Sherry Cask Caol Ila Three-Way Whisky Review!

Three cask strength, sherry cask, independent bottlings of Caol Ila. And while two are from refill casks they could easily pass for first-fill based on smell & taste. This'll be fun!

It's actually difficult to find anything that resembles a "bad" Caol Ila. As with every distillery and every brand there are some examples that are better than others, some very much so. But the starting point with this Islay giant is very solid, and it doesn't often dip below that bar unless something has gone wrong at some point - which is a rare occurrence. That's largely because of the distillery's primary function, which is to provide peated - and occasionally also unpeated - malt whisky for owner Diageo's blended whiskies - e.g. Johnnie Walker. That means taking a methodical & conservative approach in production in search of consistency, which will then make the blender's job easier down the line. But consistency in malt whisky is not an easy target to reach, particularly once one of the largest variables in the equation rolls into the picture: the cask. Natural variation is a huge part of what makes whisky fun, and it's a stubborn, almost alchemistic part of the process which is really rather fascinating. Try as a large corporate-owned distillery might, no two casks are ever identical, even those filled on the same day from the same spirit run, and even those matured in the same warehouse. In most cases, the larger companies and distilleries will compensate for these variations in their core range and their parent company's products by way of blending, which is an art form in itself. It's in the limited and/or single cask bottlings that the variances are allowed to shine, and even in the continuing whisky boom that sort of thing is often left to the independent bottlers. 

The three independent bottlings of Caol Ila that we're looking at here are single cask bottlings from different bottlers, all filled into Oloroso sherry butts (500-litre casks), albeit one first-fill and two refill, and all are fully matured in those casks rather than being cask finished or double matured. I should add though that the two refill casks likely hadn't been used for very long in their first filling, since both have certainly been very active on their second tour of duty. All three casks were distilled in broadly similar vintages and bottled at broadly similar ages, and at broadly similar natural cask strengths. All three bottlings have age statements and are proudly declared to be non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Despite their similarities on paper the variances between these three Caol Ilas are huge, and they were just crying out for comparison! The three different independent bottlers in question are rather different also; Glasgow-based North Star being the trendy, more progressive youth, London-based Elixir Distillers (a.k.a Specialty Drinks) being the thriving middle child, and Pitlochry-based Signatory Vintage being the older, more conservative sort that tends to be a little more conventional in packaging & presentation, but not necessarily when it comes to the whisky itself. The Elixir Distillers bottling that we have here is a little different since it was bottled for New Zealand-based importer & retailer Whisky Galore in 2019, specifically for their bi-annual DramFest whisky show. Technically it was a secret / mystery bottling, but if you peeled off the little white sticker on the label that said "censored", you'd find Caol Ila named right there on the label - hence the quirky name, but perhaps also because it's very much a dirty little secret - I've tasted it previously, and let's just say that the sulphur-sensitive will find it a challenge! Let's kick this three-way off with the most recent bottling, the North Star. 

North Star Caol Ila 11-year old Single Cask, 58.2%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled September 2009, fully matured in a first-fill Oloroso sherry butt, bottled October 2020. From cask series (release batch) 011. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 410 bottles. 

Colour: Gold. By far the palest of the three, despite being the only first-fill cask. But that doesn't matter. 

Nose: Nice. Loads of caramel fudge, touch of cold ashy peat smoke and oily smoked salmon with dill - let's make that salmon gravlax, then. Some banana toffee (banoffee) pie, freshly charred wood, smoked bacon rind (uncooked), touch of dried seaweed and salted butter. Sounds like a strange combination, I know, but it works! 

Texture: Medium weight. Starts soft & sweet and builds quickly. Sweet & quite youthful. Touch of numbing heat. 

Taste: Sweet entry with banoffee with caramel on top, some pear juice behind, then big ashy peat smoke, fatty bacon (burnt, this time) and oily cured fish again - no dill this time. Grassy and malty. 

Finish: Medium length. Touch of milk chocolate, slightly floral & malty, grassy sweetness. Caramelised pear and lemon zest. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Well this is a surprise! Quite young & fresh, but still reasonably rich. Loads of caramel, but I'd never have picked it as a first-fill sherry cask, particularly of the Oloroso variety. Having already tasted the other two whiskies featured in this three-way, this is the least overtly "sherried", and also the most youthful. What little sherry influence there is has been very well integrated with the spirit and doesn't really stand out at all. That's not a complaint mind you, just an observation. This sort of integrated sherry influence thing is why refill sherry casks tend to work well - but this is a first fill cask! So it's not quite what I expected from the "spec sheet", but there's nothing wrong with a youthful Caol Ila when done right.    

Signatory Vintage Caol Ila 9-year old Single Cask, 59.7%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled September 2010, fully matured in a refill Oloroso sherry butt, bottled March 2020. Signatory Cask Strength Collection, cask #316658. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 625 bottles. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Bacon bits, rich toffee fudge, dried fruit - currants, dates, bitter orange. Salty cheese & bacon balls (cheetos / corn snacks), lemon zest, more bacon bits, muddy/damp peat and some ginger powder. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich & powerful, sweet & salty. Touch of heat but well integrated. 

Taste: Salty, with dried seaweed & bacon bits. Dark, sweet salted caramel, pork rind and a touch of soy sauce. Maybe a little miso paste as well. Dried fruit - currants & orange, ashy peat around the edges. 

