Ardbeg Corryvreckan (2009 Bottling) Whisky Review!

An Ardbeg Corryvreckan from the first year of official release (not counting the "For Discussion" 2008 pre-release), and the first batch to come to Australia. This should be interesting!

The first bottlings of Corryvreckan back in 2008-2009 were met with a bit of hesitation by Ardbeg fans. A non-age statement (NAS) bottling was replacing the legendary Airigh Nam Beist in Ardbeg's line-up, and it was a completely different whisky. The magnificent "Beist" had very much been a purist's Ardbeg, with three yearly batches of 1990 vintage, 46% ABV first-fill ex-bourbon cask matured Ardbeg that was bottled in 2006, 2007 and 2008. This newcomer though was bottled at 100 degrees Imperial proof (57.1%), was partly matured in French oak, was more expensive than the 'Beist and did not carry an age statement or vintage. While they're mostly accepted as inevitable today, back then many whisky fans considered NAS whiskies to be the enemy, and while this was only a decade ago such bottlings were much less common than they are today. This was not Ardbeg's first NAS bottling either, in fact the mighty Uigeadail was launched way back in 2003, which for some reason - perhaps Uigeadail's sherry cask component - didn't incur as much wrath as this new expression. The switch to younger NAS bottlings was always going to happen though, since the distillery was closed from 1981-1989, and was then on "life support" at the hands of Allied Distillers - who also owned nearby Laphroaig at the time - until it was again closed in 1996, before being purchased (saved) by Glenmorangie in 1997 (itself purchased by LVMH in 2004). It took them almost another year to get the distillery back up to scratch, so pre-1998 casks of Ardbeg are now seriously rare (and very costly) things. 

Interestingly, Corryvreckan was never intended to be a permanent addition to Ardbeg's line-up. When first launched it was only expected to last for 3-4 years, but it was so successful over that time that they decided to keep it, and it's still going strong now over ten years after launch. For all the hate that Ardbeg gets, it's hard to argue with the relative consistency of their core range - with Uigeadail, Corryvreckan and the 10-year old being around for well over a decade now, plus the recent addition of the milder An Oa, and the forthcoming and very promising 5-year old 'Wee Beastie'. Yes, those older core range whiskies have all changed in character over recent years, and of course have increased in price, but if you ask me they're still dependably decent quality (yes, some more than others) and they offer good value for money - much more so than many other brands. In fact that's created a bit of a problem for the distillery, since all of their limited releases are now immediately compared to the distillery's core range, particularly when pricing is factored in, and they are sometimes found wanting. I've long argued that such comparisons are missing the point a little, since the idea of the limited releases is to present something notably different to the core range, or even downright experimental. Yes, those limited releases are consistently getting more expensive, and are consistently being bottled at lower & lower strengths, but they're always unique and they always offer a different take on Ardbeg's usual style. 

Named after a whirlpool that sits north of Jura in the North Atlantic, the recipe for Corryvreckan was a marriage/vatting of roughly 70% ex-bourbon cask-matured Ardbeg and roughly 30% French oak cask-matured Ardbeg. I had always taken the latter to mean virgin French oak, and I assumed that the recipe had been the same since this whiskys inception. But rumours were floating around that there were also some ex-red wine French oak casks involved, which piqued my interest, so I had to do some investigating. I reached out to none other than Brendan McCarron, the distillery's 'Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks' and essentially Dr. Bill Lumsden's partner in crime for Ardbeg & Glenmorangie, and asked the question. Brendan graciously helped and confirmed that yes, in the earlier releases of Corryvreckan there were ex-red wine French oak casks involved, but for a long time now they've used virgin French oak, because they feel that's where the results come from. He also explained how that recipe had developed because of the change in strategy that I mentioned above - from the original intention of Corryvreckan lasting only 3-4 years, rather than being part of the distillery's permanent / core range line-up. So essentially if your bottle of Corryvreckan was bottled in the last 7-8 years or so (discerned by checking the date code on the glass under the back label - L9 166 in this case, meaning the 166th day of 2009), the French oak component will have been virgin oak, but if it's an older bottling it will also have some ex-red wine French oak casks in the mix, while still following the (roughly) 70% ex-bourbon and 30% French oak ratio. Unlike many Scotch whisky distilleries, Ardbeg aren't afraid of the assertiveness of virgin oak - perhaps helped by Corryvreckan working so well for them over the years - and they've used it quite a few times in their limited releases since. From the excellent Ardbeg Alligator, to Auriverdes and Kelpie, and now An Oa, all have used virgin oak to some extent, albeit mixed in with other cask types. Ardbeg's sweet and peaty spirit does seem to work well with a portion of virgin oak casks thrown into the mix - particularly in Alligator's case in my opinion, which was an excellent example.

It's been a year or so since I last tasted Corryvreckan, and that was a much more recent bottling - circa 2017, from memory. Nonetheless it's a fairly easy whisky to remember, since it's certainly the most assertive whisky in the Ardbeg line-up, so this older bottling will make for an interesting comparison. Although it's no longer printed on the packaging or labelling, to my knowledge it's always been non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, as is all Ardbeg single malt - print it on the packaging please people! The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd who was lucky enough to stumble on to this 2009 bottling. Right, tasting time!

Ardbeg Corryvreckan (2009 bottling), NAS, 57.1%. Islay, Scotland.
Matured in approx. 70/30 mix of ex-bourbon and French oak casks (either virgin oak or ex-wine casks, recent batches will be virgin oak). Assumed non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Copper.

Nose: Yummy, and surprisingly soft. Loads of aniseed, toffee, tar and a floral vanilla sweetness. Then black pepper, burnt BBQ red meats - brisket? - in thick sauce. A dash of salt and charred driftwood. Toffee apples and fruity BBQ sauce with more time - thick plum & apricot BBQ sauce.

Texture: Medium weight, but very oily and silky, almost fatty. A little heat, but pleasant.

Taste: Soft entry, then a big wave of dry peppery peat, dark toffee and fresh tar, and a touch of aniseed. A good pinch of black pepper and that fruity BBQ sauce again, with some sea salt around the edges.

