Highland Park Viking Legend Series Whisky Reviews!

Quick-fire concise reviews of the three releases in Highland Park's 'Viking Legend' series: Valkyrie, Valknut and Valfather.

I must admit that I've lost touch with Highland Park's official bottlings in recent years. The viking marketing was getting a little tiresome (and it still is if you ask me), and the sheer number of releases from the distillery were and are making it difficult to keep track. There was the core range, then a viking range, then a travel retail range, then another viking range, then a viking travel retail range, and then a re-vamped core range, plus a lot of other seemingly random limited releases, seemingly each with less & less differentiation between themselves but with more obscure marketing angles, and it all just became too hard. A quick look at the distillery's website for clarity shows a staggering total of 52 releases, not including the "archive" section. Ignoring the already-flooded travel retail category, the Highland Park core range has stayed relatively sane, with the 12-, 18-, 21- and 25-year olds, and they've also recently added a 10-year old entry-level whisky to that category. But along with a recent packaging & bottle redesign they've now found it necessary to add names to those age statements: the 10-year old is now "Viking Scars", the 12-year old is now "Viking Honour", and the 18-year old is now "Viking Pride". Is being part of Scotland so distasteful? Still a Scotch Whisky, though! The pricing on that 12-year old has stayed reasonable, with the newer 10-year old slightly lower as you'd expect, but the 18-year old is now a $250 AUD bottle, and it's still at 43% ABV, while the 25-year old is now a $1000 bottle, which is frankly ridiculous. Thankfully there is a multitude of more reasonably priced Highland Park to choose from, and latterly they seem to have (finally) slowed things down a little with the releases. Some of these are actually hidden gems - the 'Full Volume' first-fill bourbon cask bottling that I reviewed last year comes to mind straight away. So all hope is not lost!

The bottlings that we're looking at today are from the 'Viking Legend' series, which is a trio of limited releases based around the Nordic myths of Valhalla (basically viking warrior heaven) and Odin. All three have used higher (but unspecified) percentages of the distillery's own floor-malted barley than the usual proportions, which are approximately 20% floor-malted to 80% externally-sourced barley. That floor-malted barley is lightly peated to around 20 ppm, and uses Orkney peat from Hobbister Moor near the distillery, which is lighter, more floral and heathery than that of the other island malts. All are presented in black glass bottles and with similar packaging that was penned by a Danish designer, none have age statements, and all hover at close-to 46% ABV. As much as I don't like the heaped-on and totally unnecessary viking-heavy marketing that is plastered onto most of the Highland Park releases, I must admit that these bottles themselves do look good - they're much more simplistic than those of the current core & travel retail range, although I don't quite see the point of the black glass - something that this distillery seems to love, which seems slightly contradictory to their policy of never adding e150 colouring to any of their single malts. Also slightly contradictory to that policy is the distillery chill filtering the majority of their whiskies, even at strengths above 46%, although they do point out that this filtration happens at a higher temperature than with most chill filtered whiskies, even going to the lengths of declaring that on their packaging in some cases. The only officially non-chill filtered Highland Park official bottling that I can recall was Dark Origins, which was quite a few years ago now, although there probably were/are more. I'm sure you'll agree that it would be better for all if they'd just stop chill filtering altogether!

The samples for these three quick-fire reviews were provided by Mark Hickey, Brand Ambassador for Spirits Platform, the Australian importer & distributor for Highland Park. I decided to review all three in sequence since they all follow the same theme, so will make for an interesting comparison, and due to sample size and in the interests of brevity they'll be more concise than my usual stand-alone reviews. But I'm sure they'll still be of use. As mentioned, all are bottled at their natural colour but are likely chill filtered, and all are a mix of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and refill casks, and use a higher proportion than normal of the distillery's own floor-malted barley. Price-wise these three are all in the same ballpark at $140-150 AUD, and all are still readily available. Tasting time!

The first of the three bottlings is Valkyrie, which was released in 2017. It's a mix of American and European oak sherry casks and American oak ex-bourbon casks, and refill casks, plus the higher proportion of floor-malted barley as mentioned above. This one is bottled at 45.9%, and why the hell you wouldn't just make that a nice round 46% is beyond me! As we'll know from Thor: Ragnarok, the Valkyries were female warriors, and in Norse mythology they were angel-type beings that would choose which dead warriors were taken to Valhalla (Viking heaven) from the battlefield. But rather than glorify their beliefs let's also remember that the Vikings were the bad guys, they were invaders, who liked to murder, rape & pillage and claim things for their own. But you won't find that mentioned on any of Highland Park's packaging.

Colour: Gold with amber tinges.
Nose: Fresh & light, with dusty hay, white pepper, and lightly waxy red apples. Very soft floral peat in the background, with some dried apricot and a hint of spearmint.

Texture: Light-medium weight, clean, a little raw heat but not harsh.
Taste: More white pepper, plus vanilla cream, slight red apples, slight waxy-ness. Maybe some ginger. Richer than the nose suggested, but this is not a particularly rich whisky.

Finish: Short length. Lightly waxy red apples, white pepper and a little wood spice and leather.

Score & Notes: 3 out of 5. A pleasant-enough entry level dram, but it seems a little youthful and a little raw underneath the outer coating. It's notably Highland Park in feel though, slightly boosted maybe from the extra ABV, but this is not on the level of Dark Origins or Full Volume.

Next up is Valknut, the 2018 release, which is bottled at a higher strength of 46.8%, and they've added a small amount of Orkney-grown Tartan barley to this recipe, presumably malted at the distillery. This one was "predominantly" matured in American oak sherry casks, with no details given on the other cask types. Valknut is the name of a Nordic symbol (see the box above) that in their mythology was how the Valkyries marked or designated the warriors that were selected to go to Valhalla. To me it looks like an angular take on the three-legged Triskelion (derived from the Greek 'Triskeles', meaning three-legged) symbol that was used in a number of ancient cultures, including Celtic and Greek - the symbol used in the 'coin' on Kilchoman's bottle is a good example, as is the flag of the Isle of Man.

Colour: Gold w/amber again, same as the Valkyrie.
Nose: Fresh & light again, but it's also more muted. More red apples, but also some red fruit - dried raspberries. Dusty grassy malt, caramel chews, a drier vanilla and some buttery oak.