Finish: Long length. Peaty & salty. Soy sauce, cheese & bacon balls (cheetos / corn snacks) again. Touch of grassy smoke and dried seaweed, and salted caramel fudge to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Far richer, more sherried, and more mature in feel as well. Plenty of character and a great mix of salty, umami & richly sweet flavours, and a good amount of sherry influence backing it up. Yes it's a refill cask, but as I said at the beginning it could pass for a first-fill quite easily. The previous occupant certainly wasn't allowed to stay for very long! This Signatory was quite expensive unfortunately, circa $280 AUD, but if you can get past that it's a great Caol Ila that belies its age. 

DramFest's Dirty Little Secret (Elixir Distillers), Caol Ila 11-year old, 56.9%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2008, fully matured in a refill Oloroso sherry butt, bottled 2019 for Christchurch NZ-based Whisky Galore's DramFest whisky show 2020. Cask #2. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 204 bottles. 

Colour: Dark copper. 

Nose: Definitely dirty - and by that I mean sulphured. Rubber, vegetable chips, i.e. fried & salted root vegetables - parsnip & pumpkin, I'd say. Some salt & vinegar corn chips in there too. Touch of red bean paste, liquorice and dark soy sauce. Rancio notes - cured meats & roasted nuts. 

Texture: Medium weight, but thins out quickly thanks to the sulphur.. No heat at all. 

Taste: Rich & dirty on impact, more rancio sherry notes and thankfully less sulphur - but that's because it's had plenty of breathing time, both prior to pouring and in the glass. Cured pork, beef stock, salted nuts and a little orange. Rubber, aged balsamic vinegar. Sweeter sherry notes saving the day then with raisins, caramelised peanuts, and a touch of marzipan around the edges. 

Finish: Medium length, but again it fades quickly thanks to that dirty, sulphured sherry influence. Rancio cured meats & balsamic, burnt peanut oil, dried fruit, sweet orange and date syrup (caramel). 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: Definitely not one for the sulphur sensitive or sulphur averse. I'm not usually overly sensitive to it myself, but despite substantial breathing time this is right on my limit. Well actually it's over my limit on the nose & finish, but thankfully the palate saves the day - just. This whisky has improved substantially with a lot of breathing time, i.e. a few months after opening. Was this intentional sulphur, ala Longrow 14-year old Sherry? Well I loved that whisky, but this Caol Ila is really pushing the limits of my friendship, so I'd say no, the sulphur here was probably more of the accidental variety. That's not to say that it's a "faulty" or "bad" whisky though, it's just going to be very, very divisive. 

Overall Notes: Well, like I said, three totally different styles of sherry cask Caol Ila, and all are basically unrecognisable compared to the distillery's official bottlings. The Signatory is by far the winner for my tastes, but I can see the appeal of the other two as well, despite them each being at opposite ends of the spectrum. From clean, light, young & more integrated flavours in the North Star to the dirty, funky, acidic "Dirty Little Secret". The Signatory sails right up the middle between the two, taking the best from both worlds, and coming across as the most mature of the three despite actually being the youngest and also boasting the highest ABV. Unfortunately it was substantially more expensive than the other two, nearly double the price in fact, but I'd have to concede that the value is there. 

Cheers!

SMWS 26.170 (Clynelish) Whisky Review!

A.k.a. "Creamy Coconut Lime Mojito", in the typical 'society' fashion! An 8-year old first-fill bourbon cask Clynelish that convinced me to finally join the SMWS after avoiding it for years! But how, and why?

Well, because it was essentially free! The Australian branch of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a.k.a. the SMWS or "the society", recently ran a controversial promotion which saw membership discounted from the usual $120 AUD annual fee to $99, but more importantly new members also received a free single cask bottling of cask strength single malt - specifically it was advertised as receiving a bottle of the 8-year old Clynelish that I'm reviewing here. And when I say it was a controversial promotion, I mean the promotion itself was unfortunately a complete mess. Initially advertised as spanning three days, it ended up being called to a halt after approximately three hours due to a huge amount of demand. To make matters worse - depending on your perspective perhaps - the free bottle offer was also extended to "referrals", meaning that if an existing member referred a new member to the society, both the existing member and the new member would each receive a free bottle of whisky. Not exactly a sustainable business practice, and unfortunately there was no mention of "limited to one per person" or even a simple "while stocks last" anywhere to be seen, meaning that some more enterprising members were referring handfuls of their friends to join, and receiving multiple free bottles in return. Which turned the whole thing into a complete disaster and I'm fairly certain it would've cost the Australian branch of the SMWS a massive amount of money. Or rather, it would've lost them a massive amount of money, at least in the short term. Since the demand was so much higher than they had predicted, even over the much shorter period than originally intended they did not have enough of the particular promised whisky and in many cases had to substitute this Clynelish with various other bottles. But enough said, I'm sure the people responsible would sooner forget this ever happened. Although it certainly did achieve their initial goal of getting an influx of new members into the SMWS, including yours truly!

I've reviewed a few SMWS bottlings in the past and have tasted many more, and I've also attended a couple of their events, both physical and virtual. But this is the first SMWS bottling that I've ever purchased myself (well OK, sort of purchased!), then opened, and then placed on my shelves. And being a first-fill bourbon cask Clynelish, even at such a young age, it was a reasonably safe bet. In fact I'm yet to try a Clynelish that wasn't at least enjoyable, regardless of who bottled it or at what age. Like a few of the larger Diageo distilleries like Caol Ila and... err... OK maybe just these two, "bad" bottlings of Clynelish are really quite rare, and they're both really quite reliable despite their size and their primary role of producing whisky for Diageo's blended whiskies. This Highland distillery is located near the village of Brora (yes, namesake of the legendary Brora) on the east coast of the Scottish mainland, around 1.5-hours drive north of Inverness. The current guise of Clynelish opened in 1968, but the distillery that was originally named Clynelish opened in 1819, located on the other side of the road to the current Clynelish, which was re-named as Brora in 1969 until it closed in 1983. That would've been the end of the Brora story if Diageo hadn't rebuilt and reopened it in 2021, and it'll be exciting to see what happens with it in the future. I never thought I'd be able to pop down to the shops and pick up a 12-year old Brora single malt without the help of a time machine, but now there's a very real chance that it will happen!

