Port Charlotte First Cut Whisky Review!

Haven't heard of this one? Well I can't say I'm surprised, even some of the Bruichladdich die-hards haven't! This is actually the first Port Charlotte Feis Ile bottling, from way back in 2007!

First cut, ladies & gents, as in the first spirit cut on the first distillation run of the heavily peated Port Charlotte spirit at Bruichladdich Distillery. This Port Charlotte single malt was distilled on the 28th of May 2001, day one of Port Charlotte distillation and only shortly after the distillery had finally been rescued & resurrected. But that's not all folks, this was also the 2007 Feis Ile / Islay Festival bottling, released on Bruichladdich's day of the festival on the 27th of May 2007, which makes it a 5-year old whisky. If you cast your mind back to the early days of Port Charlotte, there was another five-year old whisky released around the same time, the now-legendary PC5, the first Port Charlotte released, which I've reviewed here along with the equally-legendary PC6. There are some major differences between PC5 and this First Cut bottling though, starting with the fact that PC5 was bottled in the second-half of 2006, so while both are 5-years old, PC5 is considerably younger than First Cut, and is also higher in strength and is a much larger release - 63.5% ABV and 6,000 bottles for PC5, compared to 61.5% and only 950 bottles for First Cut. But that's where things get a little confusing - First Cut has a cask number printed right there on the label, cask #007, which I would take to mean that this was a single cask bottling, and the label also states that it was matured in ex-bourbon. But, the label also states that there were 950 bottles released! Even with the Valinch-spec 500ml bottles taken into account, that would mean 475-litres of 5-year old whisky from a single ex-bourbon cask, which obviously isn't possible. There'd have to be at least two ex-bourbon hogsheads (250-litre casks) in the vatting for those numbers to make sense, without much room for angel's share / evaporation or "in-drink" - the spirit being absorbed into the wood - over the nearly 6-years of maturation. Quite the mystery, and it piqued my curiosity...

So I decided to find out! Research from the usual channels came back with nothing, it was too small of a bottling and bottled too early in this distillery's modern history for any deep-dives. So I reached out to Chloe Wood, Bruichladdich's Brand Ambassador for the Asia Pacific region, in case she could shed any light on this mysterious little bottling. I've met Chloe a few times now and already knew she would help as much as she could, but I also never expected the depth of the investigation she'd start, or the lengths that she would go to in order to find some answers! Many, if not most, brands or distilleries would have simply brushed off my enquiries, and I'm sure a few would've ignored my requests altogether - remembering that this whisky was bottled 14-years ago in relatively tiny numbers, and the distillery has also gone through a change of ownership and a number of major staff changes since then. But not so with Chloe or Bruichladdich. The outstanding level of honesty, modesty, service and responsiveness that both Chloe and the 'laddie team provide are second to none, and is a large part of why I and many others love this distillery so much - although the fact that they make brilliant whisky also helps! After a lengthy investigation Chloe has uncovered that Port Charlotte First Cut was actually mis-labelled. It was originally intended to be a single cask bottling, but the distillery team at the time realised that they were going to need more of it since 2007's Islay Festival was going to coincide with the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Port Charlotte Distillery, which was then side-lined in 2008 during the global financial crisis, although Bruichladdich still use the original warehouses from Loch Indaal Distillery. So in the end three casks were actually chosen for this bottling, all from the first distillation runs of Port Charlotte spirit, but it was too late to change the labels that had already been printed over on the mainland, so the cask number remained - that was part one of the mystery solved! But Chloe had gone above & beyond, to the point where she found the original vatting sheet from way back in 2007. And part two of the mystery surrounding this whisky involved it's surprisingly dark (natural) colour considering it's youth, and the smell & taste which were completely different to any bourbon cask Port Charlotte that I've encountered to date. And Chloe also solved this mystery, although she wasn't alone - help came from the first-hand knowledge of none other than Lynne McEwan, Bruichladdich's Global Marketing Manager and daughter of Jim McEwan, and Simon Coughlin, now CEO of Remy Cointreau's Whisky Unit, and formerly CEO of Bruichladdich. So this investigation went all the way to the top! And it turns out, aside from the number of casks used in the vatting it was also discovered that Port Charlotte First Cut was actually taken from ex-sherry casks, not ex-bourbon cask/s as printed on the label! 

Bruichladdich was a very different place back in 2007. Under private ownership and still very much in the early days of the distillery's success that we now know, finances were extremely tight, with minimal amounts of whisky from their own distillation runs ready for bottling. While there were a magnitude of different releases around at the time, the vast majority of those were obviously distilled under the site's previous owners, and in many cases also needed "cask enhancement" - laddie speak for cask finishing - to get them up to the desired standard, which is not a cheap exercise. The wider whisky industry was also a different animal to what it is today, with the gigantic spike in demand and popularity (that we're still in now) yet to hit it's stride. So it's completely understandable that an error on the label couldn't be corrected in time for this release - if they had waited and delayed there would've been no Feis Ile bottling that year, and thousands of disappointed visitors & pilgrims would've been gathering up their flaming torches & pitchforks and marching on the distillery's famous wrought iron gates. Obviously these errors are also a freak occurrence, such a thing would never happen today - in fact I highly doubt it's ever happened since! Again, the level of honesty, modesty and responsiveness here is exceptional, and I have to give a big thanks to Chloe and the team for getting to the bottom of this for me!

Most Port Charlotte releases contain wine casks to some extent, either as part of the vatting, or as a cask finish / additional cask enhancement. The distillery's long-standing penchant for ex-wine casks is a huge factor there of course, and I'd guess that it was also a way of differentiating Port Charlotte from the work of the other Islay distilleries, particularly during the days when it was packaged in the same bottles and tins as the unpeated Bruichladdich whiskies, and as a result was getting somewhat "lost in the noise" and was living in the shadows. But they were almost all red wine casks, and an ex-sherry cask matured Port Charlotte is still quite the rare beast, with only a few distillery-exclusive Valinch / Cask Exploration bottlings coming to mind - remembering that 2020's OLC:01 release (which Australia missed out on, sadly!) was only finished in sherry casks rather than being fully-matured. The main reason for this is the distillery's insistence on only using the highest quality sherry casks, to the point where they only source them from one single bodega (sherry producer) in Spain. These days with the re-branding and re-launching of Port Charlotte the brand has reached new heights and is finally getting the long-awaited attention that it deserves, and the wine cask involvement is still a major point of difference to the other Islay stalwarts, particularly in terms of their Port Charlotte core range and regular/annual release bottlings. So, a 5-year old cask strength Port Charlotte, from three ex-sherry cask/s, and bottled at cask strength of 61.5% for Feis Ile 2007. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd who was lucky enough to grab one of these rarities at an overseas auction. Extremely exciting!

