Springbank Local Barley 10 Year Old Whisky Review!

Springbank may not grow their own barley on-site, but that's the only step in the entire process that is not carried out at the distillery. These 'Local Barley' bottlings are as close as it gets, and they're very special!

As the name suggests, these Springbanks exclusively use malted barley that was grown in the Kintyre region in Western Scotland. That barley, which is often of a different variety to those commonly used in the modern distilling world, is then floor-malted, milled, mashed, fermented, distilled, matured and bottled on-site at the distillery (have a read here for a closer look). While most Campbeltown fans will be aware of the more recent Local Barley bottlings that started with the fantastic 16-year old in 2016, some may not be aware that this isn't the first series of Local Barley bottlings that Springbank has released. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s they released a small range of what are now (understandably) ridiculously rare & expensive whiskies that were distilled in the mid-1960s. They're the stuff that dreams are made of, and from the reviews I've read the lucky few who actually taste them are not disappointed. But this more recent series of Springbank Local Barley is more affordable and obtainable. First in the series in early 2016 was that aforementioned 16-year old, followed by an 11-year old in early 2017, followed in late 2017 by the 10-year old that I'm reviewing today, and a 9-year old in late 2018 that has only recently made it to Australia. The fifth and final release in this series is due in late 2019 (in Europe), and it's rumoured to be the oldest bottling in the line-up so far. And there's another rumour that we can expect some local barley Longrow and possibly Hazelburn releases in future. But time will tell. 

There are only a few Scottish distilleries that acknowledge and actively explore the roles that 'terroir' and provenance of ingredients have in their final products, but it's extremely exciting for us whisky nerds when they do. Springbank and Bruichladdich would be the main high-profile contributors there, and in my opinion it's no coincidence that they also happen to be two of the most transparent, hands-on, variety- and quality-focused single malt distilleries in the world. Many other distilleries, particularly the larger and more commercial types, will argue that changing barley sources and strains does not make any noticeable difference to the finished whisky. But for various reasons those distilleries often have very little control over that part of the process anyway and are often held back by commercial pressures, so we should probably take that with a grain of salt. In my opinion there are far too many other factors involved for anyone to be able to objectively determine just how much of a difference it makes in any particular whisky, but it usually does have an effect. In any case there's no arguing against the appeal of using quality local ingredients in basically any product, and Springbank is just about as 'local' as it gets in the whisky world!

All of these Local Barley bottlings are bottled at cask strength, and as with all Springbanks there's no chill filtration or artificial colouring nonsense going on here. All of these releases name the exact farm that grew the barley used in that bottling, and the exact strain of that barley, and the number of bottles in the release, right there on the labelling. Each bottling so far in this recent Local Barley series has been distilled from different strains of barley grown at different farms (but all lightly peated Springbank), so there's no shortage of variety in these whiskies. Speaking of the labels, their design and fonts are almost identical to those unobtainable bottlings from the late 1990s, which is a nice touch. 2016's 16-year old release was distilled from Prisma barley and filled into 80% ex-bourbon casks and 20% ex-sherry casks, while the 11-year old second release in the series was distilled from the ancient Bere barley variety and matured solely in ex-bourbon casks. This 10-year old release, bottled in late 2017, was distilled from Belgravia barley grown at West Beck farm, only a few miles from Campbeltown, and was matured in 70% ex-bourbon casks and 30% ex-sherry casks. 9,000 bottles were released at a cask strength of 57.3% ABV, and it's completely sold out in Australia (so probably around the world). Tasting time!

Springbank Local Barley 10-Year Old, 57.3%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Distilled from lightly peated Belgravia barley grown at West Beck farm, Kintyre. Matured in 70% ex-bourbon casks & 30% ex-sherry casks. 9000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Sweet and very citrus-y and first approach, and also lightly chalky and floral. Loads of candied lemon, plenty of dusty sweet malt, some wet stone and ground white pepper. A little vanilla paste, marzipan and sea spray. A slight alcohol nip as well. With more time some floral honey develops, and some damp earth.

Texture: Medium weight. Oily and funky, but surprisingly dry - especially after the nose - and a little hot.

Taste: More citrus, with lemon rind, dried grapefruit and a little dried pineapple. More dusty malt but it's much less sweet now, it's more husky and dry. A little marzipan, some damp & muddy peat, and loads of white pepper behind the citrus and that floral (but not overtly sweet) note. Far drier than the nose suggested.

Finish: Medium length. Some drying chilli heat, then more citrus and more white pepper. A little salty and chalky minerality alongside a quick flash of Springbank's farmyard-y note, and that dusty & husky malted barley returns later on.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Very tasty whisky, as always from Springbank, but it does seem a little feisty with those pepper and chilli notes, and the dryness on the palate is a little surprising. Of the three Local Barley expressions I've tried to date (16, 9 and 10 year old), this one would be ranked at number three, it's the least tame and perhaps the more austere of the bunch, and it also has far more citrus notes and a shorter finish in comparison. But it still has loads of character, and that classic Springbank minerality & farmyard-y "funk" that us Campbeltown fans can't get enough of. It may not sit well with beginners on first encounter, but it's well worth giving it the time & attention it deserves.

This is actually one of the drier and more citrus-led Springbank's that I've come across, which is surprising, but isn't a criticism by any means. As you would hope with this sort of bottling series, and also this sort of distillery, they're all different, and they're all full of flavour and character. With local barley, and with Springbank, it's hard to go wrong. I look forward to the next release.

Cheers!