Finish: Long length. The aniseed comes back again, under some charred / toasted wood spices, a thick bonfire smoke and more black pepper. Then fruity BBQ sauce again, plus some vanilla & a crumbly dry peat towards the end.

Score: 4 out of 5. Not far from a 4.5. 

Notes: Very, very good. It's still a big, intense whisky, but it's certainly not as aggressive as I remember the more recent bottlings being. The nose is surprisingly soft & inviting - provided you like aniseed - and the initial palate entry is as well, before a big wave of flavour and texture hits you head-on. I don't remember those fruity, plum-like BBQ sauce notes in the more recent bottlings either - which could be down to the wine casks. Likewise the big oily-ness in the texture, but if that's down to the casks it's going to be down to the tannic virgin oak drying things out in the newer bottlings - which makes sense actually. The tar, salt, pepper & toffee is all classic Ardbeg though, but it's amplified here - and it's awesome.

So this 2009 bottling is certainly different to the newer version. It's softer, more fruity & more oily, and less aggressive, but no less intense & full-flavoured. It's still the (physically) big brother to the rest of the Ardbeg core range, and it definitely deserves its permanent seat at the table.  

Cheers!

Ballechin SFTC Oloroso Whisky Review!

A cask strength, single cask heavily-peated Ballechin, that has been fully-matured in a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask. Exciting stuff!

Ballechin (pronounced "Bell-eck-in") is the name given to the heavily-peated spirit produced at Edradour Distillery, near the attractive town of Pitlochry in the lower Scottish Highlands - around a 1.5-hour drive north from Edinburgh. The branding is a homage to Ballechin Distillery, which was a few miles from Edradour and permanently closed in 1927. Itself founded in 1837, Edradour was for quite some time was the smallest distillery in Scotland, and although it has since been beaten to that post, and has expanded its capacity thanks to the commissioning of a second distillery on-site, this is still a very small operation. That new second distillery, designed to exactly match the original, was just coming online when I was lucky enough to visit the distillery back in 2017 (full write-up here) and has more than doubled Edradour's annual production capacity - bringing it to around 325,000-litres, which is still a very small number when compared with most Scottish distilleries. Since 2002 Edradour has been owned by independent bottlers Signatory Vintage, or more specifically Andrew Symington and his brother Brian, with Signatory's operations and warehouses now also located at the distillery. Aside from the (now four) small pot stills and traditional & hands-on production methods, the distillery is widely known for its employment of traditional worm tub condensers (pictured below), where the spirit vapour from the stills is cooled back into a liquid. These older & more traditional condensers are less efficient and give less copper contact than the modern shell & tube designs, which results in a heavier, meaty and sometimes sulphurous or "funky" spirit character, which is a big part of Edradour's intrinsic style.

Worm tub condenser

The Ballechin spirit is quite heavily peated, to "not less than 50 ppm" measured on the malted barley, and despite using mainland peat - mostly sourced from Aberdeenshire - the finished whisky is actually more towards an Island style, drawing some similarities to Tobermory's Ledaig, or even some of the Islay malts in some cases, rather than the slightly lighter (but still delicious) mainland styles of heavily-peated Scotch such as Benromach's Peat Smoke or Benriach's Curiositas. Aside from the flagship expression of Ballechin 10-year old (reviewed here), the other Ballechins that you're most likely to see in Australia are the SFTC range, standing for "Straight From The Cask", which are cask strength 500ml bottlings from single casks. While the Edradour SFTC range tends to feature sherry casks, most of the Ballechin examples are matured in wine casks, such as Sauternes or Burgundy, although there have also been a couple of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon matured examples. There was a huge range of these SFTC bottlings available from the well-stocked distillery shop when I visited, in both Edradour and Ballechin guises, as well as some cask strength 700ml larger batch bottlings of both, some of which were distillery exclusive - I still remember the Madeira cask-matured Ballechin was exceptional, although I ended up going home with a delicious Chardonnay cask-matured SFTC Edradour instead. That distillery shop is very reasonably priced, which is certainly not always the case, and I highly recommend stopping in for a look-see if you're driving through Pitlochry on your way north to Speyside or the Highlands. In fact I highly recommend touring the distillery as well, I think it's important to see these smaller-scale, hands-on and traditional distilleries - Springbank, Bruichladdich, Kilchoman and Benromach also come to mind here - since they offer a different perspective from the larger and more commercial operations that sometimes get more attention from tourists.

This particular Ballechin is quite exciting, since this heavily-peated SFTC bottling has been fully-matured in a single first-fill Oloroso sherry cask. It'll be interesting to compare this against Benromach's Peat Smoke Sherry Cask cask strength bottling, another recent heavily-peated mainland single malt that was fully-matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks. I'm a huge fan of the Benromach, and on paper the two are similar in style - hence my excitement - and are also similarly priced at around $150 AUD, although the Ballechin is a few years older and is a 500ml bottling taken from a single cask, while the Benromach is a full-sized bottle from a larger batch. Personally I don't mind a 500ml bottle if it helps to keep the pricing down and the availability up, which it has in this case, but it's impossible to avoid comparing them against full-sized equivalents when it comes to value. 500ml bottles are a more common thing in Australian whisky though, so I can see that being a harder sell in other markets. This single cask Ballechin was distilled in February 2007, and was bottled at 11-years of age in September 2018 at a cask strength of 61% ABV, with an out-turn of 955 x 500ml bottles, which makes that single cask a 500-litre sherry butt. Like 99% of Edradour's single malts (the entry-level 10-year old at 40% is the only exception) it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. The sample for this review came from a swap with a fellow-whisky geek, so cheers Steve! Time to get to it.

Ballechin SFTC Oloroso Sherry Cask Matured, 11-year old. 61%. Pitlochry, Scotland.
Distilled Feb 2007, fully-matured in single first-fill Oloroso sherry cask #18, bottled September 2018. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 955 x 500ml bottles.

Colour: Dark bronze.