Port Charlotte "First Cut", 5-year old, 61.5%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 5/2001, matured in bottled 5/2007 for Feis Ile 2007. Matured in ex-sherry casks (bottles are mis-labelled, see above). Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 950 bottles. 

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Buttery, rich & deep. Does tingle the nose hairs at 61.5%, but that's to be expected! Rich vanilla butter cake frosting, with a little lemon. Fresh aniseed, thick maple syrup, and golden pound cake (rich & dense vanilla and butter cake). Lovely ashy wood smoke, decent pinch of sea salt and some muddy seaweed. Soft earthy peat, lemon zest and a touch of mocha coffee syrup further in, topped off by a floral icing sugar sweetness. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, oily & buttery, rich and warming. Full of flavour. Touch of heat, but barely noticeable. 

Taste: Rich, buttery arrival with more butter cake frosting, thick maple syrup and a dash of that mocha coffee syrup. Then drying ashy wood smoke followed by chunky, earthy peat and butter toffee fudge - almost Scottish tablet, but with more butter. Lemon rind and aniseed in behind. 

Finish: Long length. Make that very long. More ashy wood smoke and chunky earthy peat, waves of chocolate cake icing, fresh lemon zest and floral icing sugar. More toffee butter fudge and rich vanilla bean. Slight touch of sheep's wool (lanolin) and slighter touch of earthen farmyard/dunnage floors. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: What a stunner! Incredible depth and richness for a 5-6 year old whisky. The peat is also surprisingly tame for a youthful heavily peated Islay malt, and there's no chance I would pick this as a 5-year old whisky had it been served blind. In fact I'd probably peg it somewhere between 8- and 10-years, at a guess. This is a totally different whisky to the slightly younger, but still 5-years old, PC5 that preceded it. PC5 is raw and punchy, a coastal, smoky brute in comparison with this cleaner, deeper and richer Feis Ile bottling. Even compared to my favourite Port Charlotte to date, the partly Madeira cask-matured PC6, this First Cut bottling is cleaner and calmer, and it's not far off the amazing richness of that slightly older sibling. In fact, I don't think I could pick a winner between the two! It's also vastly different to the modern Port Charlotte bottlings, this is a slightly cleaner whisky in style, with far less of that BBQ smoke and farmyard-y character that has become the brand's calling card, particularly in the more spirit-forward examples.

This First Cut Port Charlotte must have been a freak cask/s, young ex-sherry casks with loads of character and flavour. And I can certainly see why they chose this as a Feis Ile bottling. An extremely special whisky, one hell of a "blast from the past". And I love it! 

Thanks to the anonymous donour for the sample of this delicious whisky, and to Chloe, Lynne, Simon & the wider team from Bruichladdich for their help.

Cheers!

Bunnahabhain 2008 Manzanilla Cask Whisky Review!

A drier, nutty, salty whisky that has been fully matured in a dry, nutty, salty sherry cask? Yes please!

Bunnahabhain, or Bunna' for short, doesn't get the fanfare of the other Islay distilleries, and certainly isn't one of the "sexy" brands. But it still has a loyal following - and for good reason. As one of the two Islay distilleries that are mostly producing unpeated whisky, they're already something of an outlier, and even more of an underdog in comparison with the other mostly-unpeated Islay distillery, Bruichladdich. Bunnahabhain tend to be quieter and more reserved than most in their marketing, something that is also shared with Tobermory and Deanston, the other two Scotch whisky distilleries in parent company Distell's portfolio - which is soon to be purchased by Heineken. But while their presence may be more reserved, the whiskies they produce are often anything but quiet. Leaving aside the peated Moine spirit that the distillery also produces, the unpeated Bunnahabhains tend to be drier, spicier, more nutty and more austere than most, and the official bottlings tend to lean towards sherry cask maturation which can help to boost those characteristics. But they also produce a wide range of exotic cask finishings and maturations, both as Feis Ile / Islay Festival bottlings, and distillery exclusive single casks, and as limited releases that are more generally available. The likes of Brandy, Port and Marsala casks, and also PX, Amontillado and Palo Cortado sherry casks have all been released relatively recently, including this little number that we're looking at today, which is an 11-year old unpeated Bunnahabhain that has been fully matured, not finished, in Manzanilla sherry casks. Sadly most of these limited releases have not been officially imported into Australia, but a recent change of distributorship saw The Whisky List bring in a decent amount of the stuff, including the 18- and 25-year olds that also haven't been seen down under for quite some time. 

After Palo Cortado, Manzanilla sherry casks would have to be the second-rarest in the Scotch whisky industry. While real sherry can only be produced in the Jerez region of southern Spain, Manzanilla is even more specific since it must be produced in the area of the seaside city of Sanlucar de Barrameda, which forms the northern tip of the "sherry triangle", the area in Andalucía that is officially permitted to use the term "sherry". Sanlucar de Barrameda has a milder climate with higher humidity than elsewhere in the sherry triangle, which affects the natural yeast layer, known as the flor, under which the pale & dry varieties of sherry are aged. That process is known as biological ageing, while the darker and in some cases sweeter wines are produced through oxidative ageing, where that yeast layer is killed off at an early stage. The result is a very dry (often less than 1g of sugar per litre of wine), nutty, floral and saline fortified wine. The pale sherry varieties are far less common in whisky production than Oloroso or PX sherries - or more often Oloroso or PX style wines - and are more often actual ex-bodega sherry casks that have been used to mature sherry, rather than the far more common 'sherry seasoned' casks that are used for almost all distilleries. As far as out beloved Islay goes, or even in Scotch whisky for that matter, apart from Ardbeg's epic 2013 Ardbog Feis Ile / Ardbeg Day bottling, I'm not aware of any that have used Manzanilla sherry casks to any noticeable extent, with one exception: the mostly-unpeated Islay underdog that is Bunnahabhain!  

