Coleburn 1979 29 Year Old (MacKillop's Choice) Whisky Review!

A 29-year old single malt, bottled back in 2008, from a distillery that closed in 1985, although the buildings still stand and the office & warehouses are now used by independent bottler Murray McDavid.

We whisky enthusiasts tend to romanticise the idea of closed and/or dead distilleries. Legendary names like Rosebank, Brora and Port Ellen are probably responsible for a large part of the allure. In fact all three of those dead distilleries are now being rebuilt and recommissioned by their respective owners. The resuscitation of Port Ellen is far behind the progress of the other two, although to be fair it's on a remote island and requires almost a complete rebuild, while Rosebank and Brora still existed to varying degrees - the latter has actually begun distilling again after almost forty years of silence, which is very exciting! Aside from those three legendary names there are plenty of distilleries that were closed in the latter half of the 20th century that have been sold, with the new owners then bringing them back to life. Benromach, Ardbeg, Bruichladdich, Glendronach and Benriach come straight to mind as great examples that were suffering from the neglect of their previous owners but are now thriving. Then we have recognisable and highly regarded distilleries that were closed in the same period and have been converted into housing or even demolished since; names like Banff, Convalmore and St. Magdalene / Linlithgow, to name but a few. Would that have happened if the (mostly) corporate owners had seen this current whisky boom coming before they pulled the plug? Who knows - it could have been cheaper to rebuild & recommission some of those rather than building brand new operations, but that's not a blanket rule since many were closed for operational reasons. Many needed major upgrades and major financial investment, or had unreliable water sources, or were logistically difficult. From there, even if we only look at the 1980s we're left with a long list of closed, repurposed and/or demolished malt whisky distilleries that were never really popular, have little-to-no hope of being brought back to life, and are now largely forgotten by all but the most hardcore of the malt anorak ranks. And of course, some of them just didn't produce particularly good whisky!

Most of those much-forgotten names produced only for blends, either for their parent company's brands or that of third parties. Here in 2022 in the continuing single malt boom it's easy to forget just how crucial blended whiskies have been for the success of Scotch whisky as a whole. While there are now dozens of independent bottlers and distilleries who only produce single malt whisky and do not sell to blenders, it's safe to say that without the demand of the blended whisky industry in the not-too-distant past many of those distilleries would have joined that list of their closed, repurposed or demolished brethren. And many of those independent bottlers would never have existed at all! Single malt whisky, particularly Scotch, is probably the "sexiest" aged liquor around these days, and it's been growing in leaps & bounds for quite a few years now. But while blends have not received the same level of attention or glory they are still a far, far larger market than single malt, and are the backbone of nearly all of the large whisky companies in Scotland. So what about those closed & dead distilleries that only really produced whisky for the blenders, and seldom (or never) released their own single malts? Are they worthy of your attention now? Well, maybe. These days most of them are only seen in independent bottlings that also have substantial age under their belts, and they're often single cask releases. Which says a lot really, because they're often freaks of nature. Single casks represent the exception rather than the rule, and they may not be a representation of the distillery's 'original' whisky which for whatever reason was never given much attention. 

There's no denying the emotional response that is invoked by drinking a single malt that will never be replaced, or one from a distillery that will never exist again, or one from a distillery that had shut its doors long before the drinker had even been born! But that certainly doesn't mean they're objectively great whiskies. My point here is that the few closed distilleries with now-legendary reputations have that status for a reason - although even then there are no guarantees with any particular bottling - while many of the unloved forgotten, repurposed or demolished distilleries have been forgotten, repurposed or demolished for good reason. But sometimes they're given the attention that they need to become good or even great whiskies, whether that be through the right cask selection or re-racking, or proper presentation (cask strength etc.), or just being from an unusually good spirit run, or more likely a combination of all the above, they can certainly be a great experience. On the other side of that coin, don't make the mistake of excluding or ignoring old blended whiskies purely because they're blended whiskies! So buyer beware. My advice is to do as much research as you can before dropping your hard-earned on an obscure dead distillery's whisky. 

The above precursor probably sounds like I'm about to absolutely destroy the whisky that I'm reviewing here. Not so! But this is certainly an example of a closed distillery that has been almost completely ignored and/or forgotten by the majority of drinkers, despite the original buildings being intact and having been repurposed within the industry rather than being converted into apartments. As far as I can tell the only real official bottling of Coleburn single malt was released back in 2000 as part of Diageo's Rare Malts series, which was the precursor to the company's annual Special Releases. There are still independent bottlings of Coleburn around, mostly from Gordon & MacPhail (including a recent 38-year old refill sherry cask), but the stock does seem to be drying up without so much as a single 'thoughts & prayers' post appearing on social media. Coleburn Distillery was founded in 1897 near the village of Longmorn in the heart of Speyside. The distillery's main claim to fame was being designed by Charles Doig, who invented the Doig Ventilator - more commonly known as a "distillery pagoda". Actually a practical structure that aids in the drying of barley in the kilns, these now-iconic shapes have become synonymous with whisky distillation in Scotland, and can even be found fitted to many modern distilleries that were never malted their own grain. 

Coleburn was sold to Clynelish Distillery Company in 1915, which later became part of DCL, which itself became part of United Distillers, which is now part of Diageo. The distillery survived the wholesale slaughter of 1983 which saw DCL close a whopping eleven Scotch whisky distilleries, but fate caught up with Coleburn two years later, and the stills were never heated again. While the buildings were largely left alone the site sat silent, occasionally being scavenged for equipment, with the distilling license expiring in 1992 and the site being sold off in 2004 to two brothers who had plans to turn it into a luxury hotel & entertainment precinct. Eighteen years later that still hasn't eventuated, but as mentioned above the warehouses & offices have been leased to independent bottler Murray McDavid. Coleburn was a large contributor of many lower-shelf blended whiskies, most famously Johnnie Walker Red Label. That probably won't tug at anyone's heartstrings, but I'm sure that demand kept the doors open for much longer than they would've been otherwise. Production at Coleburn wasn't particularly noteworthy and was typical of these quieter Speyside distilleries: unpeated, with two pairs of copper pot stills that were converted to internal steam heating in the 1960s, shortly before the malting kiln was decommissioned. And that's about all she wrote! The Coleburn single malt that we're looking at today is a single cask 29-year old from Mackillop's Choice, a small privately owned independent bottler based in Glasgow. I've had the chance to try a few Mackillop's Choice bottlings to date, and they've all been quite impressive. This one was distilled in February 1979 and bottled in May 2008, and while there are no cask details on the labelling I'd presume it was a refill ex-bourbon cask. What the labelling does tell us though is that it is non-chill filtered and natural colour, and bottled at a cask strength of 44.3% ABV. Let's get to it, shall we?