As Clynelish fans will know, one of the most endearing things about this distillery's single malt is the waxy character of it's fruity spirit, which is particularly present when matured in refill or ex-bourbon casks, an attribute that has been traced back to an oily residue that builds up in their feints receiver. This discovery was largely accidental though, when they cleaned out said receiver a little more thoroughly than usual and then realised that the trademark waxiness in their spirit was gone. These days the receiver is emptied prior to cleaning during the the annual 'silent season' maintenance period, and the residue is then tipped back in to the feints tank prior to production kicking off again. If you're yet to try a Clynelish I recommend starting with the 14-year old official bottling from Diageo (reviewed here), which is decently priced, seems to be rather consistent in terms of quality & character, and is the only example of Diageo's "Classic Malts" flagship bottlings that is served up at 46% ABV rather than their preferred strength of 43%.  

But we're looking at a cask strength independent bottling here, and a single cask bottling no less. This 8-year old Clynelish, SMWS code 26.170 - 26 being their distillery code for Clynelish and this being the 170th cask of Clynelish that they've bottled - is named "Creamy Coconut Lime Mojito". Frankly, unlike many of the society's silly names and excessively fluffed & frilled tasting notes, this is actually rather accurate! It was distilled in October 2012 and bottled in 2021 at a natural cask strength of 61.1% ABV, and like all SMWS single malts it is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Tasting time!

SMWS 26.170, Clynelish 8-year old. 61.1%. Highlands, Scotland.

Distilled 23/10/2012, matured in single first-fill ex-bourbon cask and bottled 2021. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 245 bottles. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Perfumed & floral, with sweetened double cream, loads of sharp natural/real lime cordial (e.g. Bickfords), fresh beeswax (i.e. honeycomb), pinches of drying sandalwood & nutmeg wood spices. Vanilla cheesecake slice with lattice biscuits - sweet pastry-like glazed biscuits for those playing overseas. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Creamy, rich & dense. Sweet, sharp citrus & drying wood spices. Touch of heat, but this is an 8-year old whisky at 61.1% after all. 

Taste: Vanilla double cream again, loads of lime cordial again but a little sweeter & slightly less intense here. Beeswax again, more sweet pastry biscuits (lattice biscuits), and continental cheesecake. Sandalwood & nutmeg spice again, plus a couple of cloves. 

Finish: Medium length. Astringent spirit-y heat initially, but passes into that intense sharp lime cordial with those drying wood spices underneath. More sweetened double cream, fresh beeswax and sweet glazed pastry biscuits. Floral & citrusy as it winds up.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.  

Notes: I would've gone with "Spiced Lime Cheesecake Slice", but I can see where they were coming from! Hopefully cheesecake slice is a thing outside of Australia so you know what I'm talking about... A nice young Clynelish here with some rather intense lime citrus notes and a nice creaminess to it, and a great mouthfeel until the slightly astringent spirit-y heat kicks in. That's partly to be expected with an 8-year old whisky at 61% ABV of course, and it's not particularly harsh or unpleasant, just a little "spiky", if that makes sense. That lime cordial note really is quite intense at times too, but I'm not talking about the modern/artificial kind that is aimed at kids and loaded with sugar, more the real/natural type with plenty of real fruit juice in it - Bickford's is the Australian brand that comes straight to mind if that helps. That lime citrus intensity is not something that I can recall finding in a Clynelish before, they tend to be more lemon-centric in my experience, and if I hand a magic wand I might have added a little more wax to this one - like many Clynelish fans, we're always in search of more wax! But that's the beauty of single cask whiskies after all, no two are ever exactly alike and they're a little unpredictable - which just adds to the fun!

As a free/bonus bottle included with SMWS membership I really have no complaints here, its a very enjoyable young Clynelish that punches above its weight. If you managed to get a bottle of this cask, then you've done well!

Cheers!

Ardbeg Fermutation Whisky Review!

An age statement Ardbeg Committee Release that was fermented for over three weeks prior to distillation, rather than the distillery's average of 72 hours. This should be interesting! But a word of warning first; this is going to be a long one, and we're going to get nerdy!

Where the magic happens: wooden washback at Ardbeg. 

The fermentation stage of whisky production doesn't get the praise or attention that it deserves. Without it, there'd be no alcohol to capture & concentrate by distillation, so there'd be no whisky, but this is also where a large part of the flavour is created. We've all heard that to make whisky you first make beer, but malt whisky wash isn't boiled like beer, and there aren't any hops involved - if you're following the SWA regulations, at least. But there's so much more to it, including a huge amount of science, a decent serving of tradition, and a small amount of magic. And it's almost entirely thanks to microorganisms. Yeast of course, but also bacteria, among others. That doesn't sound so romantic, but it's a key part of the flavour development that really starts a step earlier in the process, with the mashing. Here the freshly-milled malted barley is mixed with hot water where the natural enzymes present in the grain are activated and then go to work starting to convert some of the grain's starch content into fermentable sugars. Side note here - the Scotch whisky regulations do not allow the addition of commercial enzymes. But many other spirits industries do, although they don't shout about it because it's adding an artificial ingredient to the process. Why do those other industries do it? It boils down (pun intended) to efficiency, consistency and yield. These enzymes are why many grain whisky / whiskey - including bourbon - distilleries include some malted barley and/or other malted grains in their mash bills, gaining flavour at the same time. If a commercial distillery does not have any malted grains in their mash bill, e.g. a 100% corn or 100% wheat mash bill, then they're probably adding commercial (artificial / synthetic) enzymes.