I effectively bought this bottle untested, although I had read a few European and American reviews in the past and looked longingly at the photos from the other side of the planet. The price here in Australia of around $220 AUD is not insubstantial, but for a high strength limited release Bunnahabhain that is fully matured in exotic casks, that's certainly not unreasonable. But I did have one thing to go on, since this is not the first example of a Manzanilla cask-matured Bunnahabhain that I've come across. The first example was a 200ml 'Warehouse No.9' distillery exclusive single cask bottling that a mate picked up from the distillery itself, and that whisky was magical. So when this limited release surprisingly popped up, 18 months after it was bottled, I had to grab a bottle. And it didn't take long for curiosity to get the better of me, and the cork was popped! Like many of the more austere and/or challenging styles of malt whisky, particularly when bottled at high strength, this bottle has changed substantially in the month or so since it was first opened, with first impressions containing a definite whiff of sulphur, and seeming a little flat and jumbled in smell & taste. But within a week or so it was developing very nicely. Never fully judge, or even review, a whisky on fresh opening or on the "neck pour", folks, particularly if you're having it neat! There's no mention of whether this Bunnahabhain was bottled at cask strength or if it was reduced slightly, and at 52.3% ABV it could go either way, but it's certainly plenty of strength regardless. What is mentioned though is that it is non-chill filtered and natural colour, distilled in July 2008, matured in warehouse no.9 and bottled in May 2020. Let's do it!

Bunnahabhain 2008 Manzanilla Cask Matured, 11-year old, 52.3%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 7/2008, fully matured in Manzanilla sherry casks, bottled 5/2020. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Big, dirty & funky. Loads of well-salted roasted nuts (hazelnut & walnut especially, plus a couple of almonds), dried sultanas and currants, and crushed aspirin pills/tablets. Rich dark salted caramel that is verging on burnt, with flashes of fresh dates, dark treacle toffee and a couple of honey roasted peanuts. Dirty engine oils and burnt/charred black pepper, touches of rubber and old bacon grease. 

Texture: Heavy weight, rich & flavoursome & dirty. Slight astringency & good bitterness, and no heat. 

Taste: Rich with more salted roasted nuts, thick date syrup, dried sultanas and currants again. Touch of that overcooked salted caramel (verging on burnt), bitter & earthy coffee grounds. Slight white wine-y acidity from the Manzanilla adding freshness. 

Finish: Long length. Raisin toast (spiced) with a touch of brown butter, a fresh & astringent saltiness with noticeable touches of that Manzanilla acidity. Bitter burnt black pepper & charred wood, more roasted nuts and that almost-burnt salted caramel. 

Score: 4 out of 5. On the lower side, though. 

Notes: It's a big, dirty, funky whisky, and some of the sulphur-sensitive will probably disagree with my score. But, now that it's had enough breathing time after opening the bottle, the richness and depth on offer here make for a delicious whisky. And it would (and it will) make for a delicious Christmas whisky. Big nutty, salty, caramel & dried fruit flavours that are working very well with Bunnahabhain's nutty, spicy, salty spirit, and there's a great balance between sweet & savoury. Now I'm personally not particularly sensitive to sulphur, although I have had a couple of whiskies in the past that I found extremely unpleasant or even actually undrinkable (which I won't name), but I don't mind or even enjoy a touch of that dirty sulphur character in general (Longrow 14-year old sherry cask, or some Benromach, Kilkerran and Springbank sherry casks for example). And on first opening this Bunnahabhain was headed in the wrong direction there. But it's settled down and opened up very well, that flatness has gone, and while there's still a touch of sulphur on the nose it's well integrated now and the other notes & flavours will make you forget about that quite quickly. 

Bunnahabhain is not a shy spirit, and it could easily have overpowered the more delicate Manzanilla casks - as many whiskies that are matured in these paler sherry casks do. But that delicate, acidic, floral, nutty & salty sherry has worked very well in this case. Not on the level of brilliance that the hand-filled 200ml cask sample had, of course, but for $220 AUD or so and for something different from this distillery, this Bunna' is a big yes from me. 

Cheers!

Laphroaig 1991 23 Year Old Whisky Review!

After the recent sad news of John Campbell's decision to step down as Laphroaig's Distillery Manager, and given that he personally selected the casks used in this bottling, the time is right to review this special Laphroaig!

The legendary John Campbell is officially Laphroaig's longest-serving Distillery Manager, spending over 27-years at the distillery including 16-years at the helm, and is also the first Islay native, a.k.a. Ileach, to manage the distillery in it's 205-year history. I've been lucky enough to meet John a few times, mostly during his last visit to Australia back in late-2015 (more details and interview here), but also on his home turf during my last visit to the distillery in 2018. This softly-spoken, relaxed and humble Ileach has taken Laphroaig to new heights over that time, and has also been responsible for some truly brilliant whiskies during his tenure, particularly the Cairdeas releases and some of the other limited bottlings, including the subject of this review! But he has made the difficult decision to permanently relocate to the mainland to be closer to his family, and to take up a new role with a smaller independent distillery that is being kept under wraps until John officially steps down in November 2021. It's easy to forget just how remote Islay actually is, since the island is such a large part of the Scotch whisky world and seems like paradise to visitors, but a regular 4~5-hour commute just to visit one's own family on the mainland would get tiresome, particularly with ferries and flights being cancelled due to weather or taken out of action due to maintenance. So it's a very understandable decision, albeit a sad one. So on behalf of myself and the other peat-heads, slainte John and thanks for your hard work and the sacrifices that you've made over the years to keep our glasses full of peaty goodness. We'll all be watching this next step in your career with great interest!