Nose: Rich, leathery & fruity. Stewed stone fruit - apricot, plum & a little peach with some raisins thrown in. Dates and dusty soft old leather, and some old-style tinned boiled sweets, cherry liqueur and baking spices. Some candied orange slices & cigar boxes with more time.

Texture: Medium weight, rich & spicy, not particularly peaty though. A little heat, but hides its ABV well.

Taste: More dates and old leather, candied orange and baking spices. A little cherry liqueur again. Dry chilli flakes and a touch of bitter dark chocolate and spicy oak.

Finish: Medium length. Earthy & spicy to start with, some more bitter dark chocolate and spent coffee grounds, maybe a little rubber (not in a bad way). Date syrup, more chilli flakes and old leather, with orange peel and those stewed stone fruits in the background.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: A big, rich, powerful dram with plenty of flavour, but the sherry cask has certainly dominated. I expected more peat & smoke to show through, but it's instead been reduced to a soft earthy note - surprising considering how assertive the peaty Ballechin spirit usually is. Maybe if it had been bottled a little earlier more of that peat & smoke would've survived? But the distillery will have bottled at this age for a reason. I do like a big dirty sherry bomb, and this Ballechin certainly delivers on that regard. In terms of dirty funky-ness, I did expect more of that since Edradour's spirit is a little weighty & funky by default - but I'd rank this one behind the Benromach Peat Smoke Sherry Cask in that regard, and further behind the excellent Longrow 14-year old Sherry Cask Matured from 2018.

Since I mentioned it above, between this single cask Ballechin and that sherry cask-matured cask strength Benromach, I'd have to go for the Benromach. It's dirtier and funkier, with more peat & smoke showing through, despite the lower peating level, and with more rancio sherry character as well. But that's just down to personal preference really, if you're of fan of this style of sherry bomb you'll certainly enjoy this Ballechin, as I did. Now I just need to get my hands on a bottle of that Madeira cask Ballechin from the distillery shop. Don't like my chances there!

Cheers!

Springbank 12 Burgundy Whisky Review!

It's a 12-year old cask strength Springbank, but not as we usually know them: this one's been fully matured in Burgundy wine casks!

This wine cask-matured (not merely finished) Springbank was bottled back in 2016, and was the second release in the series of limited bottlings that replaced the older "Wood Finish" range of Springbanks, Longrows and Hazelburn single malts - all produced by Springbank distillery - that featured the old hand-written style brown labels. The first of the new series in the updated packaging was the 17-year old Sherry Wood, which hit European shelves back in mid-2015. Interestingly though, while the older versions that they replaced were almost all merely finished in different cask types, these revamped bottlings have instead all been fully matured. From the aforementioned Sherry Wood 17, to the 12-year old Burgundy that we're looking at today, to the delicious 14-year old Bourbon Wood, to last year's 15-year old Rum Wood - which only recently arrived in Australia - they've all been fully-matured in their respective cask types. While the Sherry and Bourbon releases used a mix of first- and re-fill casks, both the Rum Wood and this Burgundy expression were matured only in first-fill casks. So far, the 14-year old Bourbon Wood has been my pick of these more recent releases, but that could certainly change with this review! I was actually lucky enough to try this whisky a couple of times when it finally landed in Australia, and it was extremely impressive. But aside from the initial pour when I cracked this bottle a few weeks ago, it's been a couple of years since I last looked at it properly.

In the grand scheme of things, it's still not a particularly common thing to find single malt Scotch whiskies that are fully matured in wine casks. Which is difficult to relate to here in Australia, where almost every local distillery relies on them very heavily - the overall results of which can be a mixed bag. Even the more adventurous and mould-breaking Scottish distilleries such as Bruichladdich and of course the more divisive Springbank will more often use wine casks only for finishing, or they will mix / marry or 'vat' the wine cask-matured spirit in with other cask types - particularly in Bruichladdich's case. There are exceptions of course, and the balance does seem to be changing - partly due to the rising costs of sherry casks, no doubt - but they're still in the minority, particularly when you're talking production volumes. Springbank have never been afraid to try something different. As one of Campbeltown's three distilleries, and one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries that is privately owned, they've always seemed to represent a mix of both tradition and unconventional-ism. Not to the same extreme as Bruichladdich perhaps, but over the years they've offered a huge variety of different cask finishes and barley sources - and it's all floor-malted at the distillery, remember. In this case with their heavier, more robust and lightly-peated namesake spirit there was never any real danger of these wine casks being allowed to go too far. Instead they've worked brilliantly with said spirit, which by the way is also distilled 2.5-times through the distillery's rather complex system of three stills, including the direct-fired wash still (the first still) and the worm tub condenser-equipped first spirit still (the second still in the series).

Burgundy wines, as the name suggests, hail from the Burgundy region of Eastern France, but it's more of a general regional term - Pinot Noir is the main type of red wine that is produced in the region, although they also produce Chardonnay and Chablis white wines. In this case the casks used held red wine, so we can be fairly certain that they were of the Pinot Noir variety, which is a dry red wine that isn't quite as heavy or tannic as the heavier types such as Syrah / Shiraz. As mentioned above this Springbank spent 12 years in those first-fill Burgundy red wine casks, and was then bottled at a cask strength of 53.5% ABV without any chill filtration or added colouring - Springbank doesn't believe in any of that nonsense, thankfully. There were 10,260 bottles of this expression released worldwide, which may sound like a lot, but it really isn't - especially for us down under where Australia is generally the last to receive its tiny allocations. Obviously being bottled in 2016 means it sold out long ago, since none of these limited release Springbanks last very long anyway. With the exception of the 17-year old Sherry Wood that I mentioned above, which seemed to hang around for quite a while - probably because of high local pricing. This 12-year old Burgundy was much more reasonably priced at around $160 AUD on release, and it can still be found at auction. And - spoiler alert - it's well worth the effort of tracking down. Time for a dram, I think!

Springbank 12-year old Burgundy, 53.5%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Lightly peated, 2.5-times distilled. Distilled 11/2003, fully-matured in first-fill Burgundy red wine casks, bottled 05/2016. Non-chill filtered, naturally coloured. 10,260 bottles.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Dirty dunnage warehouses, a chalky minerality, some sweet berries and a few sour cherries. Some sweetened smooth peanut butter and chocolate, plus aniseed and black pepper. Raspberry jube jellies / lollies, musty & sweet red grapes and a dry, soft earthy peat. Spearmint and creamy caramel added with more time.