Texture: Light weight. More mellow, but not as clean, more muted. A little raw heat again.
Taste: More jumbled, not as expressive. Black pepper this time, more punchy as well. Some grassy malt comes through, dry vanilla with more dried berries and nutty oak, and some sandalwood.

Finish: Short length. Caramel chews, drying oak spice (sandalwood and cinnamon) and a little raw spirit - not in a harsh way though. Hint of green apples and heather to finish.

Score & Notes: 2.5 out of 5. More muted, maybe even a little dull. Not as bright or expressive as Valkyrie, and less typically Highland Park - maybe the local barley? But I also suspect those sherry-seasoned American oak casks had a very short seasoning period.

Finally we have the third & final release in the series, Valfather, which was released in 2019. The bottling strength is slightly higher again at 47%, and this one is matured in refill casks - it's also claimed to be the peatiest whisky that Highland Park has released to date, but again they haven't specified how much of their own floor-malted barley was used, so that's possibly only because of the refill cask maturation letting more of the peat influence show through. Valfather, apparently meaning 'Father of the Slain' refers to Odin, the Norse God who was also referred to as 'The All-Father', but most of us will know him as Anthony Hopkins...

Colour: Same again. Which is interesting since there're no first-fill casks in here.
Nose: Drier and brighter. Spearmint, both red & green apples, soft ash and dried heather. Black pepper, a light chalky mineralic note, and fruit-flavoured boiled lolly / hard candy floral sweets.

Texture: Medium weight. Drier, cleaner, more floral and mineralic. No rawness or heat to this one.
Taste: Soft, dry, earthy & heathery peat. Dried flowers (pot purri), clean candle wax, black pepper and lime juice. Boiled sweets / lollies again too.

Finish: Short-medium length. Pepper & wax carrying through, plus the dry heathery peat, that chalky minerality, plus some dark chocolate and hints of dry spices - cinnamon, and maybe curry powder?

Score & Notes: 3 out of 5. My pick of the three, but it's less typically 'Highland Park' than the other two, with more minerality and a more subtle sweetness. The peat is certainly more evident, but this is not the peatiest Highland Park, not by a long shot. For starters it would likely need to be cask strength for that to even be possible.

Overall Notes: Three notably different whiskies here. All are on the subtle side, but in different ways, and none are going to blow your socks off - especially if you're used to higher strength independent bottlings from the same distillery. That said, the distillery DNA is there, or maybe 'house style' is a better term. I would guess that all three are young whiskies, with possibly the Valfather being left a little longer thanks to the refill cask maturation. The Valknut is the more muted of the three, while the Valkyrie is more expressive but also seems a little raw, so as mentioned Valfather would be my pick of this trio.

I don't want to seem overly cynical or negative here, these are enjoyable whiskies, but they're not as expressive as I feel Highland Park should be - at least when aimed at the whisky fan. It's not a question of ABV, either, as the Dark Origins and Full Volume weren't that much higher in ABV. But if you're not worried about such things and you want a reasonably priced example of a Highland Park that is a little different to the age statement core range, the Viking Legend series is worth a look. Just ignore as much of the Viking marketing as you can - in my opinion the distillery, or rather their marketing department, needs to dial it back a bit, it's not needed is this age of whisky discovery. There's a growing demand for transparency and honesty in this day & age, not marketing 'flannel' and needless story-telling. So we need more real and practical information on the whisky, and less - pardon the French - bullshit. And that's what grinds my gears!

Cheers!

Springbank Local Barley 10 Year Old (2019) Whisky Review!

The final release in the contemporary crop of Local Barley Springbanks from Campbeltown's finest, and the second 10-year old in the series - just to confuse things!

In typical Springbank fashion, rather than breaking the mould for this fifth & final release in the Local Barley series and giving us something crazy, they've given us a whisky that follows the theme of those that came before it. But that's no bad thing, since it's already a winning formula! This series of Local Barley Springbanks have followed a similar recipe - lightly peated locally-grown barley, mostly matured in a mix of ex-bourbon & ex-sherry casks, and all bottled at cask strength. But in reality they've all been very different, and each has had its strengths, without any obvious major weaknesses. Things kicked off back in 2016 with the already-legendary 16-year old, followed by an 11-year old in early 2017 and the first 10-year old in late 2017 (reviewed here), and the excellent 9-year old in 2018, before the second 10-year old finally hit in late 2019 after a substantial gap between releases. The aforementioned 11-year old was actually the outlier in the entire line-up since it was distilled from the ancient Bere variety of barley and was matured only in ex-bourbon casks, while the other releases have used more contemporary barley strains and have been a mix of 70-80% ex-bourbon and 20-30% ex-sherry, although this newer 10-year old seems to have had one port cask also thrown into the vat, which seems a bit of an odd choice! They've used a few different strains of barley for these releases, all locally-grown in the Campbeltown area / Kintyre Peninsula, and all 100% floor-malted at the distillery of course. I'm yet to taste the 11-year old release or this second 10-year old release at the time of writing, but so far for me the 16-year old and 9-year old are leading the pack, although both were very different from each other, and none of these whiskies have been anything close to disappointing.

All of the younger releases in the series seemed to be berated initially by those vocal & spoiled European Springbank fans who only seemed to want older whiskies - not giving any thought to the fact that this would almost defeat the purpose, since the younger whiskies have a far better chance of showing off the differences in that carefully selected & cultivated locally-grown barley. Personally, I would've loved to see an 8-year old! But Springbank have never bowed to such pressure anyway, they work to their own schedule and won't be rushed - to paraphrase Gandalf: they're never late to release a whisky, they release it precisely when they mean to! The whisky is ready when it's ready, and they release it when they're ready to release it, and that's a big part of their charm - this is a properly 'old school' distillery! This privately owned distillery is still the only malt whisky distillery in Scotland to carry out 100% of the production process on site for all of their single malts, from floor-malting 100% of their barley requirements, as well as that of neighbouring Glengyle Distillery (producing Kilkerran single malt), to milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling, maturing and bottling. The only slight gap in the ranks, although it's not really fair to call it a gap at all, is the growing of the barley itself. But these local barley releases fill that admittedly tiny hole very nicely, using only one strain of barley, produced at a single local farm, for each release. Campbeltown whiskies tend to be the domain of the whisky geek, and these Local Barley Springbanks are the geekiest of the lot. Stealing a tag line from Bruichladdich then, where they refer to certain Octomore Islay barley bottlings as "The Octomore of Octomore", these Local Barley bottlings would have to be 'The Springbanks of Springbank'!