Islay's most famous distillery needs no introduction of course, but older Laphroaigs tend to be very different from what you might expect. Yes the peatiness tends to recede and the whisky tends to become softer and more refined, that's to be expected with older peated whiskies. Older Laphroaigs of 21+ years of age can also take on a floral sweetness, often with more fruitiness and citrus and a brighter general character in comparison with their younger stablemates. For example, if you were to the 10-year old, or even the cask strength 10-year old, and then the 25-year old, without looking at the labels you'd be forgiven for thinking they were from completely different distilleries. But the more obvious examples of that change in character tend to be mostly from refill casks, while sherry casks, particularly when first-fill, seem to stave (pun intended) off that change, but it's also down to cask selection - the 15-year old and the Highgrove independent bottlings show that softer character at earlier ages, purely down to cask selection and presentation. Bottlings like the old 18-year old and the NAS replacement 'Lore' tend to be in the middle ground. Today's whisky will be an interesting test, since it's towards the lower end of that age scale, but mostly because it's a mix of refill hogsheads and first-fill sherry hogsheads, both of the 250-litre variety. Regardless, it's a cask strength Laphroaig. There's a very good chance that it's going to be tasty! 

On to the whisky at hand. This is a limited release 1991-vintage Laphroaig that was mainly sold to the German market when it was released back in 2014, with a substantial 5,000 numbered bottles released. Thankfully some stock found it's way to retail in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, and naturally some of those 5,000 bottles then subsequently made their way on to the secondary market. If you do manage to find a bottle on one of the usual auction sites, you'll be looking at around 400-pounds. Once the buyer's premium, shipping, duty and customs charges are taken into account, that's going to be well over $1,000 AUD here in Australia. Not a cheap proposition, and substantially higher than the 'regular' 25-year old Laphroaigs, but that's to be expected with a highly-regarded bottle on the secondary market. The timing for this release was curious too, since it could've instead been one of the 200th anniversary bottlings that hit the shelves in 2015, including the now-legendary 2015 Cairdeas and the 32-year old.  This 23-year old has been matured in a combination of first-fill ex-sherry and refill hogsheads, and was bottled at a cask strength of 52.6% ABV without chill filtration or added colouring. The sample for this review came in a swap with a generous fellow-whisky nerd, and both he and a couple of others have hinted that this is one of their favourite Laphroaigs to date, so the anticipation levels are high! Let's get to it. 

Laphroaig 1991 23-year old, 52.6%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured in ex-sherry and refill hogsheads, bottled 2014 at cask strength. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 5,000 bottles. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Fresh & zesty initially, peaty & coastal. Loads of fresh lemon zest, slightly herbal, damp muddy sand and wet rock. Touches of warm tar, ink and drying seaweed. Then new leather, white pepper and a little mushroom. Then sweet stewed stone fruit, vanilla bean and honey, fresh wood with a touch of ash. 

Texture: Medium weight. Peaty & peppery, sweet & rich. Slight touch of heat. 

Taste: Sweet vanilla bean, almost custard, then peppery, ashy peat, touch of tar and dried red chilli. Toffee and dried fruit behind - stone fruit with lemon juice, then leathery drying seaweed. 

Finish: Medium length. Spicy chilli flakes and peppery, ashy peat. Softens and fades quite quickly into floral vanilla bean sweetness, bitter lemon, then turning dry, peppery, woody and astringent with a little soft ashy peat in the background. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Some interesting contrasts here! This whisky does not sit still. The nose in particular is excellent, and while the palate and finish can't compete with the depth and complexity that the nose offers, it doesn't disappoint. There are hints of that softer, sweeter, floral side of Laphroaig, but the main player is the coastal peatiness and vanilla, alongside drying white pepper. A surprising amount of wood influence as well, and I'm guessing the sherry casks were American oak owing to that hefty vanilla. But then it is also 23-years old! This Laphroaig certainly seems more "modern" in character compared to the recent batches of the 25-year old and some of the older bottlings that I've tried, although few of those have first-fill casks in the mix so that's understandable. The drying peppery note in the later stages of the finish is surprising and quite different, but it doesn't dampen the experience, astringency and dryness can be enjoyable in the right dram, where there's enough character and peaty and/or sweet flavours to carry it, which is the case here. 

That said, given the prices that this 23-year old now commands on the secondary market, I'd be reaching for one of the 25-year olds instead - particularly the 2013 and 2016 batches which both show that floral, fruity, citrus-y side that older Laphroaigs are renowned for. But then, if this 23-year old were to offer the same sort of experience as the regular 25-year old batches, what would've been the point? 

Let's all wish John Campbell all the best in his new role, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him soon!

Cheers!

Bunnahabhain Cruach Mhona Whisky Review!

A travel-exclusive Bunnahabhain with a difference - Cruach Mhona in Gaelic translates to 'Peat Stack' in English. Yes, as you've probably guessed by now, it's heavily peated!

Although they're becoming more common these days, peated Bunnahabhains are still something of an oddity. As one of the two Islay distilleries mainly producing unpeated single malt, those unpeated offerings continue to get the attention, while the peated expressions don't enjoy the 'exposure' of equivalent whiskies from the other Islay distilleries - which could be partly due to the fact that their names are all but unpronounceable to the English speaker! Aside from a few limited releases at cask strength and the annual Feis Ile bottlings that are released under the Moine label (which are generally excellent), there are only two peated expressions in the distillery's core range: Ceobanach, meaning 'Smoky Mist', and Toiteach A Dha, meaning 'Smoky Two' - very imaginative, that name must've been chosen on a Friday afternoon! I'm yet to try the latter, but the former - reviewed here - is delicious, and certainly lives up to it's name. Both of those are bottled at 46.3% ABV. Then there's the one peated travel-exclusive, Cruach Mhona, which is bottled at 50% ABV, and in a 1-litre bottle as well. Even in the midst of the pandemic, there is no shortage of travel retail / duty free exclusive bottlings that are decidedly average. Add some pretty packaging and fancy buzzwords to your slower-moving stock and minimal factual information ("matured in oak casks" is still my favourite - that's a legal requirement for all Scotch whisky, remember), and you've got yourself a travel retail bottling. Not so with this Bunnahabhain, though, because this is one of the few travel exclusive hidden gems at this price point - and if you ask me it's a step above its unpeated duty free stable mate, the wine cask-finished Eirigh Na Greine. Outside of travel retail, this one can be found online for around $150 AUD, or if you're managing to travel overseas it'll be around $110 AUD. And that's for a 1-litre bottle at 50% ABV, remember. Oh, and it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Not bad!

