The stills at Lagg are also pointedly different to Arran's, and are designed to produce a heavier, denser style of spirit along with that heavily peated barley. What's also interesting here is that they'll be using malted barley peated to 50 ppm, which is a substantial increase from the 20 ppm malt that is used in the current crop of Machrie Moor whiskies. 

The new distillery has been named in honour of the old and short-lived Lagg Distillery that operated from 1819 to 1840, which was located roughly a mile from where the new distillery has been built. I quite like this idea of naming new distilleries and new whisky brands after deceased distilleries, particularly when they're close to the original location. It brings more of the local history into perspective, which otherwise would be fading into oblivion all the faster. While the Lagg visitor's centre has already started selling bottled new make spirit and private casks, the spirit itself is a few years away from becoming whisky. So for now the peated single malts from the Isle of Arran are still made in Lochranza, and are still branded as Machrie Moor - named after the island's peat bog. I last tasted a Machrie Moor here back in 2015, with the NAS Cask Strength being quite a tasty - although bitey - young, spirit-driven whisky. I must admit that I've not tasted any of the unpeated Arran single malts since their recent rebrand, so things could have changed, but at the time I much preferred the Machrie Moor range to the unpeated offerings, which had left a little to be desired for my tastes. But the distillery is five years older now, they have more core range bottlings and less obscure cask finishes in the range, and the new, more simplistic packaging - which many distilleries are now shifting towards - is quite attractive. 

This particular Machrie Moor is a distillery exclusive bottling, but it's not exclusive to the Lochranza distillery where it was produced - it's exclusive to the Lagg Distillery's visitors centre, sold as a bonus to visitors while they wait for Lagg's own whisky to mature. This is a cask strength, heavily peated, Oloroso sherry cask finished single malt, and while it's not officially stated rumour has it that this bottling was distilled from 50 ppm malt, so it's probably a little closer to the eventual Lagg whisky than the regular & existing Machrie Moor whiskies will be. To my knowledge this is the first sherry-influenced Machrie Moor bottling, with the standard 46% and cask strength bottlings being ex-bourbon (probably refill) cask matured. There are two distillery exclusive bottlings of Machrie Moor 'Fingal's Cut' on offer at Lagg Distillery; this cask strength sherry cask finish priced at 60 GBP, and a quarter (125-litre) cask finish which is bottled at 46% and is priced at 45 GBP. So very reasonable pricing for what are quite unique new ventures for the Isle of Arran, and both are naturally coloured and non-chill filtered. This sherry cask finish has been aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks for around 8-years and then finished in Oloroso sherry casks for 6-12 months. While the name Machrie Moor refers to the island's peat bog (although no local peat or barley is used), the name Fingal's Cut is a reference to a giant warrior / warrior giant from Celtic mythology named Fingal who apparently used to tether his dog to one of Arran's many standing stone circles found in said peat bog. Which has me wondering, was the dog also a giant, or did the giant have a regular sized dog? The artwork on the box seems to point towards the latter, but I like the idea of a giant having a regular sized dog... Speaking of which, I do like this bolder packaging and busier design, although there is a touch of 'Highland Park Viking' to it. Regardless, this heavily peated cask strength whisky from Arran promises to be something of a giant in it's own right!

Machrie Moor Fingal's Cut Sherry Cask Finish, NAS, 54.4%. Isle of Arran, Scotland.

Produced at Arran Distillery (Lochranza) from 50 ppm malt, exclusive to sister distillery Lagg Distillery's gift shop. Finished in Oloroso sherry casks. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Dark bronze-red. 

Nose: Rich & deep. Dark rum, Christmas cake with vanilla butter frosting / icing. Sweet raisins, orange peel, roasted almonds and walnuts. A little cherry and nectarine, and some dark chocolate. Dry, earthy, ashy peat. Creamed honey and dry spices. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, deep and dark, rich & peaty. Touch of heat but it works. 

Taste: Soft entry that builds quickly with big spicy, dry, chunky and earthy peat. Raisins soaked in dark rum. Dried cherry, nectarine again and more dark chocolate. Sweet vanilla icing / frosting again and some lemon. 

Finish: Medium length. Roasted nuts again, and the peat turns to embers but adds a big wave of ashy smoke. Cherry syrup, more orange peel, touch of leather and more vanilla. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Tasty stuff, very different from the other Machrie Moor bottlings, and there's certainly plenty of peat - not on the level of the Ardbeg like I first expected, but definitely more than I found in the regular Machrie Moor range. The finish does drop off quite quickly, but the nose and palate do help to make up for it. It's not a big bruiser either despite the numbers, and once that big chunky peat passes it's quite gentle. A velvet fist in an iron glove, then? There's still plenty of flavour, and it's quite well balanced with neither the sherry nor the peat being allowed to take over completely. I'd have to peg this as my favourite Arran official bottling to date, but I must admit that I haven't revisited their unpeated range in quite some time - I have some very good independent bottlings from the likes of the SMWS, though. 

I guess this is a moot point now with Lagg coming online, but why haven't we seen more 50 ppm Arran? They must have produced more spirit than just the two bottlings that are available (and both exclusive to the distillery shop at Lagg). I understand keeping it as an incentive for the visitors to the new distillery, but it's only going to muddy the waters when Lagg starts releasing whisky, since they'll be doing similar work. So let's get it out there please! 

Cheers!