Heartwood Expletive (@#$%^&*) 4 Whisky Review!

Another delicious and slightly mad release from the alchemist Mr. H, and his first PX sherry finish in fact!

I've reviewed quite a few Heartwoods over the years, and each has been - intentionally - very different to the last. Proprietor Tim Duckett (pictured above in his casual summer gear) has in my opinion been responsible for some of the best whisky ever released in Australia. To call Heartwood an independent bottler is selling it a little short, because the whisky that comes out of that nondescript bond store and Hobart office tends to be absolute magic. The world's best independent bottlers offer something that the original distillery does not, by putting their own twist on the product that sets it apart. And Mr. H, as he's known to his ever-growing legion of fans, has become a master of doing just that. From a recent Australian Muscat (sweet wine) cask-matured release, to the Dregs bottlings that are literally vatted leftovers from dozens of previous releases, and from 73.5% ABV monsters to some of the oldest Tasmanian single malts released, Heartwood has never rested on its laurels.

The Heartwood we're looking at today is a great example of that. This is the fourth and final release in the "Expletive" series, or more accurately the "@#$%^&*" series, of Heartwood bottlings. These are, or rather were, whiskies that were not behaving themselves and were not playing nicely with others. Mr. H's remedy for such problem children usually involves smacking them around a bit with a large wooden paddle, subjecting them to verbal abuse, and locking them in the "hot box" where they can reflect on how they've acted. But the four whiskies in this bottling series were even more stubborn than most and did not respond as expected, and had to be re-casked. The first, simply named @#$%^&*, was released in May 2017, and was initially matured in a second-fill port cask before being finished in first-fill sherry casks - twice! Yes, two different sherry casks gave their all over three whole years to whip that whisky into shape. Which would not be an economical thing to do! Hence the name of this series, causing Mr. H "a great deal of grief" and filling a few swear jars in short order.

The three subsequent Expletive releases all originated from the same two ex-bourbon casks, LD813 & 823, which were filled with spirit from Lark Distillery. Since they weren't responding to treatment those two casks were married together and then split into three different sherry casks for finishing, namely a 200-litre Oloroso cask for release number two, a 100-litre Oloroso cask for release number three, and a 100-litre Pedro Ximinez cask for release number four, before being bottled in August, September and October 2018 respectively. All yielded less than 200 x 500ml bottles, meaning that when all was said & done those three releases, less than 600 bottles in total, had used five different casks. Which would not have come cheap by any means. The re-casking had also resulted in dilution, since the finishing casks had been sealed with water prior to filling. So the natural cask strength of each of these releases was around the mid- to high-fifties, which while reasonably high by normal standards is actually relatively low for Heartwood bottlings which are known for their high strength and dinosaur-like flavour profiles.

As usual for Heartwood bottlings the labels of these three releases are not to be missed. The first release featured dinosaurs watching the fatal asteroid heading towards them, with one of the unlucky beasts exclaiming "@#$%^&*". The second release featured the extinct Tasmanian Tiger watching European settlers land on the small island state, exclaiming "@#$%^&*2". The third featured a Dodo watching one of his recently deceased brethren being carted off to become dinner for explorers from a certain European nation, exclaiming "@#$%^&*3". The fourth and final release's label, pictured below, featured something of a role reversal with human's looking on as the last male Northern White Rhino died of old age, exclaiming "@#$%^&*4". As Mr. H said at the time, "we are the ones that need to say @#$%^&*". This final release in the series is the subject of today's review, and is the first Heartwood bottling to spend some time in a PX sherry cask. Exciting stuff! It was bottled in October 2018 at a cask strength of 55.4% ABV, with 181 bottles released. As with all Heartwood releases there is no chill filtration or added colouring nasty-ness to be found.

Heartwood @#$%^&* 4, NAS, 55.4%. Tasmania, Australia.

Spirit from Lark Distillery matured in 2 x ex-bourbon casks, LD813 & LD823, married & filled into single 100-litre PX sherry cask. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 181 bottles. 

Colour: Dark amber w/ rusty red tinges.

Nose: Sweet BBQ plum marinade, dusty stewed stone fruit with a little booze poured over, and a slight dry malty-ness. Musty with dark soy sauce, lightly burnt toast with salted butter, vanilla sponge and a hint of clean rubber (pencil eraser).

Texture: Heavy weight, thick & slightly chalky. Very much like the BBQ plum marinade, but with a little alcohol heat to it.

Taste: Yep, more of that marinade, that dusty & boozy stewed stone fruit and burnt toast with lightly salted butter. Which would be down to toasted oak, I would say. It's meaty & powerful, but it's a little less aggressive than some Heartwoods have been.

Finish: Medium length, with a big pinch of black peppercorns and some cayenne powder. Then that boozy stewed fruit returns, becoming a little drier with more oak and a little Tasmania / Lark trademark eucalyptus forest.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: It's a big whisky with a bit of heat to it, like all Heartwoods, but it's also less aggressive than many of the older bottlings were. Less mongrel, as Tim would say. That could be down to the significantly lower ABV and the extra cask influence from the finishing, but then this whisky is presumably younger than some of the archive releases, so maybe that's not the full story. Aside from that trademark eucalyptus note it is less recognisable as Heartwood / Lark / Tasmanian whisky, but then it's one of very few PX finishes to come out of the state so that's understandable. That BBQ plum sauce note is enjoyable, but it's also quite dominant, and there's still some heat to this one despite the lower strength and added cask influence. I could see it going very well with some BBQ pork come winter time!