Bunnahabhain is a funny one. It's the most remote of the Islay distilleries and the most difficult to access, involving a surprisingly long drive down a single track road with only a couple of passing places, and involving driving straight past the driveways for both Caol Ila and now Ardnahoe. Once you do get there, though, the atmosphere and - if you're lucky with the weather - the view are stunning, with a pebbled shoreline looking straight across the Sound of Islay to Jura and its famous mountains. Bunnahabhain is still in the midst of a massive refurbishment - progress was delayed by world events, of course - including a new visitor's centre, but also the removal of some of the distillery's shorefront warehouses, although apparently the majority of spirit will still be matured on Islay, and the conversion of eight of the old cottages & houses into holiday accommodation. Bunnahabhain has always been a little rundown and 'unkempt' in appearance, so I can understand why it was overdue for a refresh, but that rough & tumble appearance was also part of the distillery's charm, with a stark difference in comparison to some of the more 'polished' Islay distilleries. So it'll be interesting to see how this renovation goes and if any character has been lost when the project is completed. 

We don't see many of their limited release official bottlings in Australia, but it's hard to leave your average corporate liquor retailer without tripping over the 12-year old. Don't get me wrong, that's a decent whisky when on special for around $90-100 AUD, and it's still the distillery's flagship bottling despite a few reportedly forgettable non-age statement offerings trying to push it off the pedestal - as is the trend for all of the larger Islay distilleries these days. There are plenty of independent bottlings out there though, with both peated and unpeated Bunnahabhains from the likes of Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory Vintage, plus cask strength offerings from smaller bottlers like the SMWS and Elements of Islay being held in high regard. Most of the unpeated bottlings are matured in refill or first-fill sherry casks, and even the official bottlings tend to go with refill sherry or refill casks in their unpeated malts, while it's the peated Bunnahabhains that are more often matured in first-fill or refill ex-bourbon casks. While the sherry casks do seem to work well with the Bunnahabhain spirit, when was the last time you saw an unpeated first-fill or refill ex-bourbon cask from the distillery? They're something of a rarity. Having said that, there's no solid information out there regarding what casks Cruach Mhona has been matured in. So we can safely assume that it was refill ex-bourbon casks, but it could be otherwise. So, Cruach Mhona - meaning Peat Stacks - is a travel exclusive (but not so exclusive during plague times!) , heavily peated, bottled at 50% ABV and presented in a 1-litre bottle. Let's see how it stacks up!

Bunnahabhain Cruach Mhona, NAS, 50%. Islay, Scotland.

Travel exclusive (but now more widely available), heavily peated, 1-litre bottle. Non-chill filtered & natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Creamy, nutty, peaty. Dry ashy smoke, dry-roasted nuts, bitter dried lemon and a touch of ginger. Vanilla cream and pineapple - alternating between ripe and sour. Black pepper and quite a bit of charred wood. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, creamy and peaty. Warming with a touch of heat - it's at 50%, after all. 

Taste: Creamy and peaty - very creamy in fact! More dry ashy smoke, smoked chilli flakes and bitter dried lemon. Smoked vanilla and more charred wood, which heads towards bitterness. 

Finish: Medium length. Hints of that pineapple from the nose, more ginger and more smoked chilli flakes as well. Dry, chunky, earthy peat. Smoked vanilla, and some bitter chocolate orange, then creamy peat to finish. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: Pleasant, easy-drinking peated Bunnahabhain that fits in well with the other Islays around this price point. It's not the most complex whisky around, and it does sit on the drier side of Islay, but an easy-drinking peated dram is a nice thing to have in the arsenal - provided you like peat, of course. In general retail this Bunnahabhain is more expensive than the entry-level drams from the other Islays, and it sits in the range of Ardbeg Uigeadail, Kilchoman Loch Gorm and a myriad of independent Islay bottlings (Port Askaig 100 Proof, for example) that can offer more "bang for buck" in terms of character and complexity. But none of those are in 1-litre bottles, which does have to be taken into account! That's the advantage of being intended for duty free only, I suppose, and it's the same situation with Laphroaig PX. Both are absolute bargains at their duty free pricing, but when they're released to general retail - which is a common thing these days - they become more expensive than the competition, until you factor in the extra 300ml of whisky in the bottle. Between the three regularly produced Bunnahabhains, Ceobanach, Cruach Mhona and Toiteach, I'd be reaching for the Ceobanach first. But again, that doesn't come in a litre bottle, and it's "only" bottled at 46.3%. So if you like a larger bottle and a higher ABV, perhaps with a little less complexity, you may feel differently!

Peated Bunnahabhains do fly under the radars of most whisky drinkers, and even those of most Islay fans. And much like Bruichladdich, that's largely because the distilleries are renowned for their unpeated mainstays, which get most of the attention because they're great quality, but also because they're the two unpeated Islay whiskies. When peat comes into the equation those distilleries are taking on the larger brands with their dedicated followings, which is a tougher fight. But when given the attention they're due, both from the distillery and parent company and their customers, the peated offerings from both distilleries can be fantastic. Port Charlotte is a great example which has really exploded in popularity since it was relaunched a few years ago, and it often gets more attention now than the same distillery's marketing behemoth that is Octomore. Maybe we'll see a similar re-launch from Bunnahabhain in future? But they do like to play the quiet achiever, so perhaps not, and we do love them for it.  

Cheers!

Cragganmore 20 Year Old Whisky Review!

The cask strength 20-year old Cragganmore from owner Diageo's 2020 Special Releases, and it's a relative bargain - if you can still find it!