This second 10-year old, the final instalment in this series of Local Barley bottlings was distilled in July 2009 from Optic barley grown at High Cattadale Farm, situated in Southend, right at the southern end of the Mull of Kintyre. After being floor-malted and lightly peated (to around 12-15 ppm) at the distillery it was filled into a mix casks consisting of 77% ex-bourbon, 20% ex-sherry, and 3% ex-port. 9,000 bottles were released in October 2019 at a cask strength of 56.2%, which is also the easiest way to tell the two different 10-year olds apart, since they look almost identical until you read the fine print: the first was bottled at 57.3%. As is the case with everything that Springbank put out, there's no chill filtration or added colouring to be found here. While this is the fifth & final release in this batch of Springbank Local Barley bottlings, this wasn't the first batch, and I'm sure it won't be the last. As usual this bottling took around six months to arrive in Australia - finally turning up in March 2020, and it did sell out very quickly. The sample for this review came from a very generous reader & whisky geek named Julie, who is based across the Tasman in New Zealand where they enjoy a far better Springbank offering than we do in Australia - both price-wise, range-wise and pace-wise. But, as is the case with almost everything that Springbank put out, I'm sure this one will have been worth the wait. Time to find out!

Springbank Local Barley 10-year old (2019), 56.2%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Distilled 7/2009 from Optic barley, lightly peated. Matured in 77% ex-bourbon, 20% ex-sherry and 3% ex-port casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 9,000 bottles.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Dry, dusty barley, lemon zest & orange pith, and a touch of icing sugar. Hay, smoked cream cheese and wood ash. A big pinch of fresh rock salt, vanilla, a little fresh chopped chilli and some yeasty bread dough - maybe sourdough? Yes, sourdough.

Texture: Heavy weight, rich & very oily. Huge texture! A little dab of heat but it's well hidden.

Taste: Dry, oily and spicy. Good quality olive oil, dried tropical fruit, lemon zest and black pepper. Chilli flakes, dry grassy malt, and a little astringent and acidic salt & white pepper that moves into ashy, spicy smoke. Vanilla and smoked cream cheese again too.

Finish: Long length. Dry, astringent, ashy spiciness with a big pinch of rock salt. Smoked cheddar cheese this time, some vanilla sugar and earthy, dry peat. Dried lemon slices in brine, white pepper, and an acidic white wine-like dried tropical fruit before finishing with dry, hay-like barley husks.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: What a fascinating dram! Very complex, very challenging, and very tasty. This is not a whisky for a novice or a Campbeltown newcomer, and it's not one to rush through either - this dram needs time, and it demands attention. That big oily texture, that grassy & spicy dryness and astringency, and those cheesy (lactic) notes are really fascinating. This is a different whisky to the previous 10-year old Local Barley, of course, it's more austere and more challenging, but also somehow more mellow & more mature. This really shows just how crazy Springbank can get, without needing any exotic cask types or overt cask influence. This Local Barley bottling oozes character, depth and complexity, and it doesn't hold itself back - you'll either love it or hate it, I'm guessing. A fitting end to the series, then, if it actually is the end of the series!

Speaking of which, while I haven't tried the 11-year old Bere barley release yet, of the remaining four contemporary Local Barley Springbanks I'd have to rank them as follows: The 16-year old, the 9-year old, and this 10-year old, followed by the earlier 10-year old bringing up the rear. But really, you can't go wrong with any of these!

Cheers!

Bruichladdich Australian Exclusive Single Cask Whisky Review!

The first Australian-exclusive Bruichladdich official bottling, and the first of their Micro-Provenance series to be sold here. Exciting stuff!

This one must have sneaked in through a side door during the chaos that was and still is COVID. There were no warnings, no pre-alerts, and no marketing activities prior to this special bottle of Bruichladdich landing in the country. And then suddenly it was here, and then we blinked and it was gone just as suddenly. There was no fanfare, but then it didn't need much fanfare. This nondescript looking bottle is the first-ever Australian-exclusive bottling of Bruichladdich, and the first-ever single cask Bruichladdich to be sold in Australia, and the first of the distillery's Micro-Provenance series to be officially imported into Australia. As soon as the 'laddie-faithful caught wind of this bottlings existence, its days were numbered. While the usual suspects of Melbourne & Sydney received the lion's share of bottles for retail sale, us Queenslanders had to fight over just 24 bottles, available from just two retailers - one in Brisbane and one on the Gold Coast. Needless to say they were gone very quickly, and you'll be lucky to see any left on a retail shelf in the entire country. Some of the 282 bottles that this cask yielded were held back though, most likely for events and for the on-premise  trade (bars & restaurants) who are only now beginning to revert to their full trading capacities. So with any luck, those who missed out - or are blissfully unaware - will still get the chance to try this precious liquid.

Bruichladdich's Micro-Provenance series, as you might have guessed, is about exploring (and experimenting with) variables like different barley varieties and barley sources, cask sizes and types, maturation locations, and the natural variance between individual casks. To use their full titles, these are "Micro-Provenance Cask Evolution Exploration" bottlings - which is quite a mouthful! All of these single cask bottlings are bottled at high strength - but not necessarily cask strength - and all list the barley variety that they were distilled from, the cask type they were filled into, the warehouse that they were stored in, and the exact dates of both distillation and bottling. They're usually only sold from the distillery's own website, but occasionally they're sold to specific distributors in specific markets, or specific customers, and they can occasionally be found in 200ml tasting sets in either Bruichladdich (unpeated), Port Charlotte (heavily peated) or Octomore (super-heavily peated) guise. This isn't the first Micro-Provenance Bruichladdich that I've had the pleasure of tasting - that honour goes to this exceptional Oloroso sherry cask that was bottled for Friends of Bruichladdich, followed by the 'Mp8' trio of 200ml Port Charlottes. That 'F.O.B' 15-year old Bruichladdich was fully-matured in a single sherry cask, which is a bit of a departure from the distillery's usual style - it's still the only fully Oloroso sherry-cask matured, a.k.a 'sherry bomb', official bottling of Bruichladdich that I've tasted.