Well done to Mr. H for trying something different with this one, and whipping it into shape very nicely. Heartwood fans are going to enjoy this one, as usual the volume of flavour on offer here is not easily found from many other Australian producers. This release was considerably more expensive than most releases to date, with a controversial significant price increase, although I notice that the most recent Heartwood release has come back down again. Let's hope there's some middle-ground in between the two, so we can keep enjoying as many Heartwoods as possible!

Cheers!

Longrow 14 Sherry Cask Whisky Review!

A properly dirty, earthy and funky Longrow from the hallowed grounds of Campbeltown's Springbank. Yes please.

Longrow is Springbank Distillery's double-distilled and heavily peated whisky, which only accounts for around 10% of their annual production. The distillery's namesake lightly peated & 2.5-times distilled Springbank whisky makes up 80% of their output, while the un-peated and triple-distilled Hazelburn takes up the remaining 10%. The double-distillation used in the Longrow spirit means that this whisky has skipped Springbank's third still altogether, and is only run through the distillery's direct-fired wash still and the worm tub condenser-equipped first spirit still, which normally operates as the intermediate low wines still. The spirit cuts for Longrow are taken considerably later in the run than those of the other styles, resulting in a dirtier and often lightly sulphurous whisky - which is no bad thing! Depending on conditions the floor-malted barley used for Longrow is dried for up to 48 hours over peat fires, resulting in roughly 50-55 ppm phenols in the barley. But despite that figure it doesn't usually show itself in the typical heavily peated fashion, it tends to present as more of a deep earthy note with gentle peat smoke around the edges. So Islay fans who're looking for a massive peat blast could be disappointed when they first try a Longrow, but it's not all about the peat in this whisky, and as always it's not all about the numbers. As with everything Springbank produce the volume of flavour, complexity and character on offer here is outstanding, particularly when served at cask strength as is the case with this bottling. 

Before we get into this whisky, let's take a quick look at sulphur. Sulphur gets a bad rap from quite a few whisky lovers (and some famous reviewers) who seem to be particularly sensitive to it, while on the other hand there are plenty who may not detect it at all, which results in it being a controversial subject. Personally I seem to be somewhere on the mid-to-lower side, and I have only come across a handful of whiskies where I found the type and level of sulphur notes to be wholly unpleasant, and in only one case actually intolerable. In some whiskies it adds character and depth, while in some it can ruin the entire experience. Sulphur in whisky tends to come from two sources, either during production as a by-product of  fermentation, and during cask maturation, particularly when looking at sherry and wine casks. The former is a natural result of the fermentation process and depends on a number of different factors such as barley variety, yeast type, and fermentation times and temperatures. It can either be stripped from the spirit through reactions with the copper during distillation, whether by reflux in the stills themselves (depending on their design and fill level) and also lower distillation temperatures and slower distillation, and/or through the use of shell & tube condensers. It is possible for a spirit run to be sulphur tainted in error through a too-fast distillation run or tired equipment, but if sulphur does remain in the spirit itself after distillation that is usually intentional and/or traditional for that distillery, and in most cases will 'only' result in a meaty, pungent or vegetal note in that distillery's whisky. A good example of that would be Craigellachie, where the remaining low levels of sulphur notes add to the whisky's character and become the distillery's calling card. That type of sulphur will progressively decrease during maturation, particularly when using first-fill or charred casks, through the natural extractive part of that process, and also the angel's share. Small amounts of sulphur is sometimes also mixed in with peat when kilning malted barley, particularly with heavily peated barley, to prevent the formation of nitrosamines in the malt, but this is generally treated or at least reduced by resting the kilned barley for a week or two prior to milling.

Where properly nasty sulphur issues and complete contamination will usually occur is in sherry and wine casks themselves. The main source was the burning of sulphur candles in empty casks to treat or prevent cask spoilage during storage or transport through bacterial contamination, which usually took place shortly before re-filling. When treated to excess the cask would become contaminated with sulphur, resulting in burnt rubber or vulcanised rubber notes, strong rotting vegetable notes or in the worst case scenario, actual rotten egg notes in the whisky (or other liquid, including wine) that went into that cask. If left unchecked that contamination would then carry through to subsequent fillings of the same cask, potentially affecting a large amount of liquid over a long time. This practice has drastically reduced in modern times, partly due to the requirement that sherry be bottled in Spain that was introduced in the 1980s which resulted in fewer casks being shipped overseas. Tainted or spoiled casks are usually identified and removed by the winery, cask broker, cooperage or distillery before they're filled, but occasionally a small number can slip through the cracks and potentially go on to ruin an entire batch of whisky, years or even decades later. In my opinion that is most definitely not the case with this Longrow, the meaty, rubbery and funky notes are meant to be there, adding to the whisky's character and certainly not ruining anything. 

This limited release 14-year old Longrow promises to be very characterful and extra funky, even for a Campbeltown whisky, because it has been fully matured in refill (likely second-fill) Oloroso sherry casks. It's all too easy to get caught up in the allure of first-fill casks as a whisky nerd, but second-fill or refill casks can also be outstanding, since without the full power of the cask's previous contents to resist the spirit itself can still assert itself, generally resulting in more distillery character showing through. Being a Longrow fan I was very excited about this release when it was first released in Britain back in mid-2018, and despite a reasonable release size of 9,000 bottles world-wide it sold out very quickly, to the point where it was impossible to find a bottle on my second pilgrimage to Scotland, which included a visit to Campbeltown itself, only two months later. Although it took more than six months to get here a small quantity has finally arrived on Australian shores, and it is still readily available at the time of writing at around $200 AUD. I was lucky enough to procure a sample from a generous fellow whisky geek, so I can share the love with yourselves. Longrow 14-year old Sherry Cask Matured was distilled in September 2003, matured in refill Oloroso sherry casks and bottled in July 2018 at a cask strength of 57.8% ABV, with 9,000 bottles released. And being a Springbank it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Bring on the funk!      