Copper Fox Distillery, Part 2: The Malts!

Following on from last week's review of the four Rye spirits in the range from Copper Fox, here's the other half - the Malts!

I covered most of the details on Copper Fox Distillery in the previous write-up (see here), so I won't repeat them all here. In summary, these are American whiskies (not whiskeys) produced in Virginia on the east coast of the United States, and they are distilled from floor-malted grains that are kilned with fruitwood smoke, before being aged in refill ex-bourbon barrels with added wood chips - usually a mix of oak, cherry wood & apple wood. This second part of the two-part write-up will be looking at the four single malt whiskies produced by Copper Fox, all double-distilled in pot stills from locally-sourced 100% floor-malted barley which has been lightly wood-smoked (to 12-18 ppm) using apple wood and cherry wood. The maturation process is similar to the rye whiskies, where they're filled into refill ex-bourbon barrels with added wood chips from a combination of both oak and fruitwoods, before then being finished in more refill ex-bourbon barrels. As with the ryes these are non-chill filtered whiskies, and no e150a colouring is added. The range includes the Original single malt, which is bottled at 48%, the Peachwood single malt, where the barley is smoked using only peach wood and the wood chips added to the maturing casks are a mix of peach wood and oak. Then we have an Apple Brandy Cask finish and a Port-style Wine Cask finish, both bottled at 50%. 

The Copper Fox range is imported into Australia by Perth WA-based NTD Spirits, headed by whisky industry and whisky scene veterans Nathan & Thao DeTienne. As with the rye whiskies in the previous post, rather than giving each a full review and score in my usual style I'll go with shorter, quick-fire reviews since there are quite a few to get through, and since they are quite a departure from the whiskies that I usually review. Instead we'll go through the specifics of each whisky, then the tasting notes, and then my general thoughts on each expression. Let's get to it!

Copper Fox Original Single Malt, NAS, 48%.

Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with apple wood & cherry wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & apple wood chips, finished in another refill ex-bourbon barrel. 

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Light, syrupy sweet and fruity. Some overt wood spice, almost a fresh timber. A little sweet stone fruit, melted butter and vanilla biscuit-y malt. 

Texture: Medium weight, syrupy and sweet. Warming, no raw / spirit-y heat. 

Taste: Sweet syrup, tinned fruit salad in more syrup. More melted butter and strong sweet vanilla essence. Some more spicy, fresh & quite juicy timber. 

Finish: Short length. Still very sweet, with more stone fruity and vanilla essence behind that fresh wood. A slight puff of soft wood smoke towards the end. 

Notes: You'll need to like strong sweetness for this one, as you can probably guess from those tasting notes. The wood influence is quite overt as well, but it doesn't dry things out like you may expect, instead it just boosts the spice and vanilla while the syrupy, almost cloying sweetness carries on. Certainly no rough edges here or obvious youthfulness here though, this Original Malt drinks like significantly older whisky - thanks to the 'chipping', no doubt. 

Copper Fox Peachwood Single Malt, NAS, 48%.

Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with peach wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & peach wood chips, finished in another refill ex-bourbon barrel. 

Colour: Copper. Considerably darker. 

Nose: Slightly drier and spicier. Hint of tea tree oil which is interesting, plus some fresh wood and a distant BBQ smoke. Cream and lightly floral notes behind. 

Texture: Medium weight, still sweet but more relaxed with more character. No heat again. 

Taste: Cream, more tea tree oil, sweet stone fruit - I'd say nectarine more so than peach, but both are there. A nice spicy wood smoke balancing things out and keeping that sweetness in check. 

Finish: Medium length. More robust here than the Original, wood spice and that soft smoke adding depth again. Dying wood fire embers and caramel sauce to finish. 

Notes: That smoke and spice has really added depth to this one, and has helped balance out that sweetness and also the wood influence. The tea tree note is interesting, almost like a eucalyptus but not as sharp or "forest-y", for lack of a better word. That could possibly be coming from the spirit itself, or perhaps those peach wood chips since I haven't had much to do with peach wood. Aside from knowing that it works well in BBQ smokers, anyway! Once again this is quite a mellow, mature whisky, but with more character and better balance than the Original. 

Copper Fox Apple Brandy Cask Finish Single Malt, NAS, 50%.

Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with apple wood & cherry wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & apple wood chips, finished in apple brandy casks. 

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Buttery, cinnamon spicy and malty, with a dollop of cream and a slightly sour green apple note - like sour green apple chews / lollies. 

Texture: Medium weight, more spicy and smoky first, then turning sweet. Slight touch of heat to this one. 

Taste: Sweet creamy arrival, then wood spice - cinnamon again. Thick and spicy wood smoke, and a touch of spearmint. More of those sour green apple lollies. 

Finish: Short-medium length. That spearmint and a touch of hot cinnamon & clove first, then sweet cream again and some spiced apple pastries (streusels). 

Notes: I would've expected more apple here, but it's a relief to find it quite subtle. That sour 'green-ness' is quite refreshing too, while that thicker and spicier smoke adds more character. There's a little more spirit-y heat here, but the sweetness is dialled down so that works in it's favour. 

Copper Fox Port-style Wine Cask Finish Single Malt, NAS, 50%.

Distilled from 100% floor-malted barley that has been lightly smoked with apple wood & cherry wood. Aged in refill ex-bourbon casks with added oak & apple wood chips, finished in port-style fortified wine casks. 