This Australian-exclusive example is a little different. In some ways it's more typically Bruichladdich, being fully-matured in a wine cask, something much more commonly seen from this distillery. In this case that was a single Syrah wine cask, which is a heavier-style of French red wine that is similar to Australian Shiraz - in fact they both stem (pun intended) from the same grape variety. The finished wines tend to be different in style though, with Syrah being a lighter, less-intense style compared to the heavy tannic, peppery style of most Australian Shiraz wines. I'm not a red wine fan myself, and some red wine cask-matured (mainly Australian) whiskies don't push my buttons, but Bruichladdich seem to really know what they're doing with these casks. They have used Syrah casks a number of times in the past, with the delicious Octomore 7.2 (a mix of fully-matured ex-bourbon and ex-Syrah casks) probably being the most widely-known release. The other example that sticks in my mind is the distillery exclusive 'Valinch' hand-filled bottling that was available during my first visit to Islay back in 2017, which should make for an interesting comparison, although I can barely remember it now! This single cask Australian exclusive 'laddie was distilled on May 7, 2009 from Scottish Appaloosa barley - which is a two-row modern distiller's variety of barley. After ten years in that first-fill Syrah red wine cask, cask #1604, it was bottled on December 11, 2019 at an ABV of 62.7%, without any chill filtration or added colouring. The retail price on this one was $240 AUD, which is expensive, but not unreasonable considering that they realistically could've charged more and it would have sold out regardless. Let's do this!

Bruichladdich Micro-Provenance 10-year old, 62.7%. Islay, Scotland. 
Distilled 5/2009, fully matured in a single Syrah red wine cask, bottled 12/2019. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. Exclusive to Australia. 282 bottles, cask #1604.

Colour: Bronze.

Nose: Sweet, fruity & spicy. Stewed stone fruit, sweetened thick cream with a few berries thrown in, and red apples in the background. Some red grapes, mild tannins (wine rather than oak, I'd say), vanilla paste and roasted nuts - walnut and almond, maybe some hazelnut. Hints of liquorice and salted caramel fudge.
  Texture: Heavy weight, thick & rich. A little heat (it's nearly 63%, remember) but very pleasant.

Taste: Soft sweet entry that builds very quickly and turns slightly fatty, with sweet thick vanilla cream, more stewed stone fruit (plum, peach & apricot) and more roasted nuts. Spiced dark chocolate and some drying spicy oak, with a little chilli salt (jalapeno salt).

Finish: Long length. That spiced chocolate is still there but it's creamy milk chocolate now, and the roasted nuts and warming chilli salt as well, plus a hint of star anise. The stone fruity & cream again as well but the oak has dried things out a little and has boosted the spice. Poached pears with a little sea salt to round things out.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Very tasty, as expected! They've done a good job of choosing this cask I'd say, it'll suit the target audience nicely. Big flavours, overt wine cask influence, and big texture & finish. It's a fruity, flavourful whisky that is a different style of Bruichladdich to most of their current releases - although I'd love to do a side-by-side tasting between this single cask 'laddie and the MRC01 Port Charlotte - there's more wood and more punch, but with no shortage of richness. An Australian wine cask-matured whisky drinker will certainly find this to their liking, but it's softer on the wood, wine & tannins than most of those, and is definitely better balanced - which is a very good thing.

Since this single cask Bruichladdich has already sold out, it's a bit of a moot point, but any Australian 'laddie fan will want to get their hands on one of these. Just don't pay the flippers' prices if you can help it! Well done to Bruichladdich, and thanks for finally sending a single cask down under!

Cheers!

Ardmore 20 Year Old Whisky Review!

Quite possibly the best Ardmore I've ever tasted, either from an official or independent bottling, and it certainly helps that it's an absolute bargain!

Ardmore is part of Beam Suntory's Scotch whisky empire, along with heavyweights like Laphroaig and Bowmore. But unlike those two brands you won't find many official bottlings of Ardmore single malt out there, mainly because most of the distillery's substantial 5.5-million litre production capacity goes into the parent company's main blended Scotch whisky brand, Teachers. Located in the Eastern Highlands around an hour's drive west of Aberdeen, Ardmore was founded in 1898. The distillery was purchased by Allied Distillers in 1976, itself sold to Beam Suntory in 2004, and the distillery has pretty much sailed under most people's radars ever since. The distillery's main claim to fame is the fact that its eight copper pot stills were direct-fired using coal, but they were converted to indirect steam-heating back in 2001, so aside from this limited release 20-year old and the even-rarer and also discontinued 25-year old, you won't find any of the spirit from those direct-fired days in the distillery's current range. Another major and less-publicised change happened in 2001, when the distillery switched from almost 100% peated (to roughly 15 ppm) spirit production to producing mostly un-peated spirit, officially known as Ardlair, and unofficially known as "Ardless". You won't find any official bottlings labelled as Ardlair, since it's strictly sold to blenders and independent bottlers, but it's also blended/vatted into some of the distillery's expressions, including the entry-level Ardmore Legacy. Which at the minimum strength of 40% ABV, plus NAS, chill filtered, artificially coloured and almost completely un-peated, isn't much of a legacy. It is priced quite well, though, at around $65 AUD.       

We don't see a lot of other Ardmore official bottlings in Australia. In fact, aside from that mediocre 'Legacy', you'll be hard-pressed to find anything at all. A few years ago we had the rather decent 'Traditional' expression (reviewed here) which was bottled at 46% and finished in ex-Laphroaig quarter casks. But that was discontinued, only to then reappear in both 40% and 46% ABV guises labelled as 'Traditional Peated' which for some reason is now travel / duty-free exclusive. But duty-free exclusive doesn't mean available in my book, so we won't count that one - particularly since almost nobody will be buying anything from an airport duty-free store anytime soon. Elsewhere in the world there's also a 12-year old Port Wood Finish, which is the only core range Ardmore to carry an age statement, and another travel-exclusive named Triple Wood, which is matured in three different sizes of American oak casks rather than the sherry cask finish that you'd expect from sister distillery Laphroaig's whisky of the same name. Why a large malt distillery with only four regular bottlings would choose to make two of those exclusive to airports and cruise ships, I can't say. But it's a shame, because there still aren't a huge number of peated mainland Scotch whiskies on the shelves, and some independent bottlings of Ardmore have shown that the distillery is capable of making very good whisky. As is the case with most of these quiet workhorse distilleries that mostly produce spirit for their owner's blends, this is where the independent bottlers come to the rescue. If you want a non-chill filtered, higher strength Ardmore, particularly with a bit of age (and age statement) to it, you'll need to turn to bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail or the SMWS. But this particular official bottling is certainly an exception to that rule!  