Longrow 14-year old Sherry Cask Matured, 57.8%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Heavily peated & double-distilled at Springbank Distillery. Distilled September 2003, matured in refill Oloroso sherry casks, bottled July 2018 at cask strength. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 9,000 bottles. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Earthy, dank and meaty. Loads of dark chocolate, some dates, a little rubber, salted buttery biscuits (shortbread?). Very musty dark red grapes, old cooking grease, and rancio notes - beef stock cubes, cured pork (salami) and fresh mushrooms, and a little nutty warm oak. A little spearmint and red apple around the edges as it breathes. 

Texture: Warm, rich & earthy. Medium weight with a tiny flash of heat, notably little for the ABV. 

Taste: Richly sherried, earthy and funky. More dark chocolate but in mousse form now, plus cola lollies, salted roasted nuts (chestnuts?), a little rubber and more nutty & rancio dry sherry notes. Cured pork, a few under-ripe cherries and buttered brown mushrooms. 

Finish: Long length. More cola lollies and salted roasted nuts, a touch of fizzy earthy peat, dark chocolate mousse again and those musty red grapes. Plus a little smoked paprika, more cured pork, a splash of lemonade soft drink that has gone flat, and salted butter. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Well this Longrow is definitely not a beginner's whisky by any means. And as you can probably tell from those tasting notes it's certainly not going to be for everyone. But the sheer volume & complexity of flavour on offer here is fantastic! There's a lovely deep, dark, dank feel to it that is very different, but very enjoyable for fans of the style. It's not quite funky in the typical oily, dirty, farmyard-y Springbank fashion, but it's funky in a meaty, rancio way that does remind me of a very dark, musty, dry Oloroso sherry which has oxidised slightly. But there's also so much more to it, you couldn't really lump this Longrow in with any of the regular sherry bombs. It's just a funky beast of a whisky! 

If you're a fan of sherried Mortlach, Edradour, or Ben Nevis you'll probably find this to your liking, but with some extra-dirty funk thrown in. Despite being a peathead I must admit I would normally reach for a Springbank whisky over a Longrow, but presented with a Longrow like this there would be a far more difficult decision to make. In fact I would say this is my favourite Longrow single malt to date, narrowly beating the old Rundlets & Kilderkins bottling. Great stuff!

Cheers!

Ardbeg Drum Committee Release Whisky Review!

Ardbeg's first rum cask finish? And at 52%? Take my money!

Ardbeg Drum is 2019's special bottling for Ardbeg Day, the annual world-wide event marking Ardbeg's Feis Ile celebrations on Islay, which in 2019 won't take place until the first of June. But as has been the case for the last few years, members of the Ardbeg Committee are treated to an special version of these whiskies a few months prior to the general release. The Committee Release bottlings are presented with more understated labelling, are not packaged in outer boxes, and are bottled at higher strength than the general release versions (which have been getting consistently lower in strength each year, before settling at 46%). I would say these are the purist's versions, since along with the higher ABV the packaging isn't anywhere near as glitzy as that of the regular versions. Each year Ardbeg give their fans something different, and these whiskies are often either a first for Ardbeg or a first for Islay whisky in general, from last year's Grooves that was partly-matured in heavily charred red wine casks, to 2017's Kelpie that was partly-matured in virgin Russian oak casks, among others. Of the seven 'Ardbeg Day' whiskies we've seen so far, 2013's Ardbog is still my pick of the lot, followed by the 2012 Ardbeg Day bottling, 2018's Grooves Committee Release and 2016's Dark Cove Committee Release. But this year's bottling promises to be very different from its predecessors, thanks to one fact in particular...

This year's release is Ardbeg's first official bottling that has been finished in rum casks. Actually it's even more unusual because Ardbeg do not typically use cask finishes at all. Cask finishing, also known as secondary maturation, extra maturation, double maturation or additional cask enhancement is the practice of taking a maturing cask of whisky and re-filling it into a different type of cask for a relatively short period of time before bottling. Ardbeg tend to follow the full-term maturation route, where casks are filled and matured separately (usually for different lengths of time) before marrying (combining) them together for bottling. If we take 2013's Ardbog as an example, it was a marriage / vatting of ex-bourbon casks and ex-Manzanilla sherry casks, all aged for at least 10 years. The vast majority of Ardbeg's releases, including their core range of An Oa, 10-year old, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, are matured in this way. It's a different approach that is far less common than the typical 6-12 month cask finish that we've seen from almost every distillery at some point. But for whatever reason Ardbeg went with a cask finish for this release. In their words, the whisky was "rested a while" in the ex-rum casks, which unfortunately is typically vague, so I would assume the finishing period was relatively short. Regardless, it's definitely had a pronounced effect.