Coleburn 1979 29-year old, MacKillop's Choice, 44.3%. Elgin, Scotland.

Distilled Feb 1979, bottled May 2008. Single cask bottling but no cask number, cask type or number of bottles listed. Presumably refill ex-bourbon cask. Natural colour, non-chill filtered. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Dusty, malty, dry. Black pepper and red apples that are starting to brown. Some sawdust, aniseed and dried citrus around the edges. A bit of a nose prickle to it as well, which is surprising for nearly three decades of maturation and "only" 44.3% ABV. Dry grass and sweeter maltiness (e.g. Horlick's) with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Nicely oily, drying. Mild spirit-y heat that is a little distracting but not overly harsh. 

Taste: More dusty red apples, dusty gristy malt, sawdust, and a hint of dried lime. Machine oil, black pepper & a subtle earthy note. Touch of liquorice and dried raspberry.

Finish: Medium length. That mild-but-numbing spirit-y heat comes back through, before the black pepper and machine oils beat it back. Some charred wood & dried lime before the sawdust and that dusty red apple note finish things up. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely "old school" whisky. It's not the most complex or challenging whisky out there, and that mild spirit-y heat - still present after nearly three decades of maturation, remember - would mean that the spirit was probably quite rough to begin with. Which is what you'd expect from an unloved workhorse distillery that was really only producing filler for it's owners' blended whiskies, so timely output was more important than quality. But that lovely dusty, oily, fruity and malty character is quite charming, and very enjoyable. At times this Coleburn is reminding me of a Hazelburn, or maybe a heavier & younger Rosebank in a way, with the "old school" oiliness, earthiness and maltiness, but it's still firmly planted in Speyside with that dusty red apple character. 

Since this is my first Coleburn I don't have much of a frame of reference here, but I would assume that the distillery was rushing things, cutting a few corners and pumping out spirit to keep the owners & the blenders happy. And this almost-certainly would've been a rough & harsh whisky at a young age. It's important to remember that while a few had other reasons, a lot of these 1980s-era dead distilleries were targeted for closure / released from service for a reason! Still, this 29-year old single cask Coleburn from Mackillop's choice is great introduction to this dead distillery. It's a nice "old school" whisky experience without the need to break the bank on one of the more famous names that also met their end in those dark times. Thanks again to the owner for the sample!

Cheers!

Port Charlotte The Heretic Feis Ile 2018 Whisky Review!

My first Port Charlotte Feis Ile bottling, and also the 'last of the first' Port Charlotte - this bottling contains the last five casks that were filled in 2001, the first year of Port Charlotte distillation at Bruichladdich!

From memory this was also the first full-sized (700ml) Port Charlotte to be presented in the current bottle design & packaging, which has helped Port Charlotte finally get the attention that it always deserved. Across Bruichladdich's three "brands", the super heavily peated Octomore still gets the lion's share of the spotlight, and the unpeated namesake Bruichladdich has always been the flagship, but Port Charlotte is no longer left sitting in both of their shadows as it once was. Octomore in particular has changed massively over the last four years or so (since the 8-series, in my opinion), with a change in character and a drop in peat levels - both in terms of the ppm measurements which had always been Octomore's calling card, and more importantly in the levels of peat influence in the whisky itself. While four years is a significant amount of time, in Australia there's been a 20% price increase over that period, from $200 AUD for Octomore 8.1, which was older than most Octomore at 8-years old, to $240 for the 5-year old 12.1 that has only recently landed here - although bizarrely some retailers were recently charging a ridiculous $299 and seeming to get away with it. Meanwhile Port Charlotte 10-year old, which is bottled at Bruichladdich's standard bottling strength of 50% ABV, can be had for $100 AUD, and even the cask strength limited release Port Charlottes are far more affordable in comparison - when they officially make it down here at least, which 2020's OLC01 did not and 2021's PAC01 is still yet to arrive. As much as I love Octomore, if you ask me the former-underdog that is Port Charlotte offers far better value for money these days, and also more consistency in terms of quality between releases. It's great to see this underdog brand finally getting the recognition that it sorely deserved. And it's been quite a long road!

Back in 2001, soon after Bruichladdich was rescued and revived by Mark Reynier, Jim McEwan, Simon Coughlin & Co., the first heavily peated Port Charlotte spirit flowed from the distillery's famous tall pot stills. The malted barley used for Port Charlotte has always been peated to 40 ppm, which happens at Baird's in Inverness on the mainland, even with the Islay barley releases. That measurement puts it roughly in the same league as most of the other peated Islay distilleries, but this is not just another heavily peated Islay whisky. With the barley being malted over on the mainland - and therefore smoked using mainland peat - the character of the peat itself is quite different. And let's not forget Bruichladdich's long fermentation, and slow distillation in their tall stills using the same narrow cut points as their unpeated spirit (the same also applies to Octomore). So while the levels naturally vary between releases, the BBQ smoke, farmyard character and 'laddie trademark lactic notes that most of the good Port Charlottes show certainly separates them from the other Ileachs, often - but certainly not always - with less medicinal character as well. These are still coastal, phenolic whiskies though, and it's important to remember that Bruichladdich mature 100% of their whisky on Islay and also bottle on-site at the distillery, unlike most of their larger stablemates. Back in 2001 the plan was actually to open a second distillery, a few miles west of Bruichladdich in the village of Port Charlotte, although that never eventuated and the plan was abandoned when Remy Cointreau purchased the distillery in 2012. The pretty little village of Port Charlotte was once home to Loch Indaal Distillery that operated from 1829-1929, and was the inspiration behind Bruichladdich's Port Charlotte brand, and Loch Indaal Distillery's old dunnage warehouses behind the village are actually used by Bruichladdich to mature their three different whiskies. 