What we have here is actually rather exciting. This is a 20-year old official bottling of 100% peated Ardmore, bottled at a probably-cask strength 49.3% ABV, without chill filtration. Predictably, despite being released back in 2017 it was never officially imported into Australia, but it recently turned up at one Australian retailer (Nicks Wine Merchants) who do quite a lot of their own parallel importing, which means they source from overseas for their own store and bypass the official importers. That's helpful when an official importer passes on a particular whisky, as is the case here - because I think this Ardmore would completely change many whisky fan's views on the distillery. Nicks recently did a similar thing with a cask strength Glen Garioch (pronounced "Glen-geerie"), another Beam Suntory distillery that inexplicably isn't officially imported into Australia at all. Thankfully this retailer also keeps the pricing on these parallel imports at a reasonable level, and the stock doesn't tend to last very long! In this case, that reasonable price was $165 AUD, which is an absolute bargain compared to basically every other whisky of comparable age and strength. 

I first came across this whisky on my first trip to the British Isles back in 2018, where I found it on the shelves at The Whisky Exchange, for a total of 65 pounds. At the time, that was equivalent to around $110-115 AUD - for a (probably) cask strength, 20-year old official bottling of Ardmore single malt. Even untested, that is a very tempting impulse purchase, but I had tried it in a bar a few days prior so I knew it was actually an absolute steal, and I had to have one! I'm yet to open that bottle though, so when I spotted this whisky on Nicks' website, it was a light bulb moment. After a brief chat with two mates - not that they needed much convincing - we decided to split a bottle between us. And I'm very glad we did! This 100% peated 20-year old Ardmore has been fully matured in both first-fill ex-bourbon casks and refill ex-Islay whisky casks - given the distillery's ownership and past practices, that'll be ex-Laphroaig casks! And given that this single malt was distilled back in 1996, that means it was made when Ardmore's stills were still direct-fired using coal - and it's probably one of the last opportunities we'll get to taste that direct-fired spirit. Now being relatively lightly peated, and being a mainland peated malt, and being twenty years of age, we shouldn't expect an Islay or Island-style peat influence here. That's the case with Ardmore in general, and even in younger & higher strength independent bottlings I find it to be more leathery & earthy, sometimes with some dry wood smoke, rather than overtly peaty. Let's see how that's gone at twenty years of age, shall we?

Ardmore 20 Year Old, 49.3%. Highlands, Scotland.

Distilled 1996, matured in both first-fill ex-bourbon and refill ex-Islay (Laphroaig) casks. Non-chill filtered, possibly natural colour.  

Colour: Gold. Probably natural - probably.

Nose: Dusty, sweet red apple skins, old leather armchairs & creamy vanilla icing. White pepper, a little dry honey, sandalwood & clove spice. A subtle earthy peat smoke in the background, plus a little vanilla sugar.

Texture: Light-medium weight. Fruity & spicy (pepper), slightly waxy. No harsh spirit-y heat.

Taste: Waxy red apple skins, far less sweet here though, edging on dry. More creamy vanilla cake icing / frosting, ground white pepper, dry old leather & sandalwood. Something reminiscent of tarragon further in, with some dusty old charred oak & a slight spicy peat.

Finish: Short-medium length. More white pepper, dusty charred oak and old leather. Then red apple skins again, plus some dried lemon and vanilla paste - almost marzipan. Some smoked paprika & hint of whole peaches, dusted with that white pepper, to finish.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: It's not going to set the world on fire with any crazy tasting notes, but it's a delicious fruity & dusty / leathery dram that is certainly the best Ardmore official bottling that I've tasted. That leathery note is how I find that Ardmore's peat influence shows itself, I'd even pin it as their calling card, while the drying dusty-ness and white pepper are very nice additions, probably brought on by the extra age. That pepper nosing & tasting note by the way is not to be confused with alcohol heat - sometimes referred to as 'prickle'. There's not much overt peatiness to be found here, and what is there is soft, subtle & spicy. Can't say that I find much influence from the Islay casks either, they were probably a little tired, but that't no bad thing - the balance here works nicely and any overt Islay-ness probably would've stolen the show.

What is certainly easy to find here though is the value for money. This whisky is an absolute bargain for the ABV, age statement and flavour that is on offer. It's most likely sold out everywhere now, but if you do come across it - for a reasonable price - don't be afraid to grab it immediately. It'll also do nicely if you're yet to try an Ardmore, since it would have to be one of their best efforts!

Cheers!

Octomore 10.4 Whisky Review!

The fourth & final instalment in my Octomore 10 review mini-series. Click here for Part 1, here for Part 2, and here for Part 3! The sample for this review was provided by Mark Hickey from Spirits Platform, the Australian distributors for Bruichladdich.

This is the youngest Octomore ever bottled, and the first to be fully-matured in 100% virgin oak. Very interesting, and very exciting!

While 10.4 is the third Octomore to be labelled / named as a Virgin Oak expression under the _.4 designation, it's actually the first to be fully-matured in virgin oak casks. As brilliant as the original 7.4 (reviewed here) was, followed by the slightly-tamer & less extreme 8.4 (briefly reviewed here), this new release promises to take the concept to a new & simpler level, with its young age of just three years, spent entirely in heavily-toasted (not charred) virgin French oak. That of course is the minimum age permitted for Scotch whisky, and as a matter of fact this is the first Octomore to be bottled at less than five years of age. For the record, 7.4 was a 7-year old Octomore, and while 25% of that vatting was fully-matured in virgin French oak, the remaining 75% took a leaf out of Amrut's book with sandwich/intermediate maturation rather than a basic finish / double-maturation, spending its first three years in ex-bourbon casks, then two years in virgin French oak casks, before going back to ex-bourbon casks for another two years. 8.4 on the other hand was an 8-year old Octomore where 20% was fully matured in virgin oak casks, but made from American Oak this time, with the remaining 80% being initially matured in ex-bourbon casks and then moved to the European oak casks that had been used for 7.4, making them second-fill virgin oak that had already been used once for Octomore maturation. See, I told you 10.4 was a simpler dram!