That aside, the main point of difference here is of course those rum casks. Unfortunately we don't know a lot about them, only that they came from the Americas. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a rum expert by any means, but based purely on taste and appearance I'd say they held a fairly light rum, sweet & tropical, or at least certainly not a dark rum. This sort of ambiguity is commonplace when it comes to rum casks in the whisky world, and it's still a rare thing to find a whisky that has spent time in rum casks. A few more details would be nice, and we may see that happen as rum casks become more widely used. As sherry casks become more expensive and demand continues to outstrip supply, to a much greater extent than the wine itself could hope for, we're already seeing more unusual cask types find their way into the mix along with other unusual and less "traditional" cask types. Rum casks can work very well with whisky, particularly peated whisky in my experience to date, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the rum cask-finished Kilchoman and refill-rum cask-matured Springbank that I've tasted previously. So there's absolutely no reason to think they won't work very well with Ardbeg's peaty & sweet Islay spirit. It's also nice to see the late former Ardbeg distillery manager Hamish Scott get a mention in the marketing materials for this release, ostensibly because he also worked at a Guyanan rum distillery before coming to Ardbeg, but whatever the reason it's nice to see him getting credit where it's due. During his tenure Scott was almost solely responsible for the debut appearance of Ardbeg as a single malt, and his wife Rhona now runs a fantastic B&B in Port Ellen, right on the harbour.

Australian Ardbeg fans have been very lucky over the last few years, with the local distributor selling limited quantities of the Committee Release bottlings directly to the waiting hordes, and at very reasonable prices. Each year the prices rise a little (like they do with almost everything) but it's important to remember that despite being such a small market and being so isolated we're getting access to Ardbeg bottlings that many countries do not. And they're actually always priced lower than the general release versions that follow them, when they could be priced significantly higher and would still sell out. Ardbeg Drum Committee Release's Australian allocation sold out in around six hours, despite being limited to two bottles per person, and those lucky (and organised) enough to get their hands on a bottle or two received their prize around a week later. It was priced at a reasonable $155 AUD plus shipping, and as always it'll now be on various reseller websites for at least double that. Based on that I'd expect the regular version of Drum to be priced at around $190-200 when it finally hits the shelves in June. This review is from my personal bottle, which was cracked on the day it arrived and has been open for around two weeks now. As with almost every year details are very scarce, all we know about Ardbeg Drum Committee Release is that is has been mostly matured in ex-bourbon casks and then finished in some sort of rum casks, bottled at 52% ABV, is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Time for a dram of Drum!

Ardbeg Drum Committee Release, NAS, 52%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured in ex-bourbon casks, finished in un-named rum casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Pale-ish gold. A shade darker than the 10-year old. 

Nose: Sweet & very tarry straight away, plus some pine resin around the edges. Loads of ripe bananas, sweet herbs, sea salt & freshly shucked oyster shells. Tarry ropes, a little smoked chocolate, spiced & caramelised pineapple, some sweet herbs and vanilla cake batter. Fresh but under-baked banana muffins & some white pepper further in.  

Texture: Light-medium weight, syrupy sweet and peppery. Very slight touch of heat, in a pleasant way. 

Taste: Sweet and syrupy, with more caramelised pineapple, and a lovely dry, earthy, ashy peat with some black pepper following behind. Slightly astringent with that pepper and some pine resin, then more sweet herbs and a little simple (sugar) syrup (rum funk, if you will). Vanilla cake batter again. 

Finish: Medium length, but surprisingly light. Some chilli salt, more tar and more black pepper. A touch of licorice straps, dark loose leaf tea, more banana muffins, milk chocolate and wood spices. Sugar syrup, vanilla essence and black pepper wind things up.

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Not far off a 4, though. 

Notes: A tough one to score, this. It's noticeably lighter in the peat department compared to regular Ardbeg, and the sweetness has really been amped up, but there's a good volume of flavour on offer. Maybe that's why they decided on a cask finish? Regardless the rum influence is obvious, giving this Ardbeg a tropical, syrupy & herbal character that is admittedly unusual, but very enjoyable. Like most Ardbeg Day releases Drum is a departure from the norm, but it's a very pleasant dram that is easy drinking and fun, and it would go down well on a summers day even at 52% ABV. Which is not something that many Ardbegs could claim. 

I would rank Ardbeg Drum Committee Release behind Ardbog, and roughly on-par with the Committee Releases of Grooves and Dark Cove. You'll have to be a fan of sweet and tropical flavours and slightly lighter peat influence though, like quite a few of the previous "Day" releases if you go in expecting a typically Ardbeg experience you probably won't find what you're looking for. 

No doubt Ardbeg Drum will get the usual negative reaction from the anti-NAS and seemingly anti-Ardbeg "old guard", amongst the usual cries of it being overpriced. Granted this is not a traditional Ardbeg, but what would be the point of releasing the same whisky every year? Ardbeg, like Laphroaig to a lesser extent, go for a more accessible and unexpected release to commemorate their Feis Ile celebrations than the majority of distilleries, which means their international fans can enjoy the special bottlings just as much as the lucky few on Islay can. And more power to them. As for us Ardbeg fans on the other side of the planet, we need to be keep some perspective of what we're getting here. Special treatment like this is normally only seen in the United States with their massive population, ridiculous buying power and far lower duty and tax levels. We don't get looked after like this by any other Islay distillery, and very few distilleries at all, so let's be appreciative that Ardbeg continue to value their small but loyal Australian following. May it never end!

Cheers!

Port Charlotte MRC01 Whisky Review!

A new Port Charlotte release that is very exciting! And it's cask strength Port Charlotte, so it's already following a winning recipe...