Colour: Dark bronze, almost red. 

Nose: Rich and decadent. Plum and cherry, spent coffee grounds and a little grape syrup. Sweet cream and ginger caramel fudge. 

Texture: Medium weight, spicier and richer, smokier too but only for a moment. Touch of heat again. 

Taste: More cherry, a little plum and peach. Sweet cream again and what reminds me of those Asian-style coffees spiked with sweetened condensed milk. Slight grape tannins and wood spices too. 

Finish: Medium-long length. More Vietnamese / Asian-style coffee, turning into spent coffee grounds. Wood spices, more sweet cream and a little grape must. Slight wood smoke in the background. 

Notes: The port influence is definitely there, but it feels like the influence of the wood itself is kept in check - no bad thing. The smoke is heavier here on the nose, but is fleeting on the palate. Certainly the richer of the four, probably the more 'conventional' as well. 

Overall Notes: Four very different whiskies here! All are quite sweet, particularly the Original which was a little too cloying for my tastes. My personal pick of these four single malts would be the Peachwood, with that stone fruit and smoke working well, and without the massive sweetness. The Apple Brandy Finish and Port Finish aren't far behind though. In fact these are all enjoyable whiskies, provided you like wood-forward and sweet malts - if not, I'd say that you'd be better served with the rye whiskies from Part One. All are quite easy-drinking too, although I do miss that dry spiciness that the Rye whiskies showed. 

So the overall winner, in my book, would be the Cognac Finish Rye whisky. It was one of the better cognac cask-finished whiskies that I've tasted, and I think the more assertive rye grain helped with that, again keeping the sweetness and wood influence balanced which is the name of the game. That said, Copper Fox certainly seem to know what they're doing, and it's great to see this brand making its way to Australian shores - like I mentioned at the beginning, I'd normally be very wary of whiskies that have undergone this sort of 'modified maturation'. But these were quite reassuring, they aren't trying to cheat the system so much as give it a hurry-along. Which isn't so different from those who are taking advantage of hotter and drier climates to do the same thing. Nothing to be wary of here - they're definitely worth seeking out, in my book. 

Cheers!

Copper Fox Distillery, Part One: The Ryes!

Copper Fox is a relatively new American distillery and whisky (not whiskey) & spirit brand that is located in the small town of Sperryville, Virginia, around 90-minutes drive from Washington D.C. on the east coast of the United States. Like many of the modern American distilleries, they're doing things differently to the 'old world', but Copper Fox are certainly taking that a step further. When the distillery opened in Sperryville back in 2005 it also brought the first new malting floor and kiln to be built in the United States since the 1930s, and they're used to malt and kiln all of their locally-grown rye and two-row and/or six-row barley. That makes Copper Fox the only American distillery to floor-malt 100% of their own grain! And what happens inside that kiln is probably the biggest deviation from 'the norm' and perhaps the biggest innovation as far as the spirit part of the process is concerned: Copper Fox are smoking their grain with wood from local fruitwood trees! So wood smoked barley and/or rye, mainly using either cherry wood or apple wood, or a combination of both. There are a couple of distilleries doing similar things there, although to my knowledge Copper Fox are the first to use fruit wood trees. But that's certainly not where the deviations end. Copper Fox spirits are double distilled in pot stills, before being filled in to refill ex-bourbon barrels for maturation. 

Now that part is fairly standard, but joining the spirit in those less-active refill barrels are wood chips, both from oak and fruitwood, usually charred and of the apple wood or cherry wood varieties. That obviously breaks the Scottish whisky regulations - in fact Compass Box did a similar thing when they first released their Spice Tree blended whisky, which unfortunately resulted in them being threatened with litigation after complaints from larger members of the Scotch Whisky Association. Obviously Copper Fox, being in the U.S and not making Scotch whisky, is not governed by such rules, nor do they need to follow the regulations for bourbon whiskey which require charred virgin oak barrels made from American white oak - although they've recently launched their first bourbon whisky which of course does meet those requirements. Now I must admit that I am normally a little dubious about these 'accelerated maturation' methods, and there have been many, many brands and companies who have tried to cheat the natural process of maturation, and they're usually very secretive about their methods - and most tend to fail altogether. But Copper Fox aren't doing that, they're still ageing in wooden casks, while giving the tired casks a boost with those added wood chips, a practice which is fairly common with many other wood-influenced alcoholic drinks (particularly wine), and they're doing so for lengths of time that would be familiar to Australian whisky drinkers. Those wood chips obviously give faster and more assertive wood influence to the maturing spirit, so these whiskies are not aged for particularly long - but that's also balanced out by the use of refill barrels, also used again for cask finishing in some cases. As an added nice touch, none of Copper Fox's products are chill filtered or have added e150a caramel colouring. 