This 3-year old whisky promises to be quite divisive and quite different, even for an Octomore, with four main factors, that almost seem to contradict each other, making it difficult to know what to expect. On one hand is the minimum 3-years of maturation, promising a young & spirit-driven whisky, particularly at the high strength of 63.5% ABV. On the flip-side is a relatively low ppm figure for that super-heavily peated malted barley, measured at just 88 ppm - the second-lowest of any Octomore to date, only beaten by the first release Octomore 10-year old - which while still a relatively high number promises a softer smoke and peat level compared to some of the legendary 'peat monsters' such as 6.3 and 8.3. Then out of left-field we have the virgin oak maturation, promising a high level of cask / wood influence, and possibly taming that peat level even further. And then, getting geeky here, we have the fact that those casks were made from French oak, which would normally offer a spicy, tannic and very assertive wood influence. But here they've been heavily toasted, which is going to tame that wood influence, but having a different effect to the higher temperature and more intense charring procedure that is more commonly used when dealing with virgin oak - particularly in the bourbon industry, of course. See, I told you this was going to be an interesting whisky!

One quick note on the strength of this Octomore. You'll probably recognise the figure of 63.5% as the common filling strength for Scottish new make spirit that is being filled into casks, generally reduced (watered down) from the natural strength that resulted straight from the still. That designated filling strength is down to a couple of factors, but the main one is accounting purposes - it's easier to calculate duties & taxes, and easier to swap casks & sell spirit to other companies and other distilleries, when one spirit is the same strength as the other. But like only a few Scottish distilleries Bruichladdich choose not to do this, instead filling their casks at the natural distillation strength which obviously varies based on quite a few factors. This is why many cask strength bottlings of Bruichladdich come in at a higher ABV than similar bottlings from other distilleries, and also means that like the majority of Octomores, 10.4's bottling strength of 63.5% will not be the full / natural cask strength. But something tells me there won't be any lack of punch or lack of flavour here!

So what we have here is a 3-year old Octomore, distilled in 2016 from malted barley sourced from the Scottish mainland and peated to 88 ppm (using mainland peat, remember), fully-matured in heavily-toasted virgin French oak casks, before being bottled at 63.5% with no chill filtration or added colouring. 12,000 bottles were released of this one, and there's still a bit around in Australia - although unfortunately the pricing doesn't deviate from its older stable-mates. But virgin oak is an expensive exercise for a distiller, and crazy bottlings like this aren't easy to get across the line, nor are they seen on the shelves everyday - so it's going to sell regardless, and most Bruichladdich & Octomore geeks won't be able to resist, much like myself. Speaking of which, I can't wait any longer - time to taste what could well be the craziest Octomore bottling to date!

Octomore 10.4, 3-years old, 63.5%. Bruichladdich Distillery, Islay, Scotland.
Distilled in 2016 from Scottish barley peated to 88 ppm, matured full-term in heavily-toasted virgin oak casks made from French oak. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 12,000 bottles.

Colour: Very dark amber. The power of virgin oak!

Nose: Whoa, this is a big, powerful dram. Hides it's strength and youth quite well on the nose, though. But it's a crazy one! Aged balsamic vinegar (good quality), burnt treacle, currants, and spicy but also syrupy oak. Some dank earthy peat and a little sea salt. Fruity BBQ sauce, dried strawberries dusted with sugar, and dusty old leather.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, big, syrupy and full-flavoured. A little aggressive heat, but not harsh or unpleasant.

Taste: Syrupy & soft entry, then a massive explosion of sweet & spicy oak, more aged balsamic vinegar, dark & salty soy sauce, a little tar and a fleeting flash of thick smoke. Then a big hit of fresh chilli-heat, like fresh chipotles (smoked red jalapeno), followed by more fruity BBQ sauce - think peach, apricot & strawberry in a thick, sweet & spicy sauce. Still a crazy one, then!

Finish: Long length. The chipotle chilli spice is still there, alongside the dank muddy peat and some salted treacle, plus the balsamic and fruity BBQ sauce. Then there's something reminiscent of a dark rum that I can't quite put my finger on, like a funky & estery tang. That's followed by some flat cola, tobacco & fruit leather (dehydrated fruit roll-ups).

Score: 3.5 out of 5. A tough one to score!

Notes: Well it's certainly not the brutish peat & smoke monster that you'd expect from a 3-year old Octomore. There's a little peat, salt & tar to it, but otherwise it's quite a different beast, and is quite unique. Actually, no, that's putting it too lightly. It's absolutely crazy! A madhouse dram, this 10.4. An extra-crazy version of an already crazy whisky. There's something almost meaty about it too, almost savoury, plus the big oak-forward style that won't be too alien to a drinker of Australian whisky, but will certainly rub some Scotch whisky die-hards the wrong way. There's also a sugary sweetness, which I'm thinking must the spirit fighting back, and the whole shebang could easily pass for a significantly older whisky - aside from that high ABV aggression, anyway.

If you thought 10.2 was pushing the boundaries of what Octomore is, then 10.4 would like to have a word with you. It's taking that boundary-pushing and envelope-stretching to a whole other level. It's fascinating, and almost mind-bending, and it certainly won't be everyone's cup of Octomore. Personally I'm looking at it like I did the 10.2 - don't directly compare 10.4 to other Octomores, just judge it on its own merits, and realise that it doesn't fit the mould. You've got to embrace the crazy ones!

So that's it for the Octomore 10 review mini-series! Thanks again to Mark Hickey from Spirits Platform for the samples of 10.1, 10.3 and 10.4, and to my own bottle of 10.2 for making the sacrifice. And thanks to you all for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the reviews as much as I've enjoyed tasting these delicious whiskies - and I suggest you get around to trying them yourselves!

Cheers!

Octomore 10.3 Whisky Review!

Part 3 of 4 in my Octomore 10 mini-series! Click here for Part 1 (Octomore 10.1) and here for Part 2 (Octomore 10.2). The sample for this review was provided by Mark Hickey from Spirits Platform, the Australian distributors for Bruichladdich.