Port Charlotte is Bruichladdich's heavily peated whisky, named after the village of Port Charlotte down the road from Bruichladdich, as a homage to the Loch Indaal Distillery that closed in 1929. Weighing in at 40 ppm on the malt, Port Charlotte sits between the distillery's unpeated Bruichladdich whisky and the super-heavily peated Octomore whiskies. But don't panic, there's still plenty of smoke to be found here. The Port Charlotte "brand" has undergone something of a refresh in the last year or so, re-launching during the 2018 Feis Ile celebrations with new expressions, a new bottle and label design, and a renewed spotlight on this often (wrongly) overlooked whisky. Since then we have seen a new permanent addition to the Port Charlotte range, the 10-year old, and a new 2011-vintage Islay Barley expression (both reviewed here) in the new packaging. Both of those great whiskies now include wine casks in their recipes / vattings, and are very reasonably priced, and although I preferred the Islay Barley expression when first introduced to them, I now have trouble picking a winner between the two. And now we have a brand new and very exciting addition to the range, a cask strength expression that has spent time in French red wine casks!

My level of anticipation is very high for this one. Even higher than it always is for each whisky that Bruichladdich release, in fact, because the seed had already been planted by a very special cask that was sitting in that cold, damp warehouse at Bruichladdich during my first pilgrimage to the Hebridean paradise of Islay. The entire experience at that warehouse tasting was phenomenal, but despite being a huge Octomore fan, on that occasion it was the Port Charlotte cask that really blew me away. It was a fully-matured Bordeaux red wine cask, at 12-years of age and 57% ABV, and it was one of the whisky highlights of that entire pilgrimage to Scotland. This whisky is a little different, and of course it's not really fair to compare it to a single cask that was specially selected for the warehouse tastings at the distillery, but (spoiler alert) it's a fantastic dram. Port Charlotte MRC01 is a 7-year old whisky that was distilled in 2010 from Scottish barley peated to 40 ppm at Bairds Maltings in Inverness, and was matured in 50% first-fill bourbon casks and 50% second-fill French wine casks for six years, before being married together and finished (or additional cask enhanced - ACEd -  in 'laddie speak) for a further year in first-fill red wine casks from the Bordeaux region of southern France. It was bottled at a strength of 59.2% ABV, and of course is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured.

Given the name (or codename) of this bottling, the astute wine buffs have probably already guessed where those finishing casks came from. Unfortunately Bruichladdich aren't allowed to say anything more than "the left bank of the Bordeaux region", which is home to over 200 producers of many different types of wine. These acronyms are going to be the standard for Port Charlotte going forward, and they've already been used to great success in bottlings like the travel-exclusive CC01 (cognac cask), and the more recent of the distillery exclusive Valinch bottlings. In this case we can reasonably deduce that those casks came from a particularly famous producer in the Paulliac appellation that can be traced back to the 18th century. These casks would certainly not have come cheap!

This is the first general release (i.e. not travel- or distillery- exclusive) high strength bottling of Port Charlotte in quite a while. At least it is if you don't consider Bruichladdich's current standard bottling strength of 50% ABV to be high enough! If memory serves the last was the extremely limited (6,000 bottles) PC10 cask strength bottling from 2011, which I don't believe ever made it to Australia, and which is not to be confused with the 'regular' bottlings of 10-year old Port Charlotte - of which there have now been three different versions. MRC01 is not yet available in Australia, but it's on the way, and at a series of recent tastings hosted by the magnificent Chloe Wood, Bruichladdich's Asia Pacific Brand Ambassador, and Mark Hickey of Australian distributor Spirits Platform, a lucky few were given the chance to pre-order a bottle or two before they arrive in April. And yes, I'm already on the list! There's no official figure on the number of bottles in this release, but sadly only a very small quantity are going to make the lengthy voyage to Australia. After a fantastic tasting in Brisbane at the end of Chloe's extremely busy tour, where the MRC01 was the stand-out whisky of an already excellent line-up, I was lucky enough to secure a little extra sample for this review. So let's get to it!

Port Charlotte MRC01 2010, 59.2% cask strength. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled in 2010 from Scottish barley peated to 40 ppm, matured in 50% first-fill ex-bourbon & 50% second-fill ex-French wine casks for 6 years, married & finished for 1 year in Bordeaux wine casks. Natural colour, non-chill filtered.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Lovely. Fruity, softly spicy & smoky. Charred BBQ smoked meats, warm charcoal briquettes, a flash of salted lemon, drying kelp and warm asphalt. Dried cherries and grilled peaches, and a little brown sugar. Time brings out more spicy wood smoke (mesquite?) and hints of gristy malt in the background.

Texture: Lovely again. Medium-heavy weight, lightly oily. Remarkably mellow for 7 years of age and over 59% ABV.

Taste: Sweet fruity entry, with more cherry and peach, plus some plum and a little nectarine now. And they're all caramelised & lightly charred from the grill. Then a gorgeous wave of that thick sweet & spicy BBQ wood smoke, with a little drying wood ash. Some thick butter & brown sugar caramel underneath.

Finish: Medium-long length. That sweet & spicy wood smoke carries through, with some grilled salted lemon, and all of that grilled stone fruit again, but with the brown sugar caramel served alongside for dessert. There's a little medicinal edge coming through the smoke to finish, like a freshly unsealed but older bandage.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Picture a wood-fired BBQ full of charred smoked meat and caramelised stone fruit with a few squirts of lemon over the top, and let that soak in. That's where this whisky takes you. And it's absolutely fantastic! This is no massive Islay peat bomb, but the volume, complexity and balance of flavour on offer here is really remarkable. Especially considering the age and ABV. But rest assured, there's still plenty of smoke to be found in this Port Charlotte, and it's a delicious sweet and spicy wood smoke that has worked perfectly with those French wine casks. This is a great example of what Port Charlotte is all about. It stands apart from all of the other Islays, it's approachable and enticing, and it's capable of absolute magic!