Copper Fox is new to Australia, thanks to new spirits importer and distributor NTD Spirits - the brainchild of husband & wife team Nathan and Thao DeTienne (hence the initials), based in Perth, Western Australia. Nathan & Thao are not exactly strangers to the whisky industry in Australia, and the larger national whisky scene. In fact they're two of the most passionate and dedicated whisky people you could meet, and they've been largely responsible for the thriving and enviable whisky scene over in Perth. From being part of the team behind the Dram Full whisky Facebook group, to organising countless events and tastings - not least of which is one of Australia's greatest annual whisky festivals, Whisky Freedom, which launched back in 2016 and has only grown more impressive and more successful since - as I and many others always knew it would. I've had the pleasure of attending twice, and this is not a show to miss - I just wish Perth was a little closer to Brisbane! To save you the Google search, it's a flight time of around five hours, being on the opposite side of our rather large island. Since they had so much spare time in between doing all of this, and while working, Nathan & Thao decided to take the plunge and launch their own spirits importing & distribution business in 2019. Their impressive portfolio now includes Black Gate Australian whisky & rum, Corowa and Craft Works Australian whiskies, the independent bottlings of Scotch whisky from The Single Cask, and they are WA's sub-distributor for the spirits from Milk & Honey Distillery in Israel and the recently-arrived Black Tot rum. That's a great line-up for such a young operation - and of course Nathan & Thao's reputations and earlier endeavours preceded them - and it's a great testament to, and reward for, their hard work!  

Nathan was kind enough to get in touch and send over samples of the complete Copper Fox range, albeit with no obligation or expectation of a review - but I couldn't just sit down and taste nine samples of a new brand for my own selfish enjoyment, could I? So I'm going to do the very unselfish thing - I'm going to write about them at the same time! Since Nathan has been so generous (some might say excessive!) I've decided to split these tastings into two parts, in the interests of palate-preservation and tipsy-ness prevention: four rye whiskies in part one, and then four malt whiskies in part two. I won't be scoring these in my usual method since there are quite a few to review and they're quite different from my usual subject matter, so instead we'll go with a quick-fire review of each, with specific details, tasting notes and thoughts on each before summing up at the end of each post. So let's get into part one of Copper Fox: the Ryes! 

Copper Fox Original Rye, NAS, 45%. 

1/3 malted barley, 2/3 rye, all floor-malted and lightly smoked with cherry & apple wood, aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak wood chips, then finished in refill bourbon barrels. 

Colour: Full amber. 
Nose: Classic dry spicy rye grain, if you've tasted rye bread or other rye whiskies it'll be familiar. Some spearmint, caramel chews, and warming buttery & nutty wood. 
Texture: Fresh & balanced, medium weight. Slight heat around the edges. Wood influence is evident but not heavy or overpowering. 
Taste: The dry rye spice again, caramel chews and dusty dry spices - wood spice & baking spice. A little menthol and a slight earthy smokiness. 
Finish: Medium length. Dry roasted peanuts, a little cooking chocolate and more baking spices before the rye grain comes back to the fore. 
Notes: We're off to a very solid start! The rye grain is first & foremost here, as it should be in a rye whisky, and there's a decent dash of character along with it. Not the most complex whisky perhaps, but this is a young, reasonably priced rye that does smell & taste both richer and older than you may expect. Very solid. 

Copper Fox Sassy Single Malt Rye, NAS, 45%. 

100% malted rye, floor-malted and light-to-medium smoked with Sassafras wood (hence the "Sassy"), aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak chips, then finished in refill bourbon barrels.

Colour: Full amber again. 

Nose: Softer, and the wood smoke is very evident. Soft anise, or even fennel seed, rich toffee, soft wood smoke, light touch of menthol, and nutty oak. 

Texture: Medium weight. Creamy, deeper and richer. Softly smoky, no heat to this one. 

Taste: Creamy and fudgy, toffee chews and smoked tea leaves (lapsang). Sweet caramelised wood. The rye spice is still there but it's more subdued here, and it works well with the smoke. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Now the spice comes through more strongly, with some soft-yet-spicy wood smoke enveloping the whole shebang. Rich toffee, more herbal and anise notes, and nutty rye. 

Notes: Very different, we're stepping up in richness and complexity, and that lovely dry, soft, spicy smoke is very much present throughout without overpowering - it's adding depth. If memory serves this is the first smoky rye whisky/whiskey that I've tried to date, and it's definitely the first wood-smoked rye that I've ever tried. And it works! 

Copper Fox Port Style Barrel Finish Rye, NAS, 50%.

1/3 malted barley, 2/3 rye, all floor-malted and lightly smoked with cherry & apple wood, aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak chips, then in refill bourbon barrels, then finished in ex- port-style fortified wine barrels. 

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: More fruit & spice, a little grape tannin, and dark grape must. Slightly buttery and nutty, fruit & nut chocolate in fact, with a big step up in sweetness. 

Texture: Medium weight, oily and syrupy - much sweeter here. Slight heat around the edges but I wouldn't have picked any increase in strength. 

Taste: Rich, sweet and fruity. Really quite sweet, actually, almost cloying. definitely a 'port bomb' version of a rye whisky. More grape must, a little stone fruit - plum & nectarine, and a touch of peaches & cream. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Tobacco leaves, a little drying spice, black pepper and a touch of light earthy smoke. A touch of the rye grain in the last gasps but it's subtle. 

Notes: Definitely a sweeter, fruitier and syrupy sweet dram. The rye grain is a little hidden here, but I'd say fans of wine cask whiskies and sweet wines will find this rye up their alley. That sweetness is quite intense in fact, and it does seem to shorten the finish. 

Copper Fox Cognac Finish Rye, NAS, 50%.

1/3 malted barley, 2/3 rye, all floor-malted and lightly smoked with cherry & apple wood, aged in used bourbon barrels with apple wood and oak chips, then in refill bourbon barrels, then finished in ex- cognac-style spirit casks for four years. 