I absolutely loved the cask strength peated Cragganmore 12-year old from the previous year's releases (reviewed here). In my opinion it was the hidden gem of the 2019 Special Releases, and despite being the first peated Cragganmore officially released it was very reasonably priced, offering brilliant value for money. As far as I can remember that was the first peated Speyside single malt that Diageo have released in modern times, made all the more special by the distillery's worm tub condensers and the fact that it was bottled at cask strength. I'm sure we'll see more peated releases from the distillery in future, but for the 2020 Special Releases they reverted back to the unpeated whisky that the distillery is known for, and there's no Cragganmore in the 2021 batch of releases that recently launched in Britain and will likely arrive here in mid-2022. Stocks of the 2020 releases are dwindling rapidly, but at the time of writing can still be found in Australia, mostly at the larger branches of our largest liquor retailer. Pricing on this Cragganmore is/was around $220 AUD, which is very reasonable for a cask strength 20-year old limited release in this day & age. I suppose we can thank the lesser-known distillery name for that, since it doesn't have the popularity and "sexy-ness" of the other names in the Diageo stables - for example, the 21-year old Mortlach from the same year's special releases is at the opposite end of the spectrum, selling for five-times that amount at around $1,100 AUD. 

There was some confusion surrounding the casks that were used in this release, as there has been with a few other examples of Diageo's Special Releases over the years - the 15-year old Talisker from 2019 for example (reviewed here), which was reported by quite a few PR agencies, press releases and bloggers to be matured in virgin oak casks. But that didn't sound right to me, and turned out to be entirely incorrect since it was actually matured in freshly charred (a.k.a. re-charred) refill American oak casks. And quite a few on the interweb have done the same with this 20-year old Cragganmore, reporting that it was matured in both refill casks and "new fresh-charred American oak casks", with "new" referring to virgin oak. And again, that didn't sound right to me - just like I couldn't see Diageo filling Talisker into virgin oak casks for fifteen years of maturation, I really can't see Diageo maturing a Cragganmore in virgin oak casks for two decades, even if it was only a component part of the final vatting. A short finishing period or a component part of a much younger release perhaps (2019's 11-year old Cardhu for example), but spending fifteen to twenty years in charred virgin oak, even in a cold & damp dunnage warehouse in Scotland, would be likely to overwhelm the spirit character and distillery character of just about any whisky - and I'm trying to resist the urge to mention bourbon here! Such a practice would defeat the purpose of releasing the whisky in the first place, particularly in the case of Diageo's Special Release program where the idea is to showcase the distilleries in a different way to their core range, if only by bottling them at higher strengths and with more natural presentation. And, just like the aforementioned Talisker 15-year old, it turns out that once again this whisky was not fully- or partly-matured in charred virgin oak casks, but rather in refill casks, some of which were freshly re-charred. Phew, that's a relief.  

Not everyone got it wrong of course, and I certainly don't think I'm the whisky industry's knight in shining armour, but plenty did, and I'm glad they were mistaken! Why? Because we want that Cragganmore spirit character and distillery character to still be present in this whisky, even at the substantial age of 20-years. The distillery's unusual flat-topped spirit stills with their downward-angled lyne arms, intentionally run quicker than usual to reduce copper contact and reflux, and the traditional worm tub condensers that are fitted to all four stills, give Cragganmore a deeper, richer, spicier texture than most of the neighbouring Speyside distilleries. This is not quite a meaty, dirty or sulphurous spirit like that of Mortlach, Craigellachie or Benrinnes, which are also equipped with worm tubs, but the extra depth and richness of the Cragganmore spirit that is intentionally a little rough around the edges - especially when served up at cask strength - has a great character to it, and those edges do generally become more rounded with each year of maturation. In fact if memory serves this is the second-oldest official bottling (i.e. from Diageo) of Cragganmore that we've seen to date, only beaten by the 25-year old Special Release from 2014. So, a 20-year old Cragganmore, unpeated, matured in refill casks and bottled at a cask strength of 55.8% ABV, without added colouring or chill filtration. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow-whisky nerd. Shall we?

Cragganmore 20-year old Cask Strength, 55.8%. Speyside, Scotland.

2020 Diageo Special Releases. Unpeated, matured in refill casks, some of which were re-charred. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Malty, lightly fruity & honeyed, spicy. Dry gristy (dusty) malt, touch of savoury honey-roasted nuts and a hefty pinch of pepper. Orange oil, freshly polished wooden furniture, and unsweetened bubble gum, the old cornflour-dusted pink stuff. Slight floral touches around the edges as well. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, quite oily, spicy. Lightly drying & astringent. Some heat, needs substantial breathing time, but calms down nicely. 

Taste: Big pinch of pepper again, olive oil, more bubble gum and polished/varnished wood. Drying wood spices, and dried red chilli. Dried orange peel and malty biscuits - rich tea biscuits? 

Finish: Medium length. Drying astringency with some pepper and chilli, touch of pencil shavings. Orange oil again. Dry, gristy, biscuity malt and those savoury honey-roasted nuts again to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: It's a spicy little number, both in terms of flavour and also spirit-y heat, even after substantial breathing time. But it certainly has the flavour and texture to carry that heat & spice and the result is very enjoyable. It's also quite a dry & biscuit-y malt, which I do enjoy, especially when it's in a viscous, oily dram like this Cragganmore. It'll probably calm down after even more breathing time, since the owner tells me it was rather hot & closed-off to begin with, but it's definitely showing itself well now. That slight roughness just adds to the character, and it's not distracting or annoying - largely thanks to the texture and flavour that are there in spades. Probably not ideal for a relative newcomer, though, heading towards the challenging whisky territory - no bad thing!

This 20-year old certainly isn't on the level of the 2019 peated 12-year old, but that's hardly a fair comparison. Both have been very reasonably priced for the quality and character that they offer, and this is certainly a worthy purchase if you manage to find one sitting on a shelf before they're all gone. 

Cheers!

Highlander Inn Glen Elgin 24 Year Old Whisky Review!