The first Port Charlotte released was the 5-year old PC5, kicking off the 'PC_' series of cask strength releases which ended with the 12-year old PC12 in 2014. During that timespan there were two different batches of 10-year old Port Charlottes that were intended to be permanent & core range bottlings, but ended up being discontinued due to stock limitations. There were also quite a few non-age statement releases in there, and a series of Valinch hand-filled distillery exclusive single casks that were named "Port Charlotte Cask Exploration". While the brand was still successful, Port Charlotte was presented in the same bottles & tins as the unpeated Bruichladdich spirit, and with similar labels & designs, which for many consumers blurred the lines between the two. That changed in 2018 with the re-launch of the Port Charlotte brand, and the new "smoke grenade" bottle and new labelling & packaging has certainly helped this whisky kick into gear, along with the re-launched 10-year old core range bottling, a few annual Islay Barley releases, and the renamed "Port Charlotte Distillery Valinch" hand-fills. Over the years there have only been a few Feis Ile bottlings of Port Charlotte - excluding some of the Valinch hand-fills that are sold during the festival, but are technically not Feis Ile festival bottlings since they aren't labelled as such. The annual Islay festival sees each distillery bottle a special release, usually unveiled on their respective open day as part of the festivities. Some of these are easier to come by than others - the Ardbeg Day bottlings are certainly the most numerous and are sold all over the world, followed by Laphroaig's Cairdeas releases which are exported to some international markets - but not Australia, sadly. The other Islay distilleries don't go to those lengths, and tend to keep their Feis Ile bottlings as actual exclusives by only selling them from the distillery itself - either the physical stores or latterly from their own websites, thanks to the pandemic. Bruichladdich's Feis Ile bottlings tend to sell out completely on the actual day of their release, often within hours of the distillery's famous iron gates being flung open, and the releases are usually smaller than that of the larger distilleries. Obviously that makes them significantly harder to find, and also therefore often more expensive on the secondary market. 

The Port Charlotte Feis Ile bottling that we're looking at today was bottled to help re-launch the brand in 2018, and is named 'The Heretic' in reference to Bruichladdich's different, more flexible & more progressive approach to whisky making when compared to most of the older Islay distilleries. That's less the case now, but back in the 2000s the rekindled Bruichladdich was quite the young upstart in comparison. The Heretic was the first Port Charlotte released in the new bottle with the new labelling, and being the last of the first, was the oldest Port Charlotte released to date. This Feis Ile bottling contains the last five casks from the first year of Port Charlotte distillation, 2001 - so this whisky is rather special! While there's technically no age statement on the label, since it was bottled in May of 2018 that puts this whisky at a minimum age of 16-years, although some of the component casks could have been 17-years old. Two of those casks were ex-bourbon, two were ex-French red wine, and one was an ex-rum barrel, with a total output of 1,300 bottles at an ABV of 55.9%. 1,300 bottles may sound like a decent amount, but it really isn't! To give some perspective there, the Feis Ile released from Lagavulin and Caol Ila are usually between 6,000-12,000 bottles, and even most of Bruichladdich's Feis Ile releases are considerably larger than this, often 3,000 bottles or more. Even 2020's "digital exclusive" Port Charlotte 16-year old - which was not a Feis Ile bottling - consisted of 3,000 bottles. So, the last five remaining casks of Port Charlotte from the first year of distillation in 2001, released to commemorate the re-launch of the Port Charlotte brand during Feis Ile 2018, and the debut of the current bottle design & packaging, and one of only two 16-year old Port Charlotte official bottlings to date. This should be good!

Port Charlotte 'The Heretic', Feis Ile 2018, 55.9%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2001, bottled May 2018 (minimum 16-years old) for Islay Festival. The last five casks from the first year of Port Charlotte distillation (2001), "The Last of the First": two ex-bourbon casks, two French red wine casks, and one rum cask. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 1,300 bottles. 

Colour: Gold/amber. 

Nose: Sweet, coastal and medicinal. Butterscotch, seaweed & warm sea salt. Hot tar, Russian caramel fudge, smoked bacon, damp hessian sacking. Iodine, salted honeycomb, fried cheese and peat fire embers. Big sharp fresh lemon and icing sugar around the edges with ashy peat & muddy farmyard / barnyard floors. 

Texture: Medium weight. Sweet, peaty & oily. Salty & ashy. Only very slight heat. 

Taste: Sweet entry with that butterscotch and icing sugar, then a slight of iodine, massive sea salt and big ashy peat drying things out. Green jalapeno flakes & sharp lemon, muddy barnyard floors with hay, touches of ink, smoked ham, black olives and dirty engine oil. Hints of under-ripe tropical fruit in the background. 

Finish: Very long length. More muddy farmyards, hay, ash & smoke that lingers throughout. Touch of old bandages and smoked shellfish. Loads of dried lemon, some dried herbs and more damp hessian sacking behind. Touches of honeyed maltiness and unripe melon. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Huge, powerful & medicinal Port Charlotte this. Almost like Port Charlotte and Laphroaig had a baby! But there's much more PC here than 'prhoaig, of course. This bottle has taken quite a while to relax and open up, a couple of months in fact, but it's really hit its stride now, and I'm loving it! Easily the most medicinal Port Charlotte that I've tasted to date. Very complex, quite challenging to unravel at times, and yet still very Bruichladdich. That underlying gentleness and sweetness, and the lemon & fruit notes give away this whisky's origins, but that hugely ashy, salty & medicinal power is calling the shots. We're in a very different place here compared to the 16-year old "digital exclusive" Port Charlotte from 2020. That was sweeter, lighter & fruitier, and nowhere near as medicinal or coastal. A curve ball of a Port Charlotte, as they sometimes are, and it's a cracker!