Colour: Deep bronze. Significantly darker. 

Nose: Buttered lightly burnt toast, with rich caramel sauce and a touch of vanilla bean ice cream. A couple of mint leaves nearby, and someone's smoking a cigar in the distance. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Richer again, more complex. No heat to this one. 

Taste: Rich, thick caramel sauce, the cognac cask influence really showing through. Some burned orange zest, buttery caramel, a touch of spicy rye grain and more lightly burnt toast. Soft ashy smoke around the edges. 

Finish: Medium length. Menthol and wood spice to start, and soft spicy smoke, then that rich buttery caramel again. Spice and toasted wood coming through to finish. 

Notes: Well that's a cracker. Why aren't more distilleries using cognac casks? When done well it can be excellent (Port Charlotte CC01 and Starward's NWP Cognac cask for example). And this Copper Fox shows that rye whisky is no exception to that generalisation. The cognac cask finish has added loads of richness, without dumping on the syrupy cloying sweetness. But this would still make for a great dessert dram - with the drying dye grain and soft smoke adding even more depth. Really impressive stuff!

Overall Notes: Four very solid rye whiskies here from Copper Fox. The port finish, surprisingly, was my least favourite of the bunch, but fans of sweeter wines and wine casks will probably find it more familiar. It also had the least evident rye grain character, which personally is what I look for in any rye whisky/whiskey before anything else. The Original and Sassy have that in spades though, and the added depth from the wood smoke in the Sassy is really quite interesting! As you've already guessed though, the Cognac cask finish is my pick of this bunch. That fantastic richness, without completely overwhelming the rye or the spirit, is really spot on - in my humble opinion. 

So, four impressive ryes to ring in Part One of this Copper Fox review! I'm already looking forward to getting in to the malts next week, although I must admit that I'm certainly warming to rye whiskies of late - thanks in part to Belgrove and a couple of others. And these four from Copper Fox certainly do tick that box. I highly recommend trying one, particularly if you're a fan of rye whiskies - these are quite unique and very interesting. 

At the time of writing, the Copper Fox range is available in Australia from Perth-based whisky specialists and other online stores such as Copper & Oak, The Spirit Safe and Odd Whisky Coy among a few others, and pricing is quite reasonable at $140-220 AUD depending on the bottling - obviously the port-style & cognac-style finishes at their higher bottling strengths are on the higher side of that scale. For those further afield, Google is your friend! 

See you next week for Part two: the Malts!

Auchentoshan American Oak Whisky Review!

At the time of writing, this is one of the cheapest single malt whiskies on the shelves in Australia. Alarm bells? Not necessarily, but there's only one way to find out...

Auchentoshan is a Lowland distillery, and is the closest distillery to Scotland's second largest city of Glasgow. Although it's technically outside the city limits, the distillery is only ten miles from Glasgow's CBD. Owned by Beam Suntory, and pumping out just under two million litres of spirit per year, their main claim to fame is that they exclusively triple distill 100% of their production. Originally founded in 1817 - but known as Duntocher Distillery until 1834 when it was sold and renamed as Auchentoshan - pronounced "Ock-in-tosh-in" which translates to "corner of the field". Interestingly, due to its strategic location on the River Clyde, it was actually the only still-operating whisky distillery to be directly damaged by German bombing raids during World War II, when one of the distillery's warehouses was bombed and subsequently exploded in 1941. Auchentoshan was completely rebuilt in 1969, and was then sold on to Morrison Bowmore in 1984, becoming part of the Suntory empire ten years later. The distillery seems to be trying to get into different markets in recent times, with a new emphasis on mixed drinks and cocktails, and more low-priced bottlings plus a couple of "Bartender's Malt" limited bottlings being released which were designed and blended by bartenders.  

There are plenty of distilleries in the Lowland region these days, thanks to the relatively recent additions of Ailsa Bay (housed within the Girvan grain spirit plant), Annandale, and tiny independently owned Daftmill. There are more on the way as well, with both Clydeside Distillery and Glasgow Distillery now producing spirit in Glasgow itself, Ardgowan Distillery on the way, and the re-opening of Rosebank Distillery well on track in Falkirk, among others like Wemyss' Kingsbarns Distillery and family-owned Lindores Abbey Distillery in Fife. The Lowlands region is known for producing a light, sweet, easy drinking spirit, and unlike many of the other Scotch whisky regions most of the Lowland producers do actually stick reasonably close to that profile, with the exception of Ailsa Bay who are actually producing a peated spirit. Although more Scottish distilleries used triple distillation in the past, famously including Rosebank, and many other distilleries such as Benromach and Benriach have released limited edition or experimental bottlings, Auchentoshan is currently the only Scotch whisky distillery to triple distill 100% of their production. Triple distillation is generally associated with Irish whiskey rather than Scotch, but much like double distillation is not exclusively used in Scotland, triple distillation is certainly not exclusively used in Ireland. The practice of course refers to the spirit having been distilled three complete times, resulting in a lighter, more refined and more "pure" and higher strength new make spirit - to an average of 81% in Auchentoshan's case. Personally, I'm generally not a fan of triple distilled whiskies, although there have been a couple of exceptions - most notably Benromach Triple Distilled and Springbank's Hazelburn Rundlets & Kilderkins. But both of those are from very characterful distilleries and were bottled at higher-than-standard strengths, plus one was lightly peated and the other was matured in smaller casks, so they're not really typical triple distilled whiskies.