Texture: Medium weight, oily, rich & complex. Dirty (that's a good thing!), funky & sweet. No heat at all, very mellow.

Taste: A good dose of Springbank's dirty dunnage warehouse "funk", black pepper, creamy caramel and more musty red grapes and sweet berries. That chalky minerality again, plus a little toasted oak and soft, earthy, dry peat in the background.

Finish: Medium-long length, dirty & funky. Black pepper and aniseed carry through, then those raspberry lollies / jellies, and caramel fudge. That dry earthy peat and dunnage warehouse / farmyard-y musty funk underneath.

Score: 4 out of 5. Almost a 4.5 in fact.

Notes: Excellent stuff. More please! Without doubt my favourite wine cask-matured / finished Campbeltown malt that I've tried to date. Far more balanced than the 14-year old Longrow Burgundy and 12-year old Springbank Claret Wood if you ask me - there's better harmony between cask & spirit here, with more distillery character left intact. In fact I'd say this Springbank could be a lesson in how to do a wine cask maturation well, and it's a great example of what they can do when carefully managed and paired with a suitably robust spirit. The volume & complexity of flavour here are excellent, but the whole package is very approachable, and it's not as 'confronting' as the "regular" Springbank 12-year old Cask Strength bottlings, so it'd be more suitable than those are to the occasional Campbeltown drinkers that are yet to take the full head-first plunge into the deep end. That said, there's still more than enough flavour and character in this 12-year old Burgundy to keep the die-hard Springbank fans (guilty) more than happy.

I'd have to put it on par with the 14-year old Bourbon Wood that I mentioned above, which I rated very highly. Certainly should've bought myself two of these! But that's almost always the case, and in a way that's also part of the fun. Cheers!

Ailsa Bay 1.2 Sweet Smoke Whisky Review!

A "micro-matured" peated Lowland single malt, that has been "precision distilled" and "scientifically created". This should be interesting!

Yes, a peated Lowland single malt! And Ailsa Bay is the only example of such a thing. In the first half of the 20th century almost all distilleries were using some amount of peat to dry their malted barley, but that fell by the wayside with the more widespread adoption of coal as an energy source, the increasing reach of rail transport and a need for lighter malts that were easier to swallow for new markets, and were also better suited to blending, among other reasons. Modern Lowland malts like Bladnoch and Auchentoshan are rightly known for their light, approachable and easy-drinking styles, but the relatively new Ailsa Bay single malt stands apart from the other Lowland malts. The peat is sourced from the Highlands, though, so don't go expecting any Island-esque flavours in this malt. What we can expect though is a significantly sweet malt, which has actually been scientifically measured as 19 "Sppm" or "sweetness parts per million" in the finished whisky. This is a first, apparently pioneered by their Master Blender Brian Kinsman, and it seems to be proprietary because they're not saying how it is measured or what they're specifically measuring. They also quote another ppm measurement that we're more familiar with, which is the phenolic content, weighing in at 22 ppm. But don't go comparing that to your favourite peated single malts, because that phenolic content has been measured in the finished whisky, not the malted barley as is the case with almost every other peated whisky. Ancnoc did do this for a while with their previous range of peated expressions, but they gave up on it for their more recent releases - probably because buyers didn't understand the difference and it was costing them sales in the ppm arms race - and went back to quoting the ppm of the malted barley.

Ailsa Bay is also different in quite a few other ways. Owned by William Grant & Sons, the large family-owned company behind Glenfiddich and Balvenie as well as blends such as Grant's and Monkey Shoulder, the first interesting point is that there is no separate Ailsa Bay distillery. The production of this single malt happens at the company's Girvan grain spirit plant in South Ayrshire, about 1.5-hours' drive south-west of Glasgow. The Ailsa Bay distillery was built in 2007, and they're still using copper pot stills (a whopping sixteen of them in fact) as required by the SWA regulations for single malt Scotch whisky, but although not an entirely new idea the location of a distillery within a distillery is an interesting concept. It's a very modern and efficient distillery as you'd expect, with everything controlled by computer, and changes can be made to multiple aspects of production, including both wash and spirit, with the press of a button. The Ailsa Bay distillery has a relatively huge production capacity of 12,000,000 litres of spirit, which is over double the size of Balvenie Distillery, although not all of that production goes to Ailsa Bay single malt, with a number of different styles of malt whisky being produced here for both blends and single malts. For reference, Girvan itself is one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, capable of producing over 115,000,000 litres of spirit per year from six huge continuous column stills. Which for some perspective is the equivalent production of around 8 Glenfiddichs, or 115 Bruichladdichs, or over 280 Kilchomans - after the latter recently doubled capacity. Girvan Distillery also produces Hendricks Gin, as well as the recently launched 'Aerstone' single malts, and the same site also hosted the Ladyburn malt distillery in the past, operating from 1965 to 1975, so there's more happening here than the pumping out of grain spirit for licensed distilling and blending.

The other major point of difference with Ailsa Bay is how this whisky is matured. While many whiskies are either fully matured or finished in smaller casks, (e.g. Laphroaig's Quarter Cask), Ailsa Bay goes the other way in a process they've dubbed "micro-maturation". It is first matured in small casks ranging from 25-litres to 100-litres in capacity that have previously held Hudson Bay Bourbon - which is also owned by William Grant & Sons, where it is kept for between six and nine months, before being filled into full-sized casks that are a mix of virgin oak, first-fill ex-bourbon and refill ex-bourbon barrels. So they're getting an aggressive and rapid maturation at the start of the whisky's life, followed by a slower and more paced maturation in the full-sized casks, albeit with some virgin oak influence included. Which is an interesting concept. I can't say why they've chosen to do it this way around, and they don't say exactly what impact this has on the final whisky, particularly in comparison to more conventional finishing in smaller casks. If the idea was to give an initial boost of wood influence, and then mellow that out through a much longer maturation period in full-size casks, then why include virgin oak casks in that secondary stage?