As usual with whisky, particularly high strength whisky, patience is rewarded. And it really has been here. As mentioned above this is the equal-oldest Port Charlotte official bottling released to date (tied with the aforementioned 16-year old "digitial exclusive"), and yet it's surprisingly fresh & lively, and so deep in flavour and complexity. I would've thought it would lose some of that freshness heading into these (relatively) advanced ages, at least in comparison to the 6-10 year old releases that are more commonly seen. But that's certainly not the case here. This 2018 Feis Ile bottling may have been the 'last of the first', but it hasn't been left behind by any means!

Cheers!

Shene Cognac Release Whisky Review!

A very tasty cognac cask-finished single malt from one of Tasmania's lesser-known distilleries, that along with the entire Shene Estate is now part of the "Lark Distilling Co." empire since its sale (for $40-million AUD) in October 2021. 

Shene Distillery, a.k.a. Shene Estate, is a relatively small distillery located in the small town of Pontville, Tasmania, which is around 35-minutes north from the state capital of Hobart. The distillery may be small, but as you can see from the above photo the estate's main building looks more like a medieval castle than a distillery - although funnily enough that main building pictured was essentially the estate's stables! While some casks are being stored in the lower levels of the main building which now mainly serves as a wedding & function venue, production takes place in a purpose-built timber-cladded barn adjacent to the main "castle", with the visitor's centre and shop located in a smaller but much older sandstone barn, all on the grounds of the estate in Pontville. The original buildings date back to 1851, when the estate itself - which is even older than that - measured a whopping 22,000 acres or roughly 89 square kilometres. It's now a more modest 40 acres. Like many of the early colonial buildings in Tasmania - known as Van Diemen's Land at the time - they were built by convict labour using local sandstone. The distillery itself was only established in 2013, and initially produced the Mackey brand of whisky named after founder & distiller Damian Mackey, who had first begun making whisky in northern Hobart in 2007 before joining forces with the then-owners of the Shene Estate, and expanding and shifting operations to the Pontville site roughly five years later. The main point of difference with Mackey's whisky is that it was triple distilled, and to my knowledge this is still the only Australian distillery to date that has released a 100% triple distilled single malt whisky. Supposedly this point of difference stemmed from Damian Mackey's Irish heritage, but more importantly it also gives the brand an actual point of difference in local terms, where many of the Tasmanian distilleries are still using (or outright copying, in some cases) the blueprints first laid out by the great Bill Lark, the godfather of the Tasmanian whisky industry, over twenty years ago. Further to that difference, Mackey whisky is also made using Brewer's yeast, and is using Tasmanian barley which is milled, mashed, fermented and distilled on-site at the distillery - which unfortunately is not a requirement for Australian single malt whisky, and many other distilleries in Tasmania are sourcing their wash from local breweries rather than fermenting at the distillery - a practice referred to by some as "beer boiling". 

Fast-forward to late 2018 and the Shene Estate now has its own cooperage, founded & owned by Sydney property developer John Ibrahim who is heavily invested in the industry in Tasmania, was also involved with Old Kempton Distillery, and has since built his own operation, Callington Mill Distillery. Known as Tasmanian Tiger Cooperage, the cask company imports and re-coopers casks into various sizes that are then either sold to the wider Australian whisky & spirits industry or are used by Shene Distillery and Callington Mill which is located in Oatlands, north-east of Shene Estate. Speaking of which, Ibrahim's new operation at Callington Mill is reportedly planning to be massive by Australian malt whisky standards - with a maximum capacity of over 400,000 litres of spirit per annum, which is inline with the production at Melbourne's Starward, one of the country's biggest players. **Edit: apparently that figure is out of date and Starward's output is considerably higher now** But somebody else has plans to eclipse both of those outputs. Lark Distilling Co. has plans to build a 1-million litre distillery, also in Pontville - right on the grounds of the Shene Estate, in fact. Which brings me to my next digression. As mentioned above "Lark Distilling Co.", the ASX-listed corporation previously known as Australian Whisky Holdings and the Australian whisky equivalent of the Galactic Empire, has now added the Shene Estate and Shene Distillery to its list of conquests. I wonder if they're going to call that massive new distillery "The Death Star"? Might as well! As far as I can tell their purchase of the estate & distillery did not include the aforementioned cooperage, which I believe is still located at the estate post-sale, although I could be wrong there. Interestingly, if you care to read some of the press releases regarding the Lark Distilling Co purchase of Shene - many of which include a direct quote from their CEO (who is quite possibly a Sith lord) about how much money they make by buying mature whisky at $49 AUD a litre and then re-selling it for $216 AUD a litre. Will they then be selling Shene / Mackey whisky under the Lark label in the very near future, like they already do with their stock of Nant and Overeem whisky? I hope I'm wrong, but after reading those quotes I'd all but guarantee it. I've written plenty about those practices here, as have others such as this article from Whisky & Wisdom, so I'd encourage you to read those posts if you'd like more information on this & other recent dark side tactics from the Empire. Sorry, I mean Lark Distilling Co.! 

Now you may notice from the title & description above, and the photos above & below, that this particular whisky is only labelled as Shene, not as Mackey. That's because this bottling is a mix of both double-distilled spirit (which is a new venture for Shene) and triple-distilled spirit, and the Mackey brand is currently reserved for the distillery's triple-distilled whisky - this particular whisky is still a single malt though since it was produced at the one distillery. Speaking of Mackey, Damian himself left the Shene Distillery in 2018, and is now back to producing under the name New Town Distillery - presumably since the rights to the Mackey brand name remained with Shene when he departed - although he's also involved with the aforementioned Callington Mill. Interestingly Mackey's new operation will be making a whisky that is similar to the definition of an Irish pot still whiskey - meaning it'll include both malted and unmalted barley and another unmalted grain, so despite being made at one distillery it will not be a single malt whisky or a malt whisky (see here for more information). That move is another first for the Australian whisky industry, although I'm told others are in the works, so it'll be one to watch. 