Any Islay Barley Octomore is always exciting. This one doesn't have the stratospherically high ppm figures of its massive predecessors, but does that really matter?

Islay is far from the ideal place to grow barley. This small Hebridean island off the west coast of Scotland is usually cold, windswept, salt-washed, rain-sodden and/or overcast, which aside from other problems & challenges results in lower yields, which means less income for the farmer, and less barley for the distillery. But the use of Islay-grown barley is a choice that goes beyond such considerations - remember that out of nine distilleries only Bruichladdich and Kilchoman are doing this - and is more about provenance and terroir, the use of local ingredients, a sense of place, and also a sense of community. It is easier, cheaper and more efficient to use barley sourced from the Scottish mainland, or even other countries, and that is far & away what the majority of Scottish distilleries are doing. The idea of using Islay-grown barley in heavily peated whiskies like Octomore gets even further away from that efficiency and financial pressure, since such high peating levels make it more difficult to detect any overt differences in the finished product that are (or may be) due to the barley itself. But there's no arguing with the provenance provided by the use of locally grown barley. While Islay barley varieties of both Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte use barley grown on a number of different farms on the island, the distillery takes this a step further with their Octomore Islay barley bottlings, sourcing the barley from a single field from one single Islay farm - James Brown's Octomore farm, once home to the Octomore Distillery that was the inspiration for the name of this super-heavily peated single malt.

Although there have only been five Islay barley Octomores to date, these _.3 (designating an Islay barley Octomore) bottlings have already attained legendary status. Starting in late 2014 with my favourite Octomore of all time, the incredible 6.3 (reviewed here), which was distilled from 258 ppm barley and matured for five years in ex-bourbon casks, there was then a bit of a change of direction in 2015 with the 169 ppm 7.3 (reviewed here), which was a marriage of ex-bourbon and ex-Spanish red wine casks, both five years of age. Bruichladdich then dropped a peat bomb on the world the following year, with the record-setting 309.1 ppm Octomore 8.3 (reviewed here), which was matured in roughly 50% ex-bourbon casks and four different types of red wine cask, all at five years of age. Things were a little quieter in comparison in the following year, with the 9.3 release dropping way down to 133 ppm, and again being five years old, but sporting a complicated mix of casks - 75% of which were second- or third-fill casks, which is unusual for any Octomore.

This new 10.3 release returns to the initial recipe in one way, being matured only in ex-bourbon casks, but deviates in another - this one is six years old, making it the oldest Islay barley Octomore bottling to date, which is a curious move. 10.3 is also down in peating levels, to 'just' 114 ppm, one of the lowest used in any Octomore to date, while the _.3 Islay barley bottlings tend to be the highest in each series. But as we know, once you get beyond a certain (or perhaps uncertain) level those numbers - measured on the malted barley itself - don't mean a great deal, and they're offset by many factors like where the peat itself was sourced, fermentation times, still shapes, sizes & fill levels, distillation speeds, and many others. Although the high numbers have always been a major focus point for these whiskies, Octomores have never been that simple, and they're much more than the sum of their parts. For 10.3 those six years of maturation were spent in first-fill ex-bourbon casks from Jim Beam, Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Jack Daniels, and 24,000 bottles were released at 61.3% ABV. Naturally it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Let's get into it!

Octomore 10.3 Islay Barley, 6-years old, 61.3%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 2013 from 114 ppm Islay barley, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks from Jim Beam, Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill & Jack Daniels. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 24,000 bottles.

Colour: Pale gold. Not as dark as the above photo suggests.

Nose: Both light & fresh, and peaty & powerful. Reminds me very much of a Kilchoman 100% Islay bottling, actually! And that's not been the case with any other Octomore. Freshly steeped malt, fresh hay, buttery pastry, lemon zest and creamy vanilla. Fizzy lemonade and a light, soft, fresh, dry earthy peatiness with a hint of ashy smoke underneath.

Texture: Light-medium weight, warming. Fresh and barley-forward. A little heat but not harsh.

Taste: Fresh & zesty. Lemon zest & fresh fizzy lemonade, creamy vanilla and savoury / dry honey. A light & fresh saltiness, and some white pepper. The peat is definitely bigger here, dark, chunky and more muddy, especially on the exhale. Much more than you'll find in the aforementioned Kilchoman too. Cola bottle lollies (not the sour variety).

Finish: Medium length. Spicy & peaty to start with, then fresh & bright again. More lemonade, fresh hay, barley husks. Like eating a handful of the freshly ground grist straight from Bruichladdich's mill. More pastry, some drying sea shells and a little rubber to end.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Well that's the freshest, most barley-forward Octomore that I've ever tasted. There's plenty of flavour, but like the blurb for the 10-series says it's a different whisky to what we expect to find in those black metal tins and their opaque or frosted glass bottles. There's more peat here than in the 10.2 from last week, which is to be expected, but it doesn't have that level of depth and richness that I found in that outlying travel-exclusive sibling, and there's significantly less peatiness & overt 'Islay-ness' here than in the slightly younger 10.1. 10.3 though is very Bruichladdich, with that lemon, subtle saltiness and fresh barley character showing through nicely. It's a lesson in finding barley & malt character in a heavily-peated whisky, which is not something you see every day - only a few distilleries can claim that, actually, and Bruichladdich is right at the top of the list. While the peat level in 10.3 could easily pass for a Port Charlotte level, the peat character itself is very different - it doesn't have that tasty BBQ smoke or accompanying farmyard-y character, instead it's a heavier, deeper, more muddy peatiness that really only reveals its secrets on the palate and the initial hit on the finish.

Very different for an Octomore, and it's a different whisky to the other _.3 bottlings. Actually it's in a totally different realm of existence to the previous Islay barley bottlings. But variety is the spice of life after all, and of course 10.3 deserves its spot in the line-up.

Cheers!

Octomore 10.2 Whisky Review!

Part 2 of my Octomore 10 mini-series! Click here for Part 1 (Octomore 10.1).

Another (sadly) travel exclusive exotic Octomore that has been finished in wine casks - but this one might just have echoes of the legendary 4.2 Comus! I was very lucky to get my hands on a bottle of this one, not long before the Covid crisis really hit its stride.