This is the second release of Ailsa Bay single malt, which is named after the island of Ailsa Craig west of the Girvan Distillery in the Firth of Clyde. The first release was not officially imported into Australia, so this expression, named "Release 1.2 Sweet Smoke" is the first to make it here with the blessing of William Grant's. The first was released in early 2016, with this second release following in latet's bottled at the same strength as the first release, a rather odd 48.9%, and is similar in the phenolic ppm - 22 compared to 21 - but significantly higher in the 'sweetness ppm' with 19 ppm compared to 11 in the first release. Obviously that 1 ppm difference in phenolic content is going to be undetectable, but assuming that the 'sweetness ppm' works in a similar way that is a significant boost in sweetness. Unfortunately there's no frame of reference that we can use to compare this to other whiskies, so prior to tasting I'm not sure what to expect. I'm generally not a fan of overly sweet whiskies, so I'm a little hesitant with this one, but I'm keeping an open mind. Neither of the Ailsa Bay releases has had an age statement, and both have followed the same "micro-maturation" process described above. This second release sells for around $100 AUD in Australian retailers, which is quite a reasonable price for the bottling strength, and yes that modern-looking bottle is a full-size 700ml. Unfortunately I can't find any word, official or otherwise, on whether these whiskies are chill filtered or artificially coloured. Given the bottling strength of over 46% ABV it would be a little strange if this single malt had been chill filtered, but it's not unheard of, so we can't be sure. Likewise for colouring, since while this isn't a particularly dark (or fake tan-orange) whisky, if it doesn't say it anywhere, including the official website, then we have to assume the worst. Anyway, let's get to it!

Ailsa Bay Release 1.2 'Sweet Smoke', NAS, 48.9%. Lowlands, Scotland.
Peated to 22 ppm (taken from the finished whisky), initially matured in small ex-bourbon casks for 6-9 months, then moved to full-size virgin oak, first-fill and refill ex-bourbon casks for an undisclosed period. Unknown chill filtration and colouring.

Colour: Medium gold. Probably not a huge amount of colouring added.

Nose: Interesting. Bacon, cut grass, black pepper, and sweet fruit syrup - just ripe banana, nectarine and possibly peach. Sweet orange as well. Cotton candy / candy floss, vanilla sugar, and a slightly odd metallic tang - copper coins? - that does fade a little with time.

Texture: Medium weight, but fades quickly. Definitely very sweet. A little heat, but only a touch.

Taste: Soft & sweet entry, then a big wave of spice - black peppercorns, chilli flakes, then burnt bacon, more vanilla sugar and sweet orange. A bit of fresh oak as well, and a little butter toffee.

Finish: Medium length. Softens quickly though. More burnt bacon and black pepper, more sweet orange and nectarine syrup. Some wood smoke, a little grassy malt and more vanilla sugar.

Score: 2.5 out of 5.

Notes: Interesting stuff. It's both young and woody, and sweet and spicy, all at the same time. Not quite my preferred style, but it's an enjoyable dram. I did expect more peat influence from the 22 ppm - measured in the finished whisky, not the malted barley, remember. I'd put this Ailsa Bay on par with Talisker as far as peaty-ness goes, and Talisker is "only" 25 ppm on the malted barley, so probably around 10 ppm in the finished whisky. But phenols are a funny thing, and this isn't really an exact science - it's very much subjective when it comes to tasting and smelling. This Ailsa Bay is certainly a sweet whisky, possibly a little too sweet, at least for my tastes. It does hide it's strength well, at not-far-below 50% ABV and obviously a relatively young age, there's only a little touch of heat behind the spices on the palate. I can see this working well for a newcomer to peated whisky, or a whisky novice, provided they have a sweet tooth!

If memory serves I preferred the first Ailsa Bay release to this one, but that's a hazy old memory so I could be wrong. Worth trying a dram at this reasonable price point.

Cheers!

Octomore 9.2 Whisky Review!

A 5-year old Octomore finished in red wine casks. I loved 7.2 and was impressed with the older 8.2, so how will this edition stack up?

The Octomore 9-series was and is an interesting one - a bit of a change in direction. In comparison to the previous Octomore batches the ppm levels weren't huge, and the ages of the releases were almost back to normal after the change-up with the 8-series. It seemed like they were going back to basics in that regard, and there was no _.4 bottling in the line-up. Instead there was the addition of a new 10-year old release, the third 10-year old Octomore bottling to date. The cask maturation recipes were eye-catching, but the series definitely did not enjoy the buzz and hype that the eighth had - which in fairness was helped by the record-high ppm number on the fantastic 8.3, and the three years of extra ageing on the other three bottlings in the bunch. 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 were back to the conventional (for Octomore) 5-years of age, and the ppm figures dropped significantly to 156, 156 and 133 respectively. The latter was the lowest of the four _.3 Islay Barley Octomores at the time, by a significant margin, but it has since been pipped to that post by the more recent 10.3, which is now down to 114 ppm. A drop like that was always going to be noticed, but we all know that these numbers certainly aren't the definitive measure of how peaty a whisky smells & tastes, let alone how flavoursome it is overall. And it's important to remember that this figure is taken from the malted barley - prior to milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation - rather than the bottled whisky, so there are an almost countless number of variables involved. Regardless, there's no denying that the mega-high numbers adorning some of the previous releases were a very useful device that helped propel Octomore as a "brand" to new levels of popularity and notoriety, and that will probably wear off now with certain types of customers.