On to the whisky at hand! There's no age statement on this Shene release, but the Mackey releases are, or at least were originally, all 5-6 years old and aged in 100-litre casks. I'm not sure if that has changed since they started selling the Mackey spirit that was distilled at Shene, or indeed since Damian left. Since the double-distilled component of the spirit is a more recent change of / addition to their production we can assume that this is a relatively young whisky overall, particularly since it was matured in small 20-litre Apera (Australian sherry) and Tawny (Australian port) casks before being finished in larger ex-Cognac casks that were imported from France. And aside from the mix of double-distilled and triple-distilled spirit that cask finish is really this whisky's main point of difference, since there have only been a few Australian whiskies so far that have spent time in Cognac casks. We also don't know how long this single malt was finished in those Cognac casks, but based on smell & taste they certainly had an effect. Cognac of course is essentially a brandy but can only be produced in the Cognac region of western France, and it must be double-distilled and aged in virgin French oak for at least two years. Cognac casks seem to work very well with malt whisky, and we'll be seeing more & more of these & other different cask types as the price of sherry casks continues to rise in the years ahead.

Bottling strength on this one is 49% ABV, and all of the Mackey and Shene whiskies are natural colour and non-chill filtered, which is printed on the labelling and is great to see. At the time of writing this Cognac cask finish is still available from the distillery's website, and this bottle was purchased from the cellar door on our whirlwind trip to Tasmania in late 2021. One minor gripe before we get to it: I don't like the wording on the label - "Cognac Release" should really have been "Cognac Cask Finish", or at least "Cognac Cask Release" or just "Cognac Cask". Maybe I'm being pedantic there, since there are certainly far bigger issues from elsewhere when it comes to labelling standards in Australian whisky... But that's enough moaning!   

Shene Distillery Cognac Release, NAS, 49.0% ABV. Pontville, Tasmania, Australia.

Mix of double-distilled and triple-distilled spirit from 100% malted barley, matured separately in 20-litre Apera & Tawny casks, vatted together and finished in French Cognac casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Dark bronze. 

Nose: Sweet & wood-driven, with brown sugar toffee, freshly sawn wood and a touch of eucalyptus. Sweet dried stone fruit - apricot, nectarine, and a touch of caramelised banana with cinnamon sugar. Juicy sultanas and dates. Warm orange zest and some vanilla essence. 

Texture: Medium weight. Sweet & syrupy. There's some numbing spirit-y heat showing some youth, but it's not unpleasant, the richness & sweetness carries it well. 

Taste: Sweet toffee, more sultanas and dates, nutty, fresh timber and orange - but it's orange rind this time, not just the zest. Sweet juicy sultanas, vanilla, black pepper and furniture polish. The stone fruit is there but it's fresher & sweeter now, thinking of tinned fruit in syrup. 

Finish: Medium length. The sweetness is drawn back a little by a touch of astringent wood and that mild but numbing spirit-y heat. Then the wood and orange rind return, alongside more black pepper, dates and toffee. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: Nice sweet & rich whisky with a noticeable youthful 'zing' to it. And the cognac finish has certainly been effective with those sultanas, fresh wood and orange rind, plus the influence of the wood itself although that could also be coming from the initial maturation in those tiny 20-litre casks. Most likely a bit of both, actually. It still has that eucalyptus note that seems to be present in many Tasmanian whiskies and also some Australian whiskies, and the slight numbing spirit-y heat does show the youth behind the cask influence, but it's not too distracting or off-putting. This is a rich & sweet dessert dram of a whisky, which is typical of most of the Australian producers, but the cognac cask and the wood influence does help to slightly temper that. It's certainly a welcome change from the onslaught of small wine/apera/tawny cask Australian whiskies that seem to be never-ending lately, and I hope we see more cognac cask whiskies in future - as I understand it they're not exactly cheap here when compared with the easily-accessible wine and fortified wine casks that are almost everywhere. But they also provide a key point of difference which is becoming more important with every new distillery that pops up in our still-growing industry. 

As for Shene's main point of difference, that triple-distilled spirit, well I'm not sure what the proportions were between the double-distilled and triple-distilled spirit used in this vatting, but I'm not sure that it shows itself here. Although that's not surprising since it's a lighter spirit by default, which generally means that it's more susceptible to heavier cask influence as a result - and it doesn't get much heavier than 20-litre casks, let alone 20-litre casks being followed by a first-fill cognac cask finish, in the warmer Australian climate. But the casks seem to have been managed quite well here, and it's certainly worth a try!

Cheers!

Springbank 12 Cask Strength 2020 & 2021 Whisky Reviews!

Not one, but two different batches of the mighty Springbank 12-year old Cask Strength. Firstly the latest release, batch 22, which was bottled in early 2021 and arrived in Australia around June, and then one (of two) that got away. Batch 21, bottled October 2020 and never imported into Australia. As much fun as this review will be, something tells me it'll also be bittersweet!

Springbank Distillery and its three whisky 'brands' have really exploded in demand over the last year or so. They've always been popular in somewhat smaller circles, but prior to around two years ago they really only had a cult following, mainly consisting of whisky nerds who loved the old-school approach and small-scale traditional production, and the old-school Campbeltown character that went along with it. But to some extent that approach, coupled with the almost-complete lack of marketing & advertising, the minimalist packaging & labelling, and the Campbeltown "funk" flavour profile that is divisive for newcomers, combined to help keep the distillery in the shadows for the larger whisky market. Back then there still wasn't enough of the limited releases to go around, even on the other side of the planet here in Australia. But the last couple of years have changed all of that. It's now becoming another name on the list of the most popular distilleries for one of the darker aspects of the modern whisky scene - flipping. That change has nothing to do with the distillery of course, who have recently done almost all they can to limit this practice - no more outer packaging (i.e. tubes or boxes) on the majority of releases, and the legendary cage bottles are now limited to one per person - which probably should have been the case a long time ago! Despite being a small company with a relatively tiny output they've also resisted any major price increases on their end, although the same cannot be said for some of their international importers & distributors. I've written more about that here - along with a review of one of the best/worst examples of this problem to date - so I won't harp on about it now. It was probably inevitable that the pandemic-induced mayhem involving the whisky market - along with a lot of 'luxury goods' - would catch on to Springbank at some point, but it's still a shame to see it hit this hard. 