My first Glen Elgin review! Not a particularly common distillery this, aside from the entry-level 12-year old bottling at least. And even it tends to stay in the shadows of the whisky world.   

Glen Elgin, as you can probably guess from the name, is located near the town of Elgin in Speyside, specifically in the Longmorn area roughly 3.5 hour's drive north of Edinburgh. The distillery was founded in 1898, with production kicking off in 1900, before the distillery was closed after less than six months. It changed hands a few times before winding up under the ownership of DCL and was licensed out to White Horse Distillers, both of which would later wind up being absorbed into the Diageo melting pot. These days the distillery has nine wooden washbacks and six onion-shaped stills with gently sloping lyne arms, all of which feed into traditional worm tub condensers (shown in the above photo) sitting on the outside of the still room wall. Like many of the Diageo distilleries that are not part of the 'Classic Malts' program, the standard 12-year old expression is the only readily available official Glen Elgin bottling, and as usual it's bottled at 43% and is chill filtered and artificially coloured. And as usual, the vast majority of the distillery's production - 1.8-million litres of spirit per year in this case - goes into Diageo's blended whiskies, particularly White Horse. There is no visitor's centre and the distillery is not open to the public. But like many of these lesser known distilleries in Speyside, despite it's disadvantages Glen Elgin Distillery has still gathered a small, quiet-yet-passionate following among whisky aficionados. 

But aside from a few older bottlings that have made their way into Diageo's Special Releases over the years, if you want a higher strength, more naturally presented Glen Elgin you're going to need to turn to the independent bottlers, such as Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory Vintage. The bottling that we're looking at today is from a far smaller and more obscure bottler, but the name will be familiar to anyone who was travelled the whisky trail that winds through Speyside: The Highlander Inn. Tatsuya Minagawa's Highlander Inn is one of Scotland's most well known whisky bars - a whisky destination in it's own right, actually - and is situated in the middle of the town of Craigellachie in Speyside. Tatsuya himself is something of a whisky celebrity, being a Japanese man running a whisky bar & hotel in Scotland, and having worked at the Highlander Inn from 2005-2012 before returning and purchasing the business in 2015. I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the inn myself, since on my (so far) only visit to Speyside I was more interested in cramming as many distilleries as possible into the every available minute! But I'm sure I'll correct that at some point in the future. Since 2005 Highlander Inn have also been releasing independent bottlings under the same name and also the "Oishii Wisukii" ("delicious whisky" in Japanese) label, although these bottlings have only recently and sporadically started making their way to Australia in any real numbers. 

The Highlander Inn bottling that we're looking at today is a single ex-bourbon cask (#13038) Glen Elgin, distilled in December 1995 and bottled in November 2020, a month before it's 25th birthday, at a cask strength of 50.7% ABV. A few Highlander Inn bottlings have been imported to Australia recently by website/seller The Whisky List, with this 24-year old single cask Glen Elgin selling for $350 AUD, which is roughly the going rate for equivalent independent bottlings here. Based on taste & appearance I don't doubt that it is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, but unfortunately neither point is stated on the label. The sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd. Let's see how it goes!

Highlander Inn Glen Elgin, 24-year old, 50.7%. Speyside, Scotland.

Distilled 12/1995, matured in a single ex-bourbon cask #13038, bottled 11/2020. 228 bottles. Presumed non-chill filtered and natural colour but not stated.

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Quite fresh & malty, and a little solventy in aroma, reminiscent of oily paint. A little sweet pastry, like a waffle cone, but this is a dry whisky overall. A good pinch of black pepper and dried red apple. Slight touch of vanilla ice cream and toasted oak but it's really the spirit that is doing the heavy lifting.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich & oily, quite fresh again. Slight touch of heat but pleasant. 

Taste: Starts off clean & malty, then turns quite dry, spicy & rich with that oily solventy paint note again. More black pepper, and some charred oak here rather than toasted. A touch of dried red apple again. a little liquorice and a hint of dried strawberry. Touch of dark chocolate too. 

Finish: Long length. Spicy & dry here to start with, some dry oak. That malty side returns alongside more black pepper and a touch of leather. Lovely oily malty spirit to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Very interesting whisky! It seems to alternative between dry & spicy and malty & fresh, and it's definitely very spirit-led despite the age. Don't take that to mean that it's young or immature though, this is the sort of refill cask matured whisky that has had far more "subtractive" maturation rather than overt cask influence, even after spending 24-years in said cask. The cask has mellowed and rounded the spirit rather than adding much at all in terms of wood influence or previous contents. And that's a good thing really, because it shows off the Glen Elgin distillery character with its rich, oily, malty spirit. And that lovely weighty texture. 

This isn't a dirty, meaty or vegetal spirit like some of the more famous Speyside worm tub distilleries produce, but this single cask shows that Glen Elgin needn't be overlooked when it comes to characterful spirit. 

Cheers!

Cladach Blended Malt Whisky Review!

Cladach must be some trendy new "mystery" independent bottling or anonymous blend, right? No, not quite. This is Diageo's cask strength blended malt from the 2018 Special Releases!

The Special Releases from 2017 & 2018 saw two curious and underappreciated additions to the usual line-up of single malt releases, in the form of cask strength blended malts - meaning different single malts blended together with no grain whisky involved - from various Diageo malt distilleries. In fact the first of these, named "Collectivum XVIII", actually featured whisky from all twenty-eight of the company's Scotch malt whisky distilleries blended together - and the result (reviewed here) was delicious! The 2018 blended malt, named "Cladach" is a little different. The name is Gaelic for "Coast" or "Shore" in English, and only six of Diageo's Scotch malt whisky distilleries are involved this time. And as you can probably guess from the name, they're all coastal distilleries! Specifically, single malt royalty like Lagavulin and Caol Ila from Islay and Talisker from Skye, alongside major Highland names Clynelish and Oban, plus Speyside outlier Inchgower, coming from the mainland. Like Collectivum this cask strength blended malt hasn't enjoyed the attention that it deserves, largely because of what some consider to be a dirty word: "blended". Testament to that is the fact that both Collectivum and Cladach are still available in Australia, despite being bottled four & three years ago respectively. The pricing would not be helping that situation though, since neither of these whiskies was exactly cheap. Both weighed in at around $250 AUD, which is a bit of a stretch - fans of Diageo's coastal distilleries would've gone for the absolutely outstanding 2018 Talisker 8-year old and the more familiar Lagavulin 12-year old that hit the shelves at the same time, particularly when the former was almost half the price of this blended malt, and even the latter was a full $70 AUD cheaper. That pricing hasn't budged over the 3-4 years since their initial release, which would also not be helping them clear the stock.  