The 9-series was coined "Dialogos" by Bruichladdich, being the Greek word for Dialogue, as a nod to their journey with Octomore and the conversations that it has inspired since the first release back in 2008. 9.1, the 'standard' Octomore expression, featured the usual five-years of maturation in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. 9.3 had a very unusual cask recipe, with both first- and second-fill ex-bourbon casks, second-fill wine casks and third-fill virgin oak all involved in the mix. The fourth release in the series, the 10-year old, had the most interesting cask recipe of the series in my opinion. 88% of the mix came from full-term maturation in a combination of first-fill Port, first-fill Cognac or second-fill bourbon casks, while the remaining 12% seemed to be some remnants of the ground-breaking (and awesome) Octomore 7.4 which spent three years in ex-bourbon casks, then French virgin oak for two years, then back to ex-bourbon casks for another six years to become part of the new 10-year old release. That's a very complicated recipe, which raises a few eyebrows, but makes it all the more intriguing. The more conventional (again, for Octomore) bottling in the series was 9.2 that we're looking at here, being another travel retail (duty free) exclusive bottling that had spent some time in ex-wine casks.

While the first _.2 release, the legendary 2.2 "Orpheus" (that I'm yet to try, sadly) and the second, 4.2 "Comus" were general releases, from the partly-Cognac cask matured 6.2 onward all of the _.2 bottlings have been (painfully) exclusive to "travel retail". This makes them difficult to get a hold of if you or a friend/relative do not frequently travel overseas, and they also have not been particularly affordable. In Australian duty-free stores the standard price for both 8.2 and 9.2 is a whopping $290 AUD, which is roughly on-par with the recent Islay Barley Octomore releases and the latest 10-year old bottling. Thankfully our main duty free stores regularly offer 20% off promotions! I can easily forgive Octomore 8.2 for being more on the expensive side, since it was eight-years old for the first time, but while the age of 9.2 has reverted back to the Octomore standard of five years, the pricing has not changed. While we're on that subject, the five-year old 9.1 general release is actually priced roughly 10% higher than the 8-year old 8.1, which is an interesting move. And don't think that that could be due to a higher bottling strength, and thus more payable tax & duty, in the younger whisky - the 9.1 bottling is actually slightly lower in strength than it's older predecessor. Is it a rarer whisky then, perhaps? Nope, there were exactly the same very generous number of bottles released of each - 42,000 units. Octomore releases have always been relatively expensive, and that's perfectly understandable given their popularity, but we could very reasonably have expected the five-year old bottlings in this ninth series to drop in price after the eighth, and that has unfortunately not been the case. I'll leave it at that though, let's get back to the subject at hand.

Octomore 9.2 was distilled in 2012 from Scottish mainland barley peated to 156 ppm phenols, and was matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks for four years before a final year of maturation in second-fill French Bordeaux red wine casks. As far as I can recollect this is the first time that a _.2 Octomore has been finished in second-fill casks rather than first-fill, which is a little curious, but exciting! 9.2 was bottled at 58.2% ABV, and of course is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. It's also the equally-smallest release in the 9-series (tied with the 10-year old) with only 12,000 bottles seeing the light of day. Let's see how it goes!

Octomore 9.2, 5-year old, 58.2%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 2012 from 156 ppm Scottish barley, matured for 4-years in ex-bourbon casks, finished for 1-year in second-fill Bordeaux red wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 12,000 bottles.

Colour: Amber with subtle pink tinges.

Nose: Fruity, vegetal and floral initially, soft and almost shy for a 5-year old Octomore. But it opens nicely with time. There's burnt fatty smoked bacon, dried mixed berries - alternating mainly between raspberry and blueberry, and a little fresh strawberry. Black pepper and dried flowers (pot purri), adding sweet apricot and plum jams and soft ashy smoke with more time.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, fatty / greasy & warming. Not particularly peaty to my palate, but it's there. Some heat to it as well.

Taste: More burnt fatty smoked bacon and bacon grease, black pepper and dank vegetal peat. Some fresh red chilli, possibly lightly smoked. The apricot & plum jam and dried berries are there again, and it's sweeter than the nose suggested, but also more aggressive.

Finish: Long length. Greasy and fatty with some ashy smoke and more dank vegetal peat. Then the floral pot purri note pokes back through, with some vanilla and steeping malted barley. A light touch of charred & juicy lemon towards the end as well.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: This bottle has improved massively since I first opened it. There was a (possibly sulphur-related) rubbery flatness to it over the course of the first few drams, plus a general lack of complexity and more heat, but all of that has faded nicely now that the level is about halfway down. Which is a blessing, because it's completely changed my opinion on this whisky. I'm constantly telling myself this, but never definitively judge a whisky by the first couple of drams, folks - particularly a young whisky at high strength! This is a very enjoyable Octomore now - and they all are, really. I still wouldn't say that this is my favourite _.2 bottling to date, though, that prize so far goes to 7.2 (I'm yet to try 2.2 or 10.2). The wine casks are very well integrated here - the second-fill casks have definitely worked - and the whole package is quite well balanced because of it. The smoke and peat are noticeably more subtle here than in most past bottlings, which seems to be the case with most of these more recent Octomore expressions. Well, relatively subtle of course, since this is still a 5-year old Octomore! That's no criticism though, it's just a little different.

Octomore 9.2 is certainly worth a try if you're travelling in future (not that anyone will be now, probably for a long time), just make sure you let the bottle breathe for quite a while before you look too closely. Patience is a virtue, and it's often rewarded!

Cheers!

Heartwood Market Correction Whisky Review!

In times like these, we sometimes need the whisky-equivalent of a large serving of some naughty comfort food. Normally I'd be reaching for a cask strength Islay, but let's keep it local: Heartwood to the rescue!

Mr. H's summer fashion line - coming soon to a retailer near you!