Getting back on track, once those fermentable sugars are ready to go after the mashing stage, the distillery's preferred yeast is added to the sweet liquid now known as wort, and the yeast consumes those sugars creating alcohol (among other things), subsequently giving us the "distiller's beer" that is known as wash. A few of the smaller malt whisky distilleries such as Kilchoman and Dornoch are playing around with different yeast strains these days in search of different flavours, rather than sticking to the common & safer 'M' strain distiller's yeasts for the sake of consistency & yield. Even Diageo have dabbled with different yeast strains on a trial basis, and Ardbeg's sister distillery Glenmorangie have cultivated a wild yeast strain that was found growing on their local barley, using it to create 2019's private edition release, named Allta, meaning "wild". There are also a few distilleries using ale / brewer's yeast in combination with distiller's yeast, while at least one is using wine yeast - Loch Lomond - and it's all in search of finding different flavours. But Ardbeg haven't played with their yeast strains for this "Fermutation" release, and this whisky was something of an accident. When the distillery's boiler broke down back in 2007, the production team was left with thousands of litres of wash sitting in their wooden washbacks for far longer than usual - over three weeks in fact. 'Regular' Ardbeg is fermented for an average of 72 hours, which in Scotch whisky terms is considered a medium-length fermentation. 75 hours and longer is considered to be a long fermentation, with very few whisky distilleries in Scotland ferment for longer than 120 hours - although many of the "new world" producers are. So three weeks is a very long time in this industry, and is more often seen in high ester rums or other spirits rather than whisky. Is this going to make Fermutation "better" than the normal Ardbeg? No. But it's certainly going to make it different to the normal Ardbeg! 

Not a galaxy far, far away: the warm, busy, foamy darkness inside said washback!

The standard average fermentation times at Islay's nine distilleries vary from a minimum of 48 hours at Bowmore to over 85 hours at Kilchoman, although it's not an exact science and many will often go over their minimum times when necessary, generally up to 120 hours. Back in the days when 5-day weeks were more common at distilleries, almost all of them would leave each weeks' final washback charge to ferment for an extra two days while they were closed for the weekend! In general, the longer your fermentation time, the less fermentable sugasr - primarily maltose in our case - remain in the wash as the yeast runs out of food and begins to break down as the temperature and alcohol levels rise, and the oxygen level lowers, resulting in an increase in acidity as the yeast fights a losing battle against both the alcohol that it unintentionally created, and more importantly against a 'foreign invader': bacteria. 

While the yeast has done its thing during the earlier stages of the fermentation, around the 60-hour stage it has started to lose ground - which is around where most Scotch whisky distilleries stop fermentation - and by the 70-hour mark lactic acid bacteria becomes the dominant player. And that's particularly important for one group of flavour compounds, a.k.a congeners: esters, which are the main source of sweet, fruity & floral flavours in your spirit. While production of esters & other congeners starts during fermentation and continues through distillation and through maturation, it really starts to ramp up where longer fermentation times are used as the bacteria levels in the wash are on the rise and as the yeast breaks down through autolysis. In this case after that three week ferment most if not all of the yeast would be dead, with little to no fermentable sugars remaining, although in some cases wild yeast will have a chance to get in alongside bacteria and fungi. In fact Ardbeg even opened the washback lids during this involuntary extra fermentation time to really get the funky party pumping. Wooden washbacks are thought to help with the creation of esters in the wash since despite regular cleaning they're impossible to sanitise entirely, and there'll always be some microbes remaining in the pores of the wood.

So all things being equal, leaving your wash for 3 weeks rather than your usual average of 72 hours is going to give a much fruitier and probably funkier spirit, mostly thanks to the higher amounts of esters that have been created. Remember though that said bacteria & other microorganisms will largely be killed off during distillation by the heat and by the high alcohol level, and remaining microorganisms including dead yeast will be left behind in the bottom of the stills after distillation, both in the "pot ale" that remains in the wash still, and then in the "spent lees" that remains in the spirit still. The esters & other congeners in the spirit will then change during maturation, and new ones will be added, through interaction with the cask. If I haven't lost you yet - and to be fair I did warn you that we were going to get nerdy - and if you'd like some further reading, I highly recommend delving into the technical goldmine that is Whisky Science. 

Getting back to Ardbeg, the interesting point here is that despite the high peating level (55 ppm as standard) Ardbeg has always been quite a sweet and fruity whisky, and a relatively light one. Which is down to any & all of a myriad of reasons - from the purifier on the spirit still which gives more reflux, to the size, shape & fill level of both stills with their upwards-angled lyne arms which again gives more reflux and a lighter spirit. Another interesting point is that Ardbeg's wash still, with its capacity of 18,000-litres but an actual fill level of around 11,000 litres, can only hold roughly half of the contents of one washback at a time, with each of the six wooden vessels holding up to 23,500-litres of wash. This unbalanced capacity means that the second half of each washback stays there while waiting for its turn in the wash still. Another important factor is the cut points that are used during the distillation runs, which are the times, temperatures & alcohol percentages that mark when the distiller switches from the foreshots (a.k.a. heads) to the spirit cut (a.k.a. hearts) and then the feints (a.k.a. tails). Generally, later cuts where spirit is captured deeper into the feints will give a dirtier, funkier, oilier spirit, while narrower cuts will give a lighter, brighter spirit. We can't forget maturation either, which plays a huge role in flavour development as new congeners are introduced to the spirit from the wood, or as the existing congeners evolve and their levels increase/decrease through that interaction with the wood and the local environment. This is influenced by a huge number of factors such as the size and previous contents of the cask, the number of times it has been used, the storage location and conditions, and of course how long the whisky is allowed to mature for before it's bottled. The number of variables here is basically infinite.