This particular example, Auchentoshan American Oak, is just that. It replaced the Auchentoshan 'Classic' in 2014 as the entry-level NAS expression, but is (surprisingly) actually matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. This one can be found retailing for as little as $55 AUD on Australian shelves, including our 10% GST, which is a very low price. There are a few other single malts at or around that price level, but not many, and for the reference of international readers, that's only $10 AUD more than we typically pay for Johnnie Walker Black Label. When you consider the amount of duty & tax that is included in that price, the whisky itself is extremely cheap. As you'd expect at this price point, it's bottled at the minimum strength of 40% ABV, and is both chill filtered and artificially coloured. To be fair, this bottling is not aimed at the hardcore malt whisky enthusiast, and at that price point it can be found in many cocktail lists in bars around the world. But I'll be reviewing it neat, as I do every whisky that is featured on this blog, so we'll see how it goes. It's also undergone a packaging and label refresh recently, so I've shown the older version below, since this is where the sample came from - the whisky itself is unchanged, however.  

Auchentoshan American Oak, NAS, 40%. Lowlands, Scotland.

Triple distilled, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Chill filtered, artificially coloured.

Colour: Amber. Not as neon orange as some, so possibly less added colouring here. 

Nose: Light, woody and a little sour. Sweet vanilla, powdery apples, and freshly sawn wood. A little harsh raw spirit (acetone) around the edges. Some ripe pear, lemon-flavoured boiled lollies, and some sandalwood spice. 

Texture: Light weight, lightly flavoured and strangely woody. A little harsh and rough as well, but still easy-drinking. 

Taste: More fresh wood, vanilla and sour spirit-y acetone. Some more pear and dried lemon behind. 

Finish: Short length. And surprisingly hot for 40%. There's still some vanilla and sandalwood, and it turns a little bitter and sour with more acetone, but that's about all she wrote. 

Score: 2 out of 5. 

Notes: Nothing amazing - although I've had worse - but it's cheap, and I can see it working well for a novice or complete newcomer to single malts - which is probably a large part of the target market for this dram. The other part of the target market would be cocktails and mixed drinks, which is where it would be better suited. It's quite rough and obviously young & under-matured, but there's also an assertive woody note that I don't find particularly pleasant. It's not tasty toasted or caramelised oak notes either, it's more like freshly sawn & almost green / sappy wood, which is a little odd. In any case, at this price point this Auchentoshan is really competing with low- to mid-range blends, and is probably going to convert some low-end blend drinkers to malts. I can see low-priced Irish whiskey drinkers liking this one as well. For that matter it's also aimed at cocktails and mixing, so we do need to take that into account and lower our expectations. 

Personally though I'd rather spend the extra $10-15 for a bottle of Loch Lomond 12 year old or Glen Scotia Double Cask. They're both bottled at 46%, aren't chill filtered and provide a very good level of flavour and character for their asking prices. At this price point I'd prefer one of the reasonably priced blended whiskies that are out there, like Naked Grouse, JW Black Label or even Dimple. 

Cheers!

Highland Park Mjolner Australian Exclusive Whisky Review!

An Australian-exclusive 14-year old cask strength Highland Park that was 'hand selected for' the Norse-themed Mjolner bars (named after Thor's hammer) in Sydney and Melbourne by the Australian importers. 

A cask strength Highland Park official bottling is a rare thing on this side of the planet. At least until the recently-announced NAS Cask Strength lands in Australia - and it's bottled at a whopping 63%! This one uses the same packaging and design as the Single Cask Series, which is nicely understated compared to most of their core range and limited editions or travel exclusive bottlings - of which there are very, very many. The single cask range tends to be bottled for specific European and American bottle shops, bars and duty-free stores, and they only make the trip down under if someone buys one at auction or imports one privately. But despite that similar packaging it's not a single cask bottling, and there were a relatively large number of bottles released for an Australian exclusive single malt - which can be slow-burners as far as sales go, and this one is still readily available. The Mjolner bars are rustic, meat-heavy Norse- and Viking-inspired bars/restaurants located in Sydney and Melbourne, so it was probably inevitable that they would wind up doing something with Orkney's Viking-obsessed Highland Park. Before you ask, yes they do have a Mjolner hammer, but it's actually a custom-made whisky decanter! I believe it was given to them by Balvenie a few years ago now, but that's still a very cool thing. Since I'm not in Sydney or Melbourne I'm yet to visit either of their venues, but the concept does sound good - it could've easily become overdone, even chintzy or cringeworthy, but from what I've seen they have a more 'authentic' and high-end feel to them. Also, yes it should be spelled Mjolnir, but I'm assuming they've replaced the 'i' with an 'e' to avoid any potential legal issues.   