What we have here is what I'm calling an 'old school' Heartwood. Most of Mr. H's releases over the last couple of years have been younger bottlings at slightly lower strengths than what you might say he's famous (or infamous) for. Don't get me wrong, some of those younger bottlings have been brilliant - Mediocrity Be Damned, Shade of Night and Shot In The Dark come to mind, and they're all very good - Heartwood doesn't release whiskies that Mr. H isn't happy with, and luckily for us the man has rather high standards! This release though, Market Correction, is a bit of a throwback. What we have here is a 13.5-year old single malt from Tasmania Distillery (a.k.a Sullivan's Cove), that like many Heartwoods has been through a fairly difficult upbringing. It's technically a single cask whisky, even though there have actually been four different casks involved - but no blending/vatting/marrying has taken place. Yes, this whisky has been through four different first-fill casks, or if you'd prefer a familiar term, it's undergone three consecutive cask finishes. Starting life in an ex-port cask, it was then transferred to a muscat (sweet fortified wine) cask, then a sherry cask (Oloroso-style Apera), and then a second sherry cask (same again), all of Australian origin. Now you may be asking yourself, "why?" And the answer refers to the above mention of Mr. H having high standards, and not releasing any whisky that he isn't happy with. He will literally beat his whiskies with a stick (a paddle, in fact) or throw them in the "hot box" (a naturally warm room of his bond store / warehouse) to get them whipped into shape, but sometimes that's not enough, so he then puts them through different barrels to get the desired result. Not a particularly cost-efficient or time-efficient process as you can imagine, but that's never been a priority for Heartwood - and we're all the better for it. 

Think that name, Market Correction, is a bit odd? It's a reference to Mr. H's prediction that the Tasmanian & Australian whisky industries are heading towards a marked decline in demand, and subsequently pricing. Obviously he's much more knowledgeable on the subject than myself, but I certainly agree. This is based on the fact that there are now more than thirty distilleries in Tasmania alone, which is up from nine in just the last six years, and up from zero in a little over 25 years. They're all tiny distilleries in comparison to Scotland of course, with Hellyers Road being the largest at the moment, although a couple of more recent additions have very large aspirations. There is also a huge boom in the mainland Australian distilling scene, again with a couple of larger players with very large aspirations, and it often seems like there's a weekly 'first release' bottling coming out of a new small distillery that has popped up somewhere. How many distilleries are there in Australia as a whole? It's actually getting very close to 300! Not all of those are producing whisky at this stage, in fact I'd say most are producing gin (another flooded market), but many have plans to do just that, or other dark spirits. Compare that to the 120 whisky distilleries in Scotland, where distilling whisky has been part of the culture - and a major export - for a couple of centuries and counting, and the global demand is absolutely massive. So the Australian whisky market is well & truly flooded, even in its early years, and many of those small distilleries are going to be competing for many of the same resources (particularly casks), not to mention competing for the same limited number of customers. Don't forget that there's also a rising number of independent bottlers, and even a few contract distilling operations where they produce your spirit for you, and you bottle it as your own whisky. Our whisky 'scene' is still far behind that of most western countries, and our market for single malts is positively tiny in comparison. Remember too that those distilleries are still competing with imported whisky and whiskey from around the world, often at considerably lower pricing thanks to operating costs, production volumes and a few other factors - they're all paying the same ridiculous rates of duty and excise, though, which is often misunderstood. This flooded market is likely to create Australia's own "whisky loch", which as we know from the past does not bode well for the smaller producers, or the pricing of the product in general. And that's all going to be made infinitely worse by the current situation around the world. 

But I think that's enough doom & gloom for now (if not, click here for more of my thoughts on a similar subject from last year), let's get on to more positive things. In case you've gotten this far without knowing much about Heartwood, they're a tiny father & son independent bottling operation in Tasmania who are responsible for both Heartwood Tasmanian whiskies and Tasmanian Independent Bottlers (a.k.a. TIB). They've amassed a huge cult following - deservedly so - for doing things their own way, and arguably also for doing things the right way. There's no chill filtration and no added colouring to be seen, and Heartwood are well known for their brutal honesty, and excellent standards of quality. I've written quite a bit on the subject in the past, so check out this and this post for more detailed information. This particular whisky being a Heartwood means that it's been bottled at cask strength, 64.6% in this case, and as mentioned above it's technically a single cask bottling, but the same spirit has been through four different first-fill casks before it was deemed ready for release by the mad alchemist and his equally-mad apprentice. Cask number TD0053, Market Correction consisted of 280 bottles, and of course is completely sold out. You need to be very quick to get yourself a bottle of Heartwood these days, and very few bottles ever make their way out of Australia - luckily for us down under. Let's get to it!

Heartwood Market Correction, 13-year old, 64.6%. Tasmania, Australia.

Distilled at Tasmania Distillery (Sullivan's Cove) in October 2005, bottled in June 2019. Matured in four successive first-fill casks - port, muscat, and two different sherry casks. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 280 bottles. 

Colour: Dark copper with red tinges. 

Nose: Oily, rich & spicy. Nippy too of course - it's nearly 65% - but it's not aggressive or harsh. There's thick treacle, dusty toasted oak, and sweet, thick stewed stone fruit with a vanilla pod and a few berries thrown in. Also some bitter orange slices, star anise and cinnamon. 

Texture: Heavy weight, viscous & rich. A little heat, but again not aggressive or harsh. 

Taste: Big flavour to go with that big texture. More orange slices, sweet stewed stone fruit, star anise and cinnamon - but it's hot cinnamon this time. Thick fruit dessert sauce - apricot, nectarine and plum. Some dried whole red chillies and a little toasted oak. 

Finish: Long length. Very long, actually. A little drying (astringent), very powerful and condensed. More stewed stone fruit with that vanilla pod, plus bitter orange and more dried red chilli. That dusty oak & some black pepper come through under the fruit. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: A massive whisky with a huge amount of flavour. Some of these Heartwoods are almost like drinking cordial concentrate without adding water - there's a lot going on, and they're quite intense, but somehow it works! Masses of flavour, a big texture and an even bigger finish. The classic Heartwood dinosaur flavour profile - long neck, big fat body, long tapering tail. Those extra casks have certainly had an effect - at times this could almost pass for a rum or a cognac, but thankfully that's a fleeting feeling. It's still very much a Heartwood malt whisky! There aren't many whiskies or other spirits that could hold up to spending time in four different first-fill casks, but Market Correction has - that must've been a monster spirit! But more likely it's down to Mr. H's skilled & vigilant (obsessive) cask management. 

This is certainly a nod back to the older (in age and in bottling date) Heartwood releases, particularly with that extra cask influence. It offers a different experience to the younger, more recent bottlings. Not necessarily a better experience, mind you, but a different one. Bravo Mr. H, as usual!

Cheers!

Glendronach 1994 Distillery Exclusive Whisky Review!