While it's not really the case now, prior to that sudden explosion in demand the 12-year old Cask Strength, a.k.a. 12CS, Springbank was really the semi-hidden gem of the distillery's entire range. Typically released twice a year in relatively small batches of 9,000-12,000 bottles, with each batch varying in cask type and flavour profile, what helped keep this whisky out of the limelight is the fact that the relatively plain packaging doesn't change, and there are no batch numbers to be found on said packaging. The only way to identify the individual batches is to scour the internet armed with the bottling strength, and/or the bottling date & batch code from the back of the bottle, which will get you the answer. A few whisky pages have compiled complete lists of the batches, with this one at Brian's Malt Musings being current and handily showing the percentages of bourbon & sherry casks used in each release, although it should be noted that the ABV listed for batch 21 is incorrect - it should be 56.1% (probably a typo). 

Now if you've been following these batches here in Australia, you may have noticed that we completely missed out on both batch 19 from late 2019 (57.1%), and batch 21 from late 2020 (56.1%). Neither of those ever came to Australia, presumably because they sold out before our local importer had placed their order or confirmed their allocation, or possibly because they were waiting to fill a container or pallet to save on shipping costs, so the stock went elsewhere instead. I'm only speculating here, maybe there were other factors involved. And this does happen from time-to-time with quite a few other brands, but regardless of the reason it's always disappointing to the thirsty Australian fans. Adding salt to the wound, by many accounts the two batches that Australia missed out on are reportedly some of the greatest seen in recent years. Unfortunately batch 21 was also the only release of the 12-year old, so far, that had both burgundy wine and port casks included in the vatting, while the remainder of the last thirteen batches have stuck to the tried & true recipe of being a mix of bourbon & sherry casks. I've specified the last thirteen batches there because prior to that, from batches 1-9 (2010 to mid-2014) inclusive, the "12CS" was fully matured in sherry casks, with variation coming from the proportions of first-fill to refill. So if you have one of those early batches in your stash, you're very lucky!

The two batches of Springbank 12 that I'm reviewing today are quite different from one another. Firstly we have batch 22, the most recent release, which is a 50/50 mix of sherry casks & bourbon casks, bottled at 55.4% in April of 2021. It arrived in Australia in August, and thankfully the importer did keep the pricing at a relatively reasonable level. The second batch that I'm reviewing here is one of the two batches that unfortunately got away from us. Batch 21 was bottled in October 2020 at 56.1%, and as mentioned above is a real outlier in the 12CS line-up when it comes to the mix of the casks in the vatting. Batch 21 contained bourbon, sherry, burgundy and port casks, with the proportions being 25% bourbon, 45% sherry, 25% burgundy and 5% port casks. That's significant mainly because it's a first for the 12-year old Cask Strength, but there has been another 12-year old Springbank in the past that was fully matured in burgundy wine casks, and it was absolutely brilliant - you can read that review here if you'd like to reminisce. But it's also significant because port cask Springbanks are legendary, and extremely difficult to find. So, if this particular batch never came to Australia, how & why am I reviewing it? Well maybe I'm being a little sadistic, but I'm also punishing myself a little since I'll never get a bottle myself, and the sample for this review came from a very generous friend over the water in New Zealand. The local importer in NZ does a brilliant job of bringing them decent allocations of Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn, including limited releases and even a couple of single casks, while also keeping the pricing very low. In fact from an Australian's perspective their prices are almost criminally low in comparison! So before I actually turn green with envy, let's do this... 

Springbank 12-year old Cask Strength, 55.4%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Batch 22, bottled April 2021. 50/50 mix of bourbon & sherry casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Dusty, sweet & citrus-y. Quite malty & gristy, and surprisingly "fresh" in feel, but there's still that Springbank oiliness, minerality and salinity behind it. Olive oil infused with a handful of black olives, dusty & muddy farmyards, and a touch of spearmint. 

Texture: Medium weight. Very oily, malty & fresh. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Sweet salted caramel fudge, a dusty, gristy maltiness and a touch of salted honey. Olive oil, black olives and dried lemon wedges. Touches of creamy ointments & balms, but more cosmetics rather than medicine. Pinch of black pepper and subtle earthy peat behind it. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Touch of aniseed, black olives and salted caramel again. That lovely maltiness returns but it's creamy here rather than dusty or gristy. Lemon oil and a touch of earthiness to round things up. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. But not far from a 4. 

Notes: It's certainly "cleaner" and "fresher" than most Springbank 12s on the nose, and it's also lighter on the farmyard & dunnage warehouse "funk" on the palate, but it's still very much a Springbank. Which is to say, it's still delicious! There are shades of both the venerable standard Springbank 10-year old and the brilliant 14-year old Bourbon Wood from a few years ago. That might be stemming from the higher proportion of bourbon casks in this batch compared to most, but it's also a great thing and certainly not a negative - both of those are excellent whiskies after all! Some Campbeltown diehards may look down on this batch because it's "cleaner" and less funky than the other batches of the 12, and maybe a little safer - as in, less divisive and less extreme in its flavour profile. But the level of complexity, enjoyment, and quality in this 22nd batch is no different - and certainly no lower - than the 12-year old Cask Strength always provides.  

Springbank 12-year old Cask Strength, 56.1%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Batch 21, bottled October 2020. 45% sherry, 25% bourbon, 25% burgundy wine, 5% port casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Amber. Much darker than batch 22 as you'd expect. 

Nose: Dried raspberries, some plum & blueberry, and marmite (salty yeast extract spread). Hint of burnt brown sugar caramel underneath. Really quite salty & briny too. Balsamic vinegar, burnt toast and a touch of dried Chinese mushroom. Salted honey, fatty roasted meats - pork or even duck, with dried orange and a few cloves in the pan. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily & rich, slightly fatty & greasy, and salty. No heat at all. 

Taste: Hoisin sauce, sweet & spicy, more roasted meats - still pork & duck. Fatty with dried orange and a touch of blowtorched herbs. That marmite salty & yeasty plus a touch of sticky sweet red grape & cherry with a little musty old oak. Which has me thinking that those 25% wine casks would have to be first-fill! 