I've already said plenty about my dislike for most of Highland Park's ladled-on Viking marketing. In my experience so far it actually seems that their less Viking-heavy whiskies - the likes of Full Volume, Dark Origins and some of the age-stated core range - are often the hidden gems of their extensive (overcrowded) arsenal of bottlings. Likewise the two examples of their Single Cask Series that I mentioned above were also quite impressive, although I've seen mixed reports on some of the other examples - but that's both the beauty and the curse of single cask whiskies after all. Thankfully these bottlings are much more simple in their presentation - a simple canvas / jute sacking-type bag, and an understated bottle with small labelling and the bare essentials of the details. Which is great to see, especially on the limited edition bottlings that are properly limited since they could've gone the other way. I do have one complaint though, if you'll indulge me. This bottling, and also those of the Single Cask Series, do not mention chill filtration anywhere. They all appear to be cask strength and most have age statements, most also give cask details, and Highland Park do not use e150a colouring as a rule - although it'd be nice if they'd state that on the packaging & label, too - so this is a rather glaring admission. There have been a few official bottlings that do actually declare that they're non-chill filtered - Dark Origins and the recently announced Cask Strength, for example - so it's not a blanket rule for them to not mention it. The distillery has made plenty of mentions of the fact that they chill filter at higher temperatures (which means less aggressive filtration) than most who still use this practice, but they're still chill filtering the vast majority of their whisky. Whether that still applies to these limited cask strength bottlings or the single cask series I can't say, but you'd certainly hope that it doesn't. 

This particular limited cask strength Highland Park has been matured for 14-years in 'predominantly' European oak sherry casks, plus some American oak sherry casks and refill casks, and 1,731 bottles were released which is quite the number for an Australian exclusive. Many of those will have been allocated to the two Mjolner bars of course, and probably also many of the parent company's other whisky-focussed venues like Eau de Vie and Boilermaker House. It was bottled in mid-2019 at a cask strength of 56.5% ABV, retails for $210-220 AUD which I would say is reasonable, and as mentioned above it's still readily available. This bottling is back to the standard mix of roughly 20% Highland Park's own floor-malted lightly-peated barley and 80% unpeated commercially malted barley sourced from the mainland - which used to come from the Saladin box maltings at Tamdhu, but that won't be the case anymore. The end result is a very light peat influence, particularly with Orkney's famously light, floral and heathery peat. Highland Park has always been a suitable introductory whisky for those who are new to peat, but don't go expecting anything close to Islay or the other peated Hebridean malts. The sample for this review came from a generous mate who decided to take a punt on a bottle. Time to put the hammer down and see if we're worthy, then?

Highland Park Mjolner 14-year old, 56.5%. Orkney, Scotland.

Bottled for Mjolner bar/restaurants, Australian exclusive. Matured in European and American oak sherry casks and refill casks. 1,731 bottles. Unknown chill filtration, assumed natural colour.

Colour: Amber. Darker than the above photo appears. 

Nose: Spiced fruit mince - stone fruit, raisins, red apple, orange peel. Old leather and orange schnapps, very Christmas-y. A little nippy (alcohol nip) if you get too close. Some furniture polish, dark caramel fudge and baking spices - clove in particular and some five-spice. A bit of dried sage too (woody savoury herb). Touch of dried raspberry and heathery smoke in the background. 

Texture: Medium weight, rich & warming, but with some definite aggressive spirit heat to it, heading towards harsh. 

Taste: More leather and dried fruit - more red apple here too. That raw alcohol heat is a shame, it's distracting and is killing off some of the other more subtle flavours. Dark caramel fudge with a touch of honey and boozy plum pudding - before it's set alight. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Vanilla fudge this time, and the drying alcohol heat leaves wood spices and a flash of savoury honey-roasted nuts. Soft, dry peat smoke which is floral and heathery as expected. A touch of almost-rubbery bitterness before the dried fruit, apple, and orange schnapps return. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: Undoubtedly would've scored higher without that distracting raw spirit heat. It's hinted at on the nose, but then really shows itself on the palate and overstays its welcome through most of the finish. Yes, this is a cask strength whisky, but it's also 14-years old which is not exactly young, and the 'predominant' first-fill casks should've helped as well. I've tasted whiskies half this age and at higher strength that are far less aggressive. So the nose is certainly the highlight of this Mjolner bottling, but this is still a tasty whisky with some great flavours and plenty of character. It's a darker, slightly "dank" and more aggressive style of Highland Park that I'm not sure I've come across before. This whisky would certainly go well after a Christmas dinner - just have the air conditioning pumping if you're in the southern hemisphere, and a have big glass of water on the side regardless of climate - adding a couple of drops to the dram doesn't have much of an impact either. 

There's decent value for money on offer here too, provided you don't mind a more aggressive whisky with some raw heat to it. If you can get past that, this is a rewarding and tasty dram that shows a different side of Orkney with plenty of punch. I can see it working well during a meat-heavy meal as well, or even in a boilermaker with the accompanying beer helping to cool things down. Which would probably make it ideal for Mjolner, then. 

Cheers!

Clynelish 8 Year Old Single Malts of Scotland Whisky Review!

My first bottling from Single Malts of Scotland, and one of only a few independent bottlings of Clynelish that I've tried. This should be interesting!