A serious sherry bomb from the masters of sherry bombs, Glendronach. And a 21-year old distillery exclusive single cask, no less!

I've long been a big fan of Glendronach, particularly the increasingly scarce 18-year old Allardice expression (named after the distillery founder), the old 15-year old Revival, and their single cask releases which thankfully haven't skipped a beat since the distillery changed hands and brought on a new master blender. In fact since both Ms. Rachel Barrie and American corporation Brown Forman took the reigns the distillery hasn't shown a single sign of anything slowing down, or any obvious change of direction. Which is a good thing, and a bit of a relief, although it's easy to see that Billy Walker took excellent care of Glendronach after rescuing it from Pernod Ricard in 2008, along with sister distilleries Benriach and Glenglassaugh, and the new owners merely had to keep riding the same wave. They have kept up with the pace too, since aside from the re-launch of the 15-year old Revival (albeit with a new cask recipe and a change in character), they've released a few new limited release whiskies - although quite a few have yet to appear on the shelves in Australia - and the yearly single cask release program has only gotten stronger, despite drastic price increases. They do still fare quite well against some of the ridiculously overpriced single cask offerings from a few "luxury whisky" distilleries. I won't single any out here, but there are plenty of examples out there - even some that are closer to home...

For those lucky enough to visit and tour Glendronach in the flesh, there are usually a couple of special treats on hand when they arrive. That's not such an easy thing to do either, because despite being well worth the effort the distillery is a little way off the beaten track. In fact unlike the Speyside distilleries Glendronach is closer to Aberdeen than it is to Elgin, let alone Inverness, so most of the typical tourist crowd will skip it, if they're even aware of it in the first place. It's mostly the enthusiasts and diehard fans that will take that extra step to the Eastern Highlands, but it's more of a pilgrimage for them, really. And when they complete that pilgrimage, the aforementioned treats should be waiting for them. I say should, because there are no guarantees. All going to plan, there'll be a hand-filled single cask available, which you fill yourself from a cask in the visitor's centre, and also a distillery exclusive single cask bottling. If you're unlucky, and commonly during peak season, there'll only be the hand-filled single cask available during your visit, but not all is lost - those hand-fills tend to be excellent! During my first and (so far) only visit to the distillery back in September of 2017 there was no Distillery Exclusive single cask available to taste or to purchase. They were also out of engraved Glencairn glasses at the time, which personally I found even more disappointing. Thankfully I had a PX-matured and freshly hand-filled single cask bottling to help wipe away my tears! It would be much worse at the moment though, since they've closed their visitor's centre completely due to this bloody virus. I can't even imagine the heartbreak of planning a trip / pilgrimage for months, if not years, and then finding out days in advance that it's not going to happen. But I can certainly understand their reasoning.

I've reviewed a few of Glendronach's single cask bottlings over the years, but I have to say (spoiler alert), this one is right up there with the best that I've tasted. This distillery exclusive single cask was distilled in 1994, putting it close to the legendary 1993 vintage that the distillery's hardcore fans go crazy for, although none can really explain why that particular year was so special. There are a few things that certainly help though, such as the four stills being direct-fired at the time (they were converted to indirect steam heating in 2005), and the distillery's floor maltings still being in operation - they were decommissioned in 1996 when the distillery was mothballed. This single cask bottling was fully-matured in a Pedro Ximinez (a.k.a. PX) sherry cask, specifically a puncheon - a 500-litre cask that is shorter and squatter in shape than a sherry butt. I do seem to prefer the PX cask bottlings myself, rather than the Oloroso cask variants, although the very nature of single cask bottlings does make it difficult to pin down a particular preference. This particular single cask was bottled in 2016, making it 21-years old, and coming in at a cask strength of 53.2% ABV. All Glendronach single casks are bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, and many are presented in some of the best packaging to ever hold a bottle of whisky - the famous brown "coffin boxes", including this one. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd who was lucky enough to pick up this bottled from overseas auction. Here comes the sherry train!

Glendronach 21-year old Distillery Exclusive Single Cask, 53.2%. Highlands, Scotland.
Distilled 09/1994, fully matured in a single PX sherry puncheon, bottled 05/2016. Cask #3399, 627 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Very dark brown / mahogany - the above picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Nose: Oh, hello! This is beautiful. Soft, rich & sweet. Orange-scented furniture polish, oily varnish, tinned peaches in syrup, and rich chocolate mousse. Dried apricots, spun sugar toffee, sweet sultanas and date syrup. More peaches and chocolate shavings further in.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, rich & decadent. No heat at all. Lovely.

Taste: Again, beautiful, rich & sweet. More date syrup, furniture polish, sweet sultanas, velvety chocolate fondant icing, dried apricot and black pepper. A little more wood-forward here too, but not in an obtrusive way.

Finish: Long length. More chocolate mousse and tinned peaches in syrup, more sultanas and dates, a few currants as well. Some orange rind, more furniture polish and some oily putty. Chocolate, peaches and dried apricots to the end.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Excellent. I can certainly see why this single cask made the cut as a distillery exclusive. This would have to be the best older Glendronach (20yo+) single cask that I've tasted to date. Which if memory serves also makes it the best older Glendronach that I've tasted to date. I do tend to prefer the younger / teenage examples myself (e.g. this one), but this is a very worthy exception. So rich, sweet and decadent. The ultimate dessert dram that is just packed with flavour. It's not ridiculously PX-heavy either, I'd say it's showing just about the perfect level of cask influence & sherry influence for its age. If you were lucky enough to get one of these from the distillery, or from an auction (in which case the seller should be kicking themselves), you've certainly bagged yourself a winner. I'm very lucky to have tasted it without having to do either - a huge thanks to the generous donour for the sample of this one!

It's unfortunate that these older single cask Glendronachs are so expensive these days, because they can be absolute magic. They still sell out at the higher prices of course, but I feel that the buyers will have changed - and I'd have to assume that less are getting opened and enjoyed when compared with a few years ago. But we can't really blame the distillery for doing so in the current market, especially when this level of quality is involved. Great stuff!

Cheers!