Finish: Long length. Fatty & spicy, touch of fatty bacon and pork crackling. That yeasty & salty marmite again. Hoisin sauce, some roasted nuts, and honey soy sauce with more soy and less honey. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Fascinating! Alternates between a Chinese-style roast duck with soy & hoisin sauces, to a crispy and fatty pork belly with some dried orange and honey-soy sauce. But there's also that sweet grape, blueberry and plum and a touch of oak. Rich, deep & complex. It's a brilliant batch, and I almost wish it wasn't - since it's not likely that I'll ever taste it again! This 21st batch is also lighter on the peat and funk like batch 22 is compared to some, but the two are polar opposites on the Springbank 12 scale. This is a deeper, darker and more complex whisky with more cask influence, and those marmite and mushroom notes are fascinating. Like many of the good Springbanks, it's a little bit bonkers!

Overall Notes: Well, this is just typical isn't it. Australia misses out on the craziest batch of Springbank 12 Cask Strength that I've tasted! Shock horror. Is batch 19 also brilliant, like the reports said at the time? Well it certainly wouldn't surprise me! There are other batches that are on par with 21 in terms of quality, but none that I've tasted have been remotely similar to this in flavour profile. Like batch 22 it's not your typical Springbank, and it's not what you'd expect based on the experience that the more 'traditional' or more typical 70/30 sherry/bourbon cask mixes usually give. And it's delicious!

But really, there isn't much of a gap between the Springbank 12s when it comes to quality. Sure, some are better than others, and the flavour profiles vary, but even the low point is still quite high. I'm yet to taste one that I haven't enjoyed, and I doubt that I ever will. If you can get your hands on any at all in today's climate, then my advice is to do it - provided you're going to open it and enjoy it! Unfortunately the secondary market is beyond insane with anything Springbank and has been for a while, which is not likely to change while people are still buying it at these extortionate prices. Let's just hope that at least some of those buyers are actually drinking it!

Cheers!

Speymalt Macallan 1950 58 Year Old Whisky Review!

A ridiculously rare 58-year old single cask of Macallan, independently bottled under Gordon & MacPhail's "Speymalt from Macallan Distillery" label, and bottled over a decade ago. Not exactly an everyday occurrence!

Firstly, a disclaimer, I do not normally review Gordon & MacPhail (G&M) products on this site, solely because I do some part-time work for the company's Australian importer & distributor, Alba Whisky. So in the interests of full impartiality from both perspectives - not that I would let it affect / skew my reviews or scores anyway - I haven't reviewed any G&M products since that work began. But I'm making an exception for this special bottling, for a few reasons: firstly it's a single cask that was bottled 12-years ago and is long-discontinued and has long-sold out, so nobody can really buy one anyway. Secondly, because this sample came from a generous private / third party who owns the actual bottle. And thirdly because it's a 58-year old Speymalt Macallan that was distilled in 1950 - and that's something that needs to be shared! That said, in no way will any of these factors affect my review or scoring of this whisky, as is always the case here this review will be completely honest and impartial, and will only be my personal opinion. After all, to do anything else would defeat the purpose of writing the review in the first place! 

This incredibly rare cask of whisky, refill sherry butt (500-litre) cask number 1684, was filled with new make spirit under the instruction of G&M's John Urquhart at Macallan Distillery on the 10th of November 1950, and was bottled at Gordon & MacPhail's HQ in Elgin on the 29th of September 2009, under the instruction of John's son Michael. Yes, we know the exact date that this cask was filled with spirit at Macallan over seven decades ago, which is incredible. The Urquhart family have owned Gordon & MacPhail for over 125 years, roughly 20 years after the company was founded as a grocery store in Elgin in 1895, since the original John Urquhart began as an apprentice in the early 1900s and became senior partner following the retirement of James Gordon and the passing of John MacPhail in 1915. Amazingly that original grocery store in Elgin is still there, and it actually still sells grocery items, albeit with an incredible whisky room and also an adjoining wine room attached. Like many of the historic independent bottlers and blenders G&M started out by sourcing whiskies for their own in-house blends that were to be sold from the shopfront, which in this case led to the company becoming Scotland's largest and second-oldest surviving independent bottler of Scotch whisky. This is also one of the few privately owned - and family owned - operations in the industry- in fact the company has been owned & run by four generations of the Urquhart family. G&M is also one of the few independent bottlers that sources new make spirit from the distilleries that is subsequently filled into G&M's own casks, rather than being offered parcels of maturing/mature casks by either the distillery owners, or more commonly third-party brokers. Where applicable G&M also leave many of those casks to initially mature on-site in the distillery's own warehouses before transferring the cask/s to their own warehouses in Elgin for longer-term maturation. Those major points of difference are largely thanks to the century-long relationships that the company has with many of these distilleries, and is also why G&M can name the responsible distilleries and the actual sources of their casks on their labels, while other bottlers & companies have to resort to using code names, shorthand abbreviations or even undisclosed "mystery" bottlings instead. 

Gordon & MacPhail also have a massive arsenal of old-to-very-old casks slumbering in their warehouses, often more than the original distillery owns, and there are plenty of unconfirmed rumours around regarding distillery owners purchasing older casks 'back' from Gordon & MacPhail to become official bottlings. There are plenty of older releases from G&M though, to the point where 40+ year old single malts seem almost commonplace! In fact the company is responsible for the oldest single malt whiskies ever bottled, and they've since actually broken their own records twice now - the first being the 70-year old Mortlach that was released in 2008, then a 75-year old Mortlach in 2015, and now an 80-year old Glenlivet in 2021. If you've done some quick mental arithmetic there you'll note that all three of those casks would've been filled during World War II or in the lead-up to it, which makes them all the more incredible since many distilleries were either operating under severe restrictions or were shut down completely at the time. And let's not forget the incredible rarity of a single cask of whisky making it through such a long period of maturation without leaking, becoming over-oaked and dry/tannic, or dropping below the minimum bottling strength of 40% ABV that is permitted in Scotch whisky. For a cask to make it that long is bordering on miraculous, and while an amount of luck is involved it's also testament to G&M's skills and commitment that have remained paramount over that huge period of time, from sourcing incredible quality casks - many of which were sherry 'transport' and bodega casks with very thick staves, from a time when the idea of a two-year old "sherry seasoned" cask wouldn't have gotten very far - to sourcing great quality spirit from the correct distilleries, and then carefully watching and managing the casks over seven-to-eight decades of maturation in their warehouses, before the time was finally right to share them with the world. Even a 40-year old whisky is a very rare thing, so for a cask to make it to double that age is absolutely astonishing, and it really does make you wonder what they're going to come up with next!