Single Malts of Scotland is one of three independent bottler whisky brands put forth by Elixir Distillers (formerly Specialty Drinks), the London-based company owned by Sukhinder Singh and his brother Rabjir, the owners of founders of The Whisky Exchange, one of the world's greatest liquor retailers - if not the outright greatest. Single Malts of Scotland, or SMoS for short, was the first of those brands when it was first launched in 2002, followed by Elements of Islay and later Port Askaig, and now Black Tot rum. While SMoS has typically bottled single cask, cask strength Scotch whiskies, more recently they've dabbled in 'small batch' bottlings drawn from handfuls of casks that are known in the trade as 'parcels'. While still limited bottlings, they're obviously much more widely available and more budget-friendly than their single cask cousins, with simplistic packaging and with the 'Reserve Casks' range also being bottled at 48% ABV rather than full cask strength. There have been three 'parcels' of these Reserve Casks bottlings so far, each drawn from 'a maximum of eight casks', being mostly on the younger side, and largely coming from the usual suspects for independent bottlings: the likes of Diageo's Caol Ila & Clynelish, plus the usual 'unnamed Orkney', and a few others. Single Malts of Scotland is not imported into Australia, so the bottle that I'm reviewing today came from 'across the ditch' in New Zealand, from Christchurch's Whisky Galore - which would have to be another of the world's greatest liquor retailers. Before you ask, yes, it was intercepted by Customs on the way over, and yes, there was a relatively hefty excise and duty bill to pay - in comparison to the original purchase price at least, which was a ridiculously cheap $105 NZD, or around $97 AUD. I can't say what the final landed cost was since it was combined with another bottle, but at a guesstimate it would've been around $160-170 including its half of the shipping. So not terrible, but not quite the bargain that it would've been. But that's the price we pay for importing spirits into Australia, and it's not likely to change any time soon!

This particular Reserve Casks bottling is from their second parcel / second lot of bottlings, and was distilled at Diageo's Clynelish Distillery in the Northern Highlands - specifically in the village of Brora (yes, that Brora), around 90-minutes drive north of Inverness. One of Diageo's 'Classic Malts', Clynelish is known and loved for its fruity, waxy style of spirit, which is believed to stem from an oily build-up in their feints receiver - they discovered that after a thorough deep clean, then found that the waxy characteristics had been removed from the spirit! They now empty the receiver for cleaning, and then tip the contents back in before the stills are fired up again to keep that distinctive character intact. There are only a few official bottlings of Clynelish single malt out there, with the 'flagship' bottling being the very enjoyable 14-year old that is the most accessible, and the distillery is also a major contributor to the Johnnie Walker blends - particularly the Gold Label variant. Independent bottlings are plentiful from the likes of Signatory Vintage and Gordon & MacPhail, and can sometimes be found in sherry casks which is something that the distillery owners don't generally offer. 

That's not the case here though, because this Single Malts of Scotland example was matured in five ex-bourbon casks, and based on the smell & taste I'm guessing they were first-fill. At 8-years of age this is the youngest Clynelish that I've tasted - well, depending on the age of the rather lacklustre Game of Thrones NAS bottling that probably isn't/wasn't much older. That was the one that some Australian collectors & flippers went nuts over (we're talking $600 nuts), and ended up with a lot of egg on their face when it eventually landed here for as little as $80 - and it turned out to be a bit of a flop. I must admit that this SMoS bottling was something of an impulse buy for me, since it suddenly became available when I was ordering that second bottle, but I'm a fan of Clynelish, and pretty much anything that Elixir release is a reasonably safe bet - some are better than others of course, but I'm yet to taste anything of theirs that has disappointed. As mentioned above, this one was bottled at 48%, without chill filtration or added colouring. Let's see if this bottling keeps that streak alive, shall we?

Clynelish 8-year old, Single Malts of Scotland, 48%. Highlands, Scotland.

Distilled 2010 & 2011, drawn from five ex-bourbon casks - presumably some first-fill. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Fresh, waxy and floral-sweet. Beeswax, fresh banana peels, lemon balm (e.g. lip balm) with extra lemon, and fresh floral sweetness. White (honeydew) melon and crisp pear, and some dry spices - sandalwood - with more time. Dry malty-ness in the background. Lovely summery nose. 

Texture: Medium-weight. Warm, bright & fruity, not as sweet or floral as the nose suggested. No heat. 

Taste: Dry spice again, sandalwood and some ground black pepper. Whole (unpeeled) under-ripe bananas, and more waxy lemon balm with extra lemon. A little dry herbal honey, a couple of vanilla malt biscuits, and a tiny hint of earthy peat heading in to the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Crisp pear and honeydew melon, and a refreshing drying salinity. Sandalwood again - woody aftershave / eau de toilette. Candlewax, a hint of that dry biscuit-y malt again, and some dried apricot. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Not the most complex whisky out there, but a very tasty easy-drinker that showcases the distillery style well, while being distinctly different from the official bottlings - which is one of the hallmarks of a good independent bottling, if you ask me. It's interesting to see a younger, fresher style of Clynelish here, but it still has most of the classic notes that we expect from the distillery - the wax, the floral & fruit, and the very subtle salt & tiny puff of peat to dry things out. There are shades of younger modern Bruichladdich here, and that's certainly a good thing! 

Was it worth those extra duties & taxes and the higher landed cost? I'd say so. Mainly because once you've tried (and enjoyed) the 14-year old official Clynelish, then there's a large gap in price before you hit most of the cask strength independent bottlings - and then there's another very large gap in price before you hit the higher-strength official bottlings. So this is something of a mid-way point, and it's a refreshing experience to try this youthful, bright & fresh expression of Clynelish. Some will probably baulk at the idea of paying more for a younger whisky at a similar strength, but when you want to get to know a distillery you need to try different examples at different ages, to see it from different angles. That's just part of the fun, and in many cases the younger whiskies will actually come out on top! 

Cheers!