While Octomore has always been something of a numbers game and a lesson in excess - from high strengths and low ages, to massively high ppm measurements, the 10-series has diverged from that M.O. The ages are still relatively low, and the strengths are still high, but those ppm measurements are down - way down. The most heavily-peated malt used in this series was just 114 ppm with the 10.3 Islay Barley, and the lowest was 88 with the 10.4 Virgin Oak - that's very nearly the lowest number used in any Octomore to date, only beaten by 2012's first 10-year old release which weighed in at 80.5. They're still high numbers of course, but they're starkly different from the days of the legendary 309.1 ppm 8.3 and the incredible 258 ppm 6.3. The distillery has acknowledged this difference by declaring that this series "explores a realm of softer smoke", and then basically asking us to ignore the numbers this time around - which is certainly a change in approach from the past releases of Octomore, and when discussing this particular whisky in general. But we know that the numbers don't always mean a great deal - particularly those ppm measurements - and are really only indicators. The proof is in the pudding! It's also important to remember that the distillery doesn't dictate these measurements to the maltsters (Bairds in Inverness), and this process can only be controlled to a certain extent before nature takes over and has the final say. The entire Octomore concept started by letting the maltsters loose and cold-smoking the malting barley for as long as possible to absorb as much peat smoke as possible, to the point when the barley just refuses to absorb any more, which is why the figures have varied so much over the years. The fact that these new bottlings are lower in those figures is nothing to worry about, if anything they'll just be a slightly different style of the Octomore that we know & love.

This travel-exclusive 10.2 release is a first for Octomore. It follows on from 9.2, which was a 156-ppm 5-year old release that had been matured in first-fill bourbon casks for four years and finished in second-fill Bordeaux red wine casks for a fifth year. This new release is almost a polar opposite, using 'only' 96.9 ppm malt, and being eight years old - which is actually middle-aged in Octomore terms. The main difference though is in how it has spent those eight years of maturation. 10.2 was matured in ex-bourbon casks for the first half of its life, and then moved into Sauternes sweet wine casks for another four years. Sauternes is a very highly-regarded sweet dessert-style wine, produced in the Bordeaux region in the south-west of France, where the grapes are affected by the Botrytis fungus (a.k.a. 'noble rot'), causing high levels of concentrated sweetness in the fruit. Longer-term Octomore followers will recognise the term from a legendary older release - Octomore 4.2 'Comus', which makes this new release a very exciting proposition! 4.2 was a 5-year old 167 ppm Octomore that was finished in Sauternes casks from Chateau d'Yquem (pronounced "de-kem"), from the days of private ownership where Bruichladdich directly named most of the vineyards that their casks came from. It's entirely possible that the Sauternes casks used for this 10.2 release were at least partially sourced from the same vineyard, but the distillery is no longer allowed to mention specifics or point fingers. What they have mentioned though is that the vineyard used these casks three times (for three separate fillings of Sauternes), meaning that the impact of the oak itself has been softened by the three cycles of wine maturation - but they're still first-fill casks as far as whisky is concerned. Octomore 10.2 was bottled at 56.9% after those eight years of maturation, and being a Bruichladdich single malt it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Let's do this!

Octomore 10.2, 8-years old, 56.9%. Bruichladdich Distillery, Islay, Scotland.
Distilled in 2010 from Scottish barley peated to 96.9 ppm, matured in first-fill bourbon casks for 4 years, moved to first-fill Sauternes dessert wine casks for another 4 years. Non-chill filtered, naturally coloured. Travel exclusive of 24,000 bottles.

Colour: Golden copper.

Nose: Ooh. Yes please. This is not one to rush. Malty, sweet & fruity. Very Bruichladdich. Golden malted barley, sweet tropical fruit - lychee, banana, cantaloupe/rockmelon & peach. Icing sugar and sweet lemons in syrup. Smoked honeycomb. Gets deeper with more breathing time, adding a light bonfire smoke, dark loose-leaf tea, some fresh oily putty and that trademark laddie lactic funk (think sweet cream cheese / yoghurt / baby vomit - but in a good way) . What a nose!

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, rich & oily. Decadent is the word. No heat at all.

Taste: Less sweet, but still rich and yes, decadent is definitely the word. More laddie lactic sweetness, some tinned peaches, more icing sugar and smoked honeycomb, lime juice, some ground ginger and creme brulee, and a little soft puff of dry, almost ashy peat smoke.

Finish: Long length. That soft dry peat smoke carries through, and doesn't go away, but it's certainly a lighter smoke than you may expect. Black pepper and sugared almonds - maybe marzipan. Then the smoked honeycomb and rich tropical fruit comes back - more melon and peach, and some more lime juice.

Score: 4 out of 5. Very close to a 4.5 though.

Notes: The nose on this Octomore is just amazing. Rich & full, sweet & decadent, it's a real treat for the senses! The palate doesn't disappoint either, but it could never have matched that nose for sheer complexity and depth. This is not your typical Octomore, and there isn't a massive amount of peat or smoke to be found, and it's far removed from the 10.1 that we looked at in the previous review. That lighter & softer style of peat influence doesn't hurt this whisky though, and even devout peat heads will surely appreciate the level of character & quality on offer here. Is it an Octomore though? Of course it is, it's written in big bold letters right there on the tin! The (natural) variance in peat level in both the measured malted barley and the subjective level of peat influence in the finished product are just part of the fun, and to my palate 10.2 doesn't smell or taste like there's anything missing. Besides, a (relatively) lightly peated Octomore is nothing new - from the outstanding OBA to the quad-distilled X4 concept bottling that followed it, and also the first 10-year old bottling for that matter, it's happened before.

The Sauternes casks here have added more tropical fruit & richness and have upped the sweetness, but they haven't overshadowed the spirit - the Bruichladdich trademarks of barley character, lactic funk and citrus are still very much intact. Sauternes casks really seem to work well for this distillery! There are little shades of the legendary 4.2 Comus here in this older but more recent Octomore, just not in terms of peat or smoke - more in sweetness and richness. 10.2 is not your everyday Octomore - in more ways than one - but it's no less fantastic because of that. And that nose is to die for. If you're a Bruichladdich fan, this is certainly one you'll want to tick off your list. Unfortunately it looks like you'll have to wait for the airports to re-open, but it's worth the wait. Maybe this crisis will make a few brands reconsider their reliance on travel retail exclusives?

Cheers!