Now, on to the matter at hand. "Speymalt from Macallan Distillery" is of course G&M's label for their bottlings from Macallan Distillery, and they only use the "Speymalt" name for this one Speyside distillery which is near the town of Aberlour, to be exact. Macallan probably needs no introduction, their official bottlings would easily be one of the most heavily marketed and widely known whisky brands in the industry. It was originally / officially founded in 1824, but while older buildings still stand the production buildings have now been mothballed, and the new distillery is now adjacent to the original site, and no longer looks anything like the photo above. The new gargantuan plant opened in 2018 and is a massive modern complex that resembles what I'd imagine Area 51 to look like - a dozen massive warehouses that are large enough to house dozens of UFOs inside, alongside massive camouflaged buildings that are actually subterranean in design, complete with grass growing over their roofs giving the appearance of undulating grassy knolls. Inside those buildings you'll find a very modern design, including exposed beams & support struts, plus Scotland's largest mash tun, 21 steel wash backs a whopping 36 pot stills - thankfully of a similar size and identical design to the originals. Macallan is now vying with Glenlivet and Glenfiddich to be Scotland's largest malt whisky distillery in terms of production capacity, although those two are also expanding. 

Back in 1950 when this whisky was distilled that all would've been unthinkable. World War II had only ended five years prior, but the recovery was still taking place, and there were still shortages around - coal being one example, which was now the popular fuel used to dry the barley at the end of the malting process. So Macallan was actually supplementing their coal supplies with small amounts of an older, more traditional fuel source - peat! This practice didn't continue at Macallan past the early 1950s as coal became readily available again, so this whisky could well have been one of the last from those lightly peated distillation runs. Obviously being a light peating level to begin with and after nearly six decades of maturation that peat influence will likely be extremely subtle if not impossible to detect, but in the other two Macallans that I've tasted from this era (I've been very lucky!) - a 40% ABV 1946 vintage 52-year old official bottling from 1998, and a younger sibling of the subject of this review, a 56-year old 1950 vintage Speymalt Macallan from G&M - there was certainly a subtle earthiness which I assume was coming from that light peating level in the spirit. Macallan have actually released a 1950 vintage single cask themselves which also contained lightly peated spirit, as part of their exceptionally expensive Exceptional Casks range of official bottlings. That was bottled in 2018 as a 67-year old and was bottled at a cask strength of 53.4% ABV, with an original retail price of around $60,000 USD - or well north of $80,000 AUD, in fact probably at least $90,000 with our local pricing factored in. Now, yes this 58-year old G&M is an older bottling and it spent almost a decade less in its cask compared to that more recent and older official bottling, but that sort of money would be enough to fund the purchase of, if you could find the stock of course, more than five bottles of this 58-year old Speymalt Macallan single cask from Gordon & MacPhail... 

Before we get into this review, I'd like to thank the very generous owner of this bottle for giving me a sample of this precious liquid - totally unprompted, I might add. Costs aside, whiskies of this vintage and age are pieces of Scotch whisky and Scottish history in potable liquid form, and the gravity of this situation should always be considered and appreciated if & when the opportunity comes along to taste anything like this. If memory serves, this is the second-oldest whisky that I've ever tasted, so it certainly has been considered and is appreciated in this case! Let's get to it!

Speymalt Macallan 1950-2009, Gordon & MacPhail, 43%. Speyside, Scotland.

Distilled November 10th 1950, matured in a single refill sherry butt (initially at Macallan Distillery then moved to G&M warehouses in Elgin), bottled September 29th 2009. Natural colour, presumed non-chill filtered. 

Colour: Dark amber, verging on polished brown. 

Nose: Rich & deep, very complex. Anyone who complains about 40-43% bottling strengths in the modern era should get the chance to try these older G&M bottlings - they're on a different level! Layers of soft old leather, waxed old wood and oily furniture polish, balanced with rich, soft, dry baking spices, baked red apple & stone fruit, and floral, sweet Turkish delight. The red apple note grows with more time & more warmth, and adds a touch of liquorice straps, plus raisins soaked in quality old dark rum. 

Texture: Medium weight. Silky, soft, deep & rich. No sign of any alcohol / heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Earthy & softly spicy (baking spices) on entry, then that oily furniture polish. That earthy note is slightly drying, like the residue in an old fireplace, but subtle and very soft. The rum-soaked raisins and soft old leather again then, and more red fruit here rather than the stone fruit. Lovely. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Definite soft earthy peat smoke here - incredible. The red apple comes across as dried now, then currants, and even dried figs. Baking spices again, and a touch of that soft old leather and liquorice. Touch of excellent old dark rum and dried fruit underneath. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. And close to a 5, in fact. 

Notes: Wow. Amazing "old school" whisky in every way, without any sign of excessive wood influence or cask influence. Again, this is my personal opinion alone, but this is magnificent. I could nose this dram for hours, and there'd be plenty of involuntary "phwoar" noises uttered the entire time. But unlike in some cases where the palate and finish are a let down following a great nose, this Speymalt Macallan is beautiful across the entire experience. The sheer character, depth, and complexity, yes even at "only" 43%, is brilliant. Don't even let the thought of a modern "sherry bomb" or sherry-treated whisky creep into your head, this whisky is an entirely different ballgame. Balanced, complex, stunning. Balanced and full of subtleties but without any risk of being shy, challenging, or difficult to access. A warm welcome of a whisky, gentle and inviting, but not loud, shouty or showboat-y. What a treat!

I have to say this 58-year old certainly beats both the 52-year old Macallan official bottling and the 56-year old Speymalt Macallan that I've been lucky enough to try previously - albeit years ago now. It's richer and "darker" in feel/style than both, and has more peat smoke - while still very subtle of course - left intact, particularly on the finish. An amazing piece of whisky history that should not be taken lightly, and it hasn't been. What a great way to ring in the new year! Thanks again to the generous owner.

Cheers!