It's looking like MRC01 will be quite reasonably priced as well, so if you get the chance to grab one of these, I suggest you do so immediately. This is an excellent example of what this versatile and yes, progressive, Islay distillery does. Hats off to Bruichladdich, you've nailed it again!

Cheers!

Bruichladdich Rocks Whisky Review!

Yes, Bruichladdich does rock! But this is actually a long-discontinued expression that was distilled not long after the distillery's resurrection, and was available from 2007-2013. Exciting stuff!

Much has been said of Bruichladdich's rescue at the hands of Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin and Jim McEwan (and others) back in 2001, who resuscitated the distillery after a six-year sleep. Plenty of equipment & building repairs were required following the neglect that the site had suffered at the hands of it's previous owners over that time, but there's now no doubt that it was all worth it. The distillery is unquestionably a powerhouse these days, and thanks to the recent purchase by Remy Cointreau there's no sign of that changing in the future. In fact the new owners are investing in expansion, and I get the feeling that the new backing will allow the distillery to move forward on plenty of projects that have been in the pipeline or on the sideline for a long time. Case in point is the recent announcement that Bruichladdich now has its own farm set aside for growing their own barley on Islay, meaning that once the planned floor maltings are built they'll be the second Islay distillery to grow, malt and mill their own barley, and then mash, ferment, distill, mature and bottle their spirit on-site. Very exciting times ahead!

I've only tried a couple of the un-peated Bruichladdich bottlings from this earlier era (not including the peated Port Charlotte and super-heavily peated Octomore), and they are few and far between these days. The older bottlings that are currently available such as the Black Art series were all distilled prior to the 1995 closure, and are understandably getting very expensive now. On the other hand the contemporary young Bruichladdich whiskies are of consistently excellent quality, and are essentially what the distillery is now known for. Bright, fresh, and delicious un-peated malt-forward drams with loads of character and loads of maturity for their age. The earlier young bottlings were a little different in style, and were arguably less focused on barley and - in 'laddie speak - "uber-provenance" than they currently are, and in my admittedly limited experience they were also less consistent. But the living legend Jim McEwan of course was - and still is - a master of his craft, and without his input Bruichladdich would have been very different to what it is today. So getting the chance to try any of his early work at Bruichladdich is always very special!

The expression that we're looking at today, 'Rocks', was part of a series of three bottlings that were inspired by the distillery's surroundings. The other two in the series were 'Waves', referring to Loch Indaal over the road from the distillery and the Atlantic Ocean that feeds it, and 'Peat', which shouldn't need any further explanation! What's more interesting here is that all three of these releases were peated, and peated to different levels, and as you'd expect Waves and Rocks were only very lightly peated. Waves was finished (ACE'd, in 'laddie speak) in Madeira casks, Peat was fully-matured in bourbon casks but was a mix of Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore spirit, and Rocks was finished in French Syrah red wine casks. Rocks was the least peated of the three, and was also the last to be discontinued back in 2013. The name of this expression refers to the Rhinns of Islay, the rocky area on the western side of the island that is home to the distillery and it's water source. Rocks is an NAS vatting of 6-9 year old casks, married together and finished in those Syrah casks for around 9 months, and is bottled at 46% ABV which was then the standard bottling strength (it's now 50%). Since it's a Bruichladdich it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. There are a few murmurings on the 'net that this single malt was designed to be served on the rocks (with ice), but I can't find anything official on that anywhere, nor on the packaging, so I don't think that's the case. Either way, just neat for me thanks!

Bruichladdich Rocks, NAS, 46%. Islay, Scotland.
Very lightly peated, vatting of 6-9 year old ex-bourbon casks finished in Syrah red wine casks for around 9 months. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Fresh, fruity & peppery, not as bright, sweet or clean as more modern Bruichladdichs, but that could be down to those wine casks doing their thing. It has a little yeasty funk to it as well, not the usual 'laddie lactic note. Light wine tannins, acidic pear drops, and a mild red grape must. A nice sweet vanilla bean paste and some fresh lemon juice coming through with more time.

Texture: Medium weight, lightly astringent & drying, a touch of peppery heat on entry but pleasant.

Taste: Peppery wine tannins, a little semi-sweet honey & citrus, dry mild chilli spice, like Szechuan peppercorns. More of that yeasty funk which is different but enjoyable. Light salty tang as well, reminds me of iodised table salt.

Finish: Medium length. Those spicy dry peppercorns follow through but the fruit then takes over, a nice mix of green / under-ripe tropical fruit, those acidic pear drops and that red grape must. The salt comes through again too but with more power, like a salt lick, which turns to a drying & lightly astringent minerality as it tapers off.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Notes: Interesting stuff! An enjoyable dram that reminds me a little of the old WMD II 'yellow submarine' bottling that I first tried a while ago. It's more musty and funky than we now think of with Bruichladdich, but that wine cask finish, or ACE for Additional Cask Enhancement in 'laddie speak, is probably responsible for some of that difference. That's not a criticism by any means mind you, it's just different, which is never a bad thing!