Regardless of pricing, the "I only drink single malt" crowd is missing out, because blended malts, particularly when served up at cask strength and naturally presented without chill filtration or added colouring, can be fantastic. And these one-off limited releases also allow the blending teams to have a bit of fun and create something totally new, rather than aiming for consistency and/or being shackled to the same "house style" that comes along with the big brand names that we're all familiar with. Higher-strength smaller batch blended malts are becoming more common these days, mainly among the "new school" independent bottlers like Adelphi and North Star, and the Douglas Laing 'regional' blended series and the Berry Bros. blended range, all of which have a different approach to category stalwarts like Johnnie Walker Green Label. Almost all of the larger companies have also joined in, with Edrington's Naked Grouse changing from a blended whisky to a blended malt a few years ago, and Chivas Regal 'Ultis' from Pernod Ricard, plus Monkey Shoulder and Copper Dog from William Grant's and Diageo respectively. Those are all low-priced blended malts that are aimed more at the mixer, rocks & cocktail scenes rather than the neat or straight whisky drinker, and I suppose the corporations behind them are really cashing in on the ever-rising popularity of single malt whisky by ditching the grain whisky components that are largely reserved for their cheaper blends or older more established brands. Blended malt whiskies over the AU$200 price point are a much harder sell, even at cask strength, when there is now such a huge range of single malts available below that. And one could certainly argue that many of those offer a more distinctive - not necessarily better, but more distinctive and more 'singular' - smell & taste experience than an equivalent blended malt. But a good blended malt is more than the sum of its parts. 

Most of the six distilleries in this Cladach blend will need no introduction, but Inchgower is an interesting addition since while it's obviously located near the coast, to the north of Speyside in this case, the few single malt examples that I've tasted haven't been particularly coastal in smell or taste, instead having a spicy & nutty character. Inchgower is a major contributor to the parent company's Bell's blended whisky, and aside from a Flora & Fauna release and one or two older bottlings appearing in the Special Releases over the years, there aren't many single malt official bottlings to be found. As is always the case with these quieter distilleries, the independent bottlers give it more time to shine than the owners do, but even those are surprisingly few & far between when it comes to Inchgower. Clynelish and Oban are also interesting additions to this blend, since they're both more subtly coastal than the big & powerful West coast island flavours coming from Lagavulin, Caol Ila & Talisker. So we probably shouldn't expect a big "peat bomb" from this blend, but rather a balanced whisky that sits somewhere in between the markedly different flavour profiles of the six contributors. As was also the case with Collectivum, we don't know what proportions of each distillery were involved in this blend, but it has been subjected to the same cask maturation recipe as that 28-distillery predecessor, being a mix of first-fill ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks and also refill American oak & European oak casks. I suspect most of the components in this blend were a little younger than those used in the Collectivum, but that's purely speculation since neither has given any indication of age. Based on appearance & taste I'm going to assume this one is naturally coloured & non-chill filtered, as is almost always the case with the Diageo Special Releases, but it's not actually stated on the packaging. The sample for this review came from a very generous fellow whisky nerd. Batter up!

Cladach 'Coastal' Blended Malt, NAS, 57.1%. Scotland.

Blended from Diageo's six coastal Scotch malt whisky distilleries: Talisker, Lagavulin, Caol Ila, Clynelish, Oban & Inchgower. Cask strength, presumed non-chill filtered & natural colour. 

Colour: Amber-gold. 

Nose: Oily & spicy. Fresh ginger bread, olive oil and black pepper. Waxy oranges and drying sea salt - salt-baked meat? Touch of thick honey and lemon rind. Fennel around the edges and blow-torched herbs. There's an alcohol nip here as well, but it's not excessive. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Oily & rich, earthy & peppery. Touch of heat but it's pleasant and less aggressive than the nose suggested. 

Taste: Coastal, yes, but peaty? Not particularly. More olive oil, lemon ring and waxy oranges. Drying earthiness with black pepper and chunks of un-crystallised ginger. Some engine oil and a touch of fatty bacon crusted with peppercorns. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Drying sea salt and a touch of red chilli. Then olive oil and a light earthiness, and a stony minerality. Blow-torched herbs again - rosemary & tarragon? Dried lemon rind, slight grassy malty-ness and salt & pepper to the end. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: More towards Oban, Clynelish and Talisker I'd say, rather than any overt Islay-ness. I'm not detecting much peat, but that's no criticism - and that earthiness and oiliness are very pleasant. Clearly a well constructed blend, since any overdoing of the Caol Ila and/or Lagavulin components would probably overwhelm the other distilleries and defeat the purpose of making the blend in the first place. Cladach is a very enjoyable dram, with a great oiliness & spiciness and definite citrus. As said, I don't find it particularly peaty, but this is a great opportunity to take a look at the other coastal styles - and don't take that to mean that this is a lighter whisky, there is plenty of texture, flavour and character in this blend. 

This is an expensive bottle of whisky though, make no mistake, and it still needs to compete with the semi-regular and regular appearances of single malts from the component distilleries - particularly those from the same Special Releases program such as the Talisker and Lagavulin offerings. The other distilleries in this blend don't feature as often, and certainly not at more reasonable price points, so it's good to see them get some time in the spotlight here. Just like the 'Collectivum' blended malt that preceded it in 2017, Cladach deserves its spot in the Special Releases program, particularly since it seems to be a one-off appearance. If you can find it for around the $200 mark and aren't bogged down by the "blends are always bad" frame of thought, I'd recommend grabbing it while it's still around. 

Cheers!