Now let's be honest, most people who buy Ardbeg Fermutation won't really care about any of the above. They'll see that it's a collectable limited release Ardbeg, and that is has a cool green label and a cool name and a new marketing angle, so they'll buy a bottle. And many will then re-sell it, but let's try to ignore that part for now. This release does appeal to the real whisky geeks because of that anomalous fermentation time, but also because it has been matured purely in ex-bourbon casks (both first-fill and refill), it has an age statement of 13-years, and it was bottled at a slightly higher strength of 49.4% ABV - gone are the days when these committee releases were bottled in the mid-to-low 50s, it seems, and the chances of one ever being released at cask strength are basically zero! Now we can't talk about an Ardbeg limited release without talking about pricing. And let's not beat around the bush - this one was definitely on the expensive side: $320 here in Australia, and around £150 GBP in Britain. But it still sold out very quickly, and unfortunately is already being flipped for profit on the usual auction sites. That amount is enough to buy 2.5-bottles of the excellent 8-year old "For Discussion" or two bottles of the core range Uigeadail, so this 13-year old is up against some great expectations. Personally, I went in for a bottle split with four mates, giving us plenty of Fermutation to taste without each of us having to shell out for a full bottle. So let's see what those marvellous little microorganisms have been up to, shall we? 

Ardbeg Fermutation, 13-year old, 49.4%. Islay, Scotland.

Fermented for three weeks rather than the average 72 hours for 'regular' Ardbeg, matured in ex-bourbon barrels (probably first-fill & refill). Non-chill filtered, colouring not declared but likely natural. 8,000 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Fresh, floral & zesty. Watery salted caramel, star anise, seaweed & tar. Floral with herbs, dried lime and freshly cut grass. Touch of buttery vanilla & black pepper. With more time, lemon zest and a touch of dry maltiness. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Floral, zesty, grassy, thin. No heat. 

Taste: More cut grass, thin with runny salted caramel and a light, dry, earthy peat. Dried lemon & orange peel, touch of milk chocolate and star anise. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Yeasty bread dough, new lather, dried herbs & cut grass. Vanilla and a touch of zesty acidity - tart/sharp rather than sour. Slighty soapy & bitter towards the end. 

Score: 3 out of 5. But only just. 

Notes: So, thankfully Fermutation has mutated nicely after plenty of exposure to air. On first & second contact it was thin, sharp, and bitter, even vegetal - and it definitely would've scored lower then. It's still quite thin now though, and Fermutation can't compete with even Ardbeg 10 in terms of richness and character, but a few weeks of air has helped the distillery's coastal character claw back some territory. Mind you it's still light on the peat, and there's no smoke. But the tar, seaweed and black pepper are showing through just a little, where they were non-existent before. The nose is the highlight here, or rather it's the most enjoyable aspect, while the palate and finish are quite the let-down. Is that down to the extra fermentation time? Well I could be wrong, but no, I wouldn't have thought so. I'm thinking most of those ex-bourbon casks were refill rather than first-fill, and that it's been diluted too much. Surely a cask strength / 55%-ish presentation would've helped preserve more of the intensity, richness & character that we look for in an Ardbeg. But maybe it was too similar to the norm at that higher strength, so they watered it down a little more to show more of the differences between it and the core range. As usual, the greatest threat to any Ardbeg limited release is the Ardbeg core range!

Still, this was an interesting accidental/forced experiment and I'm glad to have tried it, but I'm also glad I didn't buy a full bottle on my lonesome. It was certainly too expensive to start with, and I'd advise not paying the secondary prices for this Ardbeg if you're ever planning on opening the bottle. And surprise, surprise, the secondary prices are already silly! Let's hope the new 'Ardcore' fares better than this one. 

Cheers!

Highwayman Batch 3.0 (Peated) Whisky Review!

It's here! The first peated release from Bryon Bay's Highwayman single malt whisky!

Since launching roughly two years ago in the midst of the pandemic, Byron Bay's Highwayman Australian whisky has gone from strength to strength. Each release sells out in record time, even the relatively large batches of 300-ish bottles, and since the first few batches which launched with the Australian Whisky Appreciation Society Facebook group, all sales have been directly through the Highwayman website, going straight to the man himself, Dan Woolley. Woolley has a huge & well-earned following in the Australian whisky scene since putting in a huge amount of air & road miles (hence the brand name "Highwayman") over a long career as Brand Ambassador for countless major brands, latterly and most famously Islay's Laphroaig. Since launching his own whisky brand in mid-2020, all of his releases (approx. 17 to date) have been unpeated, with the first ten batches distilled elsewhere, mainly in Tasmania, but all were fully matured in Dan's own casks in Byron Bay. See here for more information on those earlier releases. Distillation began at Byron Bay back in early-2018, and the first release of Dan's own Byron Bay-distilled spirit debuted in May 2021 with his first single cask release. But with a resume like Dan's, not to mention his insatiable thirst for peat, there has always been smoke on the Highwayman horizon. Now the first peated release is finally here! Highwayman Batch 3.0 is titled "Fires to Floods" to mark the truly disastrous flooding that hit northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in February-March 2022, not long before this whisky was bottled. Dan has also taken it upon himself to implement a huge fundraising effort for Northern Rivers Flood Relief, including a recent whisky auction and a number of Highwayman whisky tastings generously hosted by some of Australia's best whisky bars, with all proceeds going to said charity fund. It's a great cause. 

Mashing, fermenting and distilling for Highwayman happens at Lord Byron Distillery, run by Brian Restall and his family and located on a small industrial estate in Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, less than two hour's drive south of Brisbane. But don't take that to mean that Dan is just sitting back and letting Brian & his team do all of the work by contract distilling - far, far from it! All Highwayman production takes place in Dan's own equipment including the mash tun and the copper pot still itself, both of which are only used for Highwayman whisky since Lord Byron produce their products - chiefly rum, gin & vodka - on separate equipment. Dan is also heavily involved in every step of the process from the mashing to the spirit cuts, and if you take a few steps to the left from Lord Byron Distillery and literally enter the next door in the complex you'll find Highwayman "HQ", which is Dan's bond store and cellar door. This thoughtfully designed and thoroughly decked out unit is open by appointment only, and the group tasting sessions and one-on-one masterclasses, all run by Dan himself, are highly recommended! As it happens, visiting the bond store & cellar door for one of these experiences will also give you the chance to buy some of the sold out releases from Dan's archive that are now only available from the cellar door. 

Highwayman's peated releases - and there are many more in the pipeline - are denoted by a change of artwork, from the sand/beige & black colour scheme in the unpeated releases to the red & black colour scheme in the peated releases - which looks awesome! So far the mash bill for the majority of the peated Byron Bay-distilled spirit has been 2/3rds peated Scottish barley and 1/3rd local unpeated barley sourced from NSW, fermented for over two weeks and double-distilled in Dan's own copper pot still, then - importantly for Byron Bay's temperate climate - slowly diluted from still strength to 55% ABV before being filled into casks. This crucial step, coupled with the sub-tropical climate and some smaller cask sizes, helps the whisky soften and come of age in a shorter amount of time than it would otherwise, and if you ask me it's something that more Australian producers should be looking at or at least experimenting with to help counteract our aggressive climate. In many cases Dan is also charring, re-charring and/or re-seasoning casks prior to filling them with his spirit, rather than the "wet fill" casks that many of our whisky producers use where the casks are simply emptied of their previous contents and are immediately filled with new make spirit, which tends to result in the spirit being flooded with the "in drink", which is the previous contents that has soaked into the wood and is drawn into the spirit as it matures.  

Speaking of casks, Highwayman Batch 3.0 "Fires to Floods" is a vatting of peated and unpeated whisky, all distilled & matured in Byron Bay, with the peated components being distilled from 50 ppm Scottish peated barley and the unpeated components being distilled from local NSW (Australian) unpeated barley. This single malt whisky is from a mix of different cask types including Pedro Ximinez sherry, tawny (Australian port), red wine and bourbon casks, with the youngest component being 2-years old , which is the minimum age for Australian whisky, and the oldest being 3.5-years old. The total outturn was 320 x 500ml bottles at a natural cask strength of 53.9% ABV. Remember the 55% ABV filling strength mentioned above, so this release is one of the first to actually drop in ABV during maturation, albeit only slightly. Let's see what we're in for!

Colour: Dark bronze. 

Nose: Rich, dense & complex. Earthy, with soft dry peat and dried mushrooms - umami then, but also leaning towards rancio. Black cherry syrup with couple of freeze-dried raspberries thrown in. Some thick balsamic vinegar / balsamic glaze, Turkish delight coated in dark chocolate, and blow-torched coconut shavings. Dried herbs behind that - sage? - with some treacle coming through as it breathes. 

Texture: Heavy weight, thick & syrupy. Earthy, sweet & sour (lifting acidity). No heat at all. 

Taste: Big syrupy arrival with that earthy dried mushroom (umami) and a lovely soft, subtle peatiness underneath it. Cherry cola syrup, with the two freeze-dried raspberries thrown in again, and that balsamic glaze adding a nice subtle acidity. Leathery / dried tobacco hints doing the same. 

Finish: Long length. Dried herbs coming back through, touch of strong syrupy coffee (think bittersweet Turkish coffee) and that balsamic glaze adding depth. Soft earthy peat running underneath the black cherry cola syrup, with a hint of those burnt coconut shavings to round things out.

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely big, rich whisky that completely belies its age. It's right on the balance of heavy cask influence, but with some intriguing savoury & acidic notes adding depth & complexity. Really enjoy that balsamic acidity in particular which is something that I've found in a couple of Highwayman releases so far, and it helps to balance out the wood influence and keep the taste buds interested. The peat is relatively subtle, I'd equate it to a Benromach or maybe Ardmore level in this case, but with a different style and character of peat influence. So the peat-averse should have no issues here since the peat is very well integrated, in a light & earthy style, but it's certainly there, holding up against some big assertive cask influence. Those earthy, savoury notes are intriguing as well, I'm guessing they're partly due to the peat being so well integrated in the finished whisky and also working with the casks, rather than fighting against them and potentially losing - which is often the case with peat vs. assertive sherry / wine casks, even with much more heavily peated whiskies. 

It's great to see Highwayman's first peated release finally bust through the warehouse doors and hit the virtual shelves, although like most of Dan's releases it's already sold out - but as I mentioned above, if you're heading to Byron Bay NSW anytime soon, make sure you book in here for one of Dan's masterclasses, which will also get you access to his stash of "archive" bottles if you time it right - and if you can convince him to sell you one! As always, I can't wait to see what Dan comes up with next. There are some epic and "out there" Highwayman releases in the works, so stay tuned!

Cheers.

Iniquity Flustercluck Whisky Review!

A great Australian name for a great Australian whisky. One of the rarer styles of Australian whisky too - peated single malt matured in a bourbon cask! But there's much more to this dram than the name might imply. 

Iniquity is the single malt whisky produced by South Australia's Tin Shed Distilling Co., which is located in a former flagpole factory in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, SA's capital city. This is not a ritzy, glamorous distillery by any means; and you won't find a fancy visitor's centre or fine dining restaurant attached to it either. But what you will find is a couple of people making tasty whisky in their own quiet way, without cutting corners and without shouting their own praises from the rooftops. Tin Shed is not a newcomer to the industry either, in fact the first iteration of this small distillery was one of the first built on the mainland of Australia. It was then known as Southern Coast Distillers (see here for more information), but after a disagreement between the business partners that company was dissolved in 2012. Ian Schmidt, one of the original owners, along with his business partner Vic Orlow saw the distillery reborn as Tin Shed Distilling Co. in 2013, and they now produce vodka, rum and more importantly, single malt whisky under the label 'Iniquity' - which essentially means naughty or wicked behaviour. Importantly, Iniquity single malt is mashed and fermented/brewed on site prior to distillation - which is sadly not a legal requirement for single malt in Australia - and is then double-distilled in a copper pot still. 

Being located in one of Australia's main wine-producing states has its advantages, and Ian & Vic are able to source red wine, white wine and fortified - tawny (Australian port) and apera (Australian sherry) - wine casks, but also brandy, rum and bourbon casks from further afield. I've prattled on about this before, but more Australian distilleries should be looking into bourbon casks to help their spirit stand apart from the rest, rather than the "standard operating procedure" route of 20- or 50-litre French oak tawny/apera casks. If you ask me, going for a lighter cask influence in our climate - whether that be ex-bourbon casks, or full-size rather than smaller casks, or refill casks, or all of the above - is even more beneficial when you're looking at making peated spirit to avoid the peat influence being overwhelmed by the wood and/or the previous contents. Most peated Australian whiskies are only very lightly peated by Scotch whisky standards, and many of them have a peat influence that is barely detectable in the completed whisky. Thankfully a couple of our producers have been doing this for years, but there are now more options on the shelves when it comes to ex-bourbon cask Australian whisky and peated ex-bourbon cask Australian whisky. Unfortunately a large proportion of Australian whisky drinkers still believe that darker means better, which is absolutely not the case, but thanks to that misguided belief the darker your whisky is, the faster it will sell. Although to be fair that's still a common train of thought all over the whisky world. A pale whisky is nothing to be afraid of folks!

Which brings us to today's review: Iniquity Flustercluck. If you haven't picked up on it already, this name is a play on words, relating to the series of errors that went in to producing this particular whisky. Error isn't really the right word though, so let's quote Bob Ross instead. These "happy accidents" started with the malted barley itself, which is peated, but not in the usual way. Iniquity's peated barley is commercially malted and brought in to the distillery unpeated, but is then "re-wet" with water and then dried using peat smoke. A couple of other Australian distilleries do this, and it's mainly because most of our commercial maltsters either don't produce peated barley at all, or they won't produce peated barley in small enough quantities to suit the size of most of our distilleries. Naturally this method does not give you the same effect as using peat in the actual malting process, and as always it also depends on where the peat itself was sourced from, just like it does in Scotch whisky. So far, Iniquity's peated barley has been re-dried using South Australian peat. But in the case of this Flustercluck release, the first "happy accident" happened when the distillery instead used some old Tasmanian peat that had been gifted to them by an agricultural research institute. And when I say old, I mean it was cut long ago - this peat was cut from the Tasmanian Highlands in 1932! Pre-World War II, and pre-atomic age. 

The second "happy accident" happened when there was a misunderstanding when it came time to fill the new make spirit into a cask - rather than being reduced from still strength to 60% for filling, it was reduced down to 48% before going into cask. They filled this spirit into a 200-litre ex-Heaven Hill bourbon cask, which was a complete departure for Iniquity at the time - hence it being part of their "Anomaly" series of limited bottlings that show a different side to the distillery! The cask was also "temporarily" left in a high spot on the distillery's racking - which I'm guessing means that they forgot it was up there! Given that low initial filling strength, cask strength in this case was 49.1% ABV, so it's actually increased slightly over its 2-3 years of maturation (because more water has evaporated than ethanol), and is natural colour and non-chill filtered. Pricing was reasonable at the time of release at around $180 AUD in a 700ml bottle, and stock did seem to last for quite some time, although it seems to have almost dried up now. So let's see if these "happy accidents" have paid off, shall we? 

Iniquity Flustercluck, NAS, 49.1%. Adelaide, South Australia. 

Distilled from malted barley dried with Tasmanian peat cut in 1932, filled into cask at 48%, matured in a 200-litre Heaven Hill bourbon barrel for 2-3 years and bottled at cask strength. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Creamy, smoky, lightly musty. Melted salted butter, creamy vanilla custard and dusty, dry & earthy peat. Touch of strong aged cheddar, lightly acidic too. Touch of cinnamon around the edges and a little fizzy effervescence as well. 

Texture: Medium weight. Creamy, dusty, musty & smoky. No heat at all. 

Taste: Dry, earthy peat and ashy smoke with creamy vanilla custard running underneath. A lovely dank, dusty mustiness and a touch of that salted butter again. 

 

Finish: Short-medium length. That dry, earthy peatiness follows through, plus some bitter smoke, touch of warm oak and some white pepper. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Adelaide goes to Islay!?! There are certainly shades of Caol Ila or Bowmore-level peatiness with a dry, earthy style of peat that is totally different from the lighter, floral peat influence found in the Tasmanian whiskies that also use the state's peat and the same "re-wetting" smoking method. Although few of those use 100% peated malted barley like this Iniquity, they're usually a mix of peated & unpeated barley for an extremely light, often undetectable, peat influence. That more prominent peat in this Iniquity is helped by the lighter impact of the bourbon cask, which is giving a lovely creaminess and a balanced sweetness without dominating the spirit or the peat. 

A great young showing from Iniquity, very different to their usual output - which is why it's part of the "anomaly" series of course! I also don't see much wrong with that lower cask filling strength - that's something that a few Australian distilleries are going towards now, and all the better for it! Whiskies like Melbourne's Starward and Byron Bay's Highwayman are purposely filled into casks at around 55% ABV rather than the natural still strength or the Scotch whisky standard of 63.5% ABV. And that helps both with wood influence but also with volatile alcohol compounds, which in many Australian whiskies survive the (admittedly short) maturation periods and give a hot & harsh spirit as a result. Particularly when they're matured in small casks - another great point of this Iniquity, with just 2-3 years in a full-sized bourbon barrel doing the trick nicely. So keep an eye out for a bourbon cask peated Australian whisky!

Cheers!

Old Master Spirits 51-year old Cognac Review!

Something new for Peated Perfection - my first cognac review! But we're setting the bar quite high with a forthcoming 51-year old cognac from 1970, followed by a sold out 36-year old cognac from 1984! 

Cognac! I've tried some of the standard, entry-level big brands, and also some older, but heavily-coloured and artificially flavoured spirits (more on that later) that have left me wondering what all the fuss is about. But when it comes to properly & naturally presented, quality cognac, armagnac or brandy, I've only had two encounters to date. But I enjoyed those, and now I'm about to dive much deeper with two new cognac experiences, thanks to a newcomer in the Australian spirits industry - Old Master Spirits. Old Master Spirits is a new importer and independent bottler based in Melbourne that is focussed on importing quality cognac, whisky & rum, and is run by two hardcore whisky & spirits lovers; Deni Kay and his brother in law David. Their first batch of releases arrived in late 2021, consisting of a 63-year old single cask cognac, a 36-year old single cask cognac, and a Spanish PX sherry that had been used to season both an American oak ex-bourbon cask and a European oak ex-port cask prior to bottling. That first release is entirely sold out of course, in fact it sold out completely in around 5-minutes, but the second batch of releases is not far away! Due to arrive in the first week of May (2022), Old Master Spirits is bringing us another single cask cognac, this time a 51-year old. And it's this 51-year old that we're looking at in this review, followed by a little teaser of the 36-year old cognac from the first batch of releases, just for posterity's sake! 

First, a quick rundown on cognac. In the very, very simplest of terms, cognac is a brandy (fruit spirit) or eau-de-vie that is distilled from grapes which can only be made in the Cognac appellation (region) in south-western France. The Cognac region is an "appellation d'origine controlee" or AOC, a legally protected production region, and it has held this status since 1909. Much like the similar protected status of champagne, sherry, and port, brandy made outside of this region cannot be sold as cognac. Essentially, all cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. Cognac can only be made from a small number of white grape varieties, mostly the Ugni Blanc variety, which after a fermentation period of 2-3 weeks produces a dry & highly acidic white wine that is not suitable for consumption. The wine must then be double-distilled in copper pot stills, and the resulting spirit must be aged in French oak barrels for a minimum of two years before it can legally be labelled as cognac. Diving a little deeper, distillation takes place in Alembic stills, also referred to as brandy stills, which are often direct-fired over a gas flame, with onion-shaped heads and very narrow necks for high reflux, then running into worm tub condensers. Slight digression here - Sullivan's Cove actually make their Tasmanian single malt whisky in a brandy still, including a worm tub condenser which is a very rare thing in the Australian whisky industry, more so since Lark replaced theirs with a modern shell & tube condenser. 

The "brandy still" / Alembic still at Sullivan's Cove

Most new spirit / eau de vie ("water of life") is initially matured in 300-350-litre casks, and if ageing for long periods it is then transferred into older 500-litre casks that are often on their third- or fourth-fill. Which brings us to a few interesting points of discussion. The vast majority of cognac is blended, with each brand often combining spirits from hundreds of different vineyards taken from some or all of the six different growing areas of the region that are known as "Crus" ("growths" in English) - the most highly lauded Cru is "Grande Champagne" region, which is not related to the sparkling wine of the same name. There are around 270 different cognac producers, known as cognac houses, in the AOC, and it's very common for larger companies to trade casks between producers and between companies in order to keep their blended product as consistent as possible. So finding an unblended Cognac from one producer, let alone a single cask bottling like these two examples, is a very rare thing, and it's really only the territory of independent bottlers - much like it was in whisky in the past. Interestingly, provided the spirit met that legal minimum of two years maturation in French oak, cognac can be transferred to inert glass vessels known as demijohns to continue ageing without any further input from wood, and to essentially store the spirit until it's ready for bottling or blending. These inert vessels also prevent the alcohol evaporating and thus avoids the strength dropping below the minimum ABV of 40%. Old Master Spirits' cognacs have not been stored in glass vessels as part of their maturation, they were taken straight from the wood - so unlike many cognacs out there, their age statements do reflect the actual amount of time that they spent in casks, rather than their total storage time regardless of the type of vessel. 

Unfortunately, there's also a darker side (pun not intended) to the cognac industry that we need to discuss: additives. In Scotch whisky, as we know, plain caramel colouring is the only permitted additive. But in cognac, producers can add not only caramel colouring, but also sugar, and a wood