Those wine casks have definitely had an effect, perhaps adding more complexity, but they haven't overtaken the spirit and it all works quite well together. That saltiness is very enjoyable too, in fact this is probably the saltiest Bruichladdich bottling that I've come across to date, and I like how it turns into an ozone-y minerality on the finish - definitely evoking the rocks & the Rhinns that the whisky was named after! If you're a 'laddie fan and you stumble across a bottle of this long-discontinued expression, it's definitely worth picking up for near its original price. But I wouldn't spend up big on a bottle of Rocks when the current range of young Bruichladdichs is just so damn good...

Cheers!

Puni Nero Whisky Review!

An Italian whisky! This is a first for me, and something tells me it's going to be an interesting one...

Puni Distillery is the only whisky distillery in Italy, located near the Swiss border in the Italian alpine region in the far north of the country, around four hour's drive north-east of Milan. This family-owned distillery is named after the nearby Puni River, and is housed in the very modern cube-shaped building pictured above (no whitewashed stone here!), which was built in 2010 with production commencing in 2012. But there seem to be a few points of difference in the whisky itself that are a little different from the norm. Puni's whisky is made from a mix of malted barley, malted rye and malted wheat. Yes, rye and wheat can also be malted, but the addition of these two other grains (whether malted or 'green') make this a grain whisky, not a malt whisky, by the Scottish regulations. Italy is not in Scotland of course, and the European Union whisky regulations only state that whisky must be "made from malted cereal grains, with or without whole grains of other cereals" which is very vague, and there is no provision for terms like single malt, malt whisky or grain whisky in their definitions. Puni have chosen to call their product "Italian Malt Whisky", which is obviously fine by the EU definitions, and all of the grain used has been malted, so it does make sense.

The majority of the EU whisky definitions do match those of the Scotch Whisky Association, including the minimum 3 year age and 40% ABV bottling strength, the maximum 94.8% ABV distillation strength and 700-litre cask size, and E150a caramel colouring being the only permitted additive. But those casks are only required to be "wooden", oak is not specified like it is in Scotland and the United States. Many countries around the world have ambiguities like this - and often more - in their definitions and regulations, including Australia & Japan. But many of the quality international producers do choose to follow the Scotch whisky regulations, and it'd be nice to get everyone on a more even playing field, wouldn't it? There's no questioning the massive effect that the use of different grains make to a whisky, with spirits predominantly distilled from rye, wheat, corn and barley being markedly different from one another. I must admit the use of different wood types for whisky maturation would be an interesting thing to explore, and a few "new world" distilleries have started doing just that. But there are already hundreds of different oak species out there, so there's already plenty of room for more exploration and experimentation in that area than seems to be happening at the moment.

Back to the subject at hand. Two of those three different malted grains, the rye and wheat, are sourced locally from northern Italy, while the barley is apparently imported from nearby Austria. The local South Tyrol region was actually part of Austria prior to World War II, to the point where the majority of the population have Austrian names and speak a mix of Italian and Austrian. Aside from the grains used production at Puni is otherwise traditional, being mashed on-site, using wooden washbacks for fermentation and being double distilled in Scottish-built copper pot stills that were built & installed by Forsyths in Speyside. Puni use a number of different cask types for maturation, from virgin oak and ex-bourbon to Marsala and Pinot wine, to PX sherry and refill ex-Islay whisky casks, and some of those casks are actually matured underground in re-purposed WWII-era bunkers. The distillery also benefits from the wide variances in the local climate, from warm temperatures in the mid-twenties in summer to below freezing in winter, which helps give the maturating casks a hurry-up.

The Puni expression we're looking at today is Nero (Italian for "black"), which refers to this whisky being matured in casks that previously held Pinot Nero red wine, which is the Italian term for Pinot Noir, sourced from local wineries. This expression did win the World Whiskies Award for best Italian single malt in 2017, but let's remember that there is only one Italian whisky distillery, and by the most widely-accepted definition of the term this isn't exactly single malt, so let's not get too caught up in that. This sort of situation does highlight the frivolity of some of these international whisky awards, particularly when they're very effective marketing exercises for the entrants and subsequently the awards themselves. Puni Nero is an age-stated (which should be commended) 3-year old whisky bottled at 43% ABV, and is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. This is the 2016 bottling which is still readily available in Australia for around $140 AUD, with only 3000 bottles released. Let's give it a go...

Puni Nero, 3-years old, 43%. Glorenza, Italy. 
Distilled from malted barley, malted rye & malted wheat. Matured in local ex-Pinot Nero (Italian Pinot Noir) casks. 2016 release, 3,000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Light & fruity, quite wine (grape) forward to start with. Musty, gamy red grapes, a little mint, some dry herbal honey and light toasted oak. Touch of coconut around the edges. Spicy grain and dark chocolate with more breathing time.

Texture: Light-medium weight, but lightly flavoured. Slight touch of heat on the back end.

Taste: Spicy, quite rye forward here. Toasted grain and a little yeasty rye bread. More gamy and musty red grapes, but much lighter here than it was on the nose. A little powdery dark chocolate as well.

Finish: Short & light. Flashes of coconut and chocolate again, but the rye spices are still the main player. Fades quite quickly with a little musty grape and a touch of prickly heat on the tongue.

Score: 2.5 out of 5.

Notes: A pleasant drop, night and light and fruity, with a refreshing spice to it. And that's coming from someone who doesn't exactly love grain whisky in most cases. I wonder what proportion of each grain were used in this one? This Puni would make for a good summer's day dram I'd say, and it'll be to the liking of fans of spicy red wines as well. It's a little unfamiliar to the malt drinker, but that's not a criticism. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Overall it's a good showing from a young and very "new world" distillery, and it's well worth a shot when you're looking for something a little lighter and a little refreshing.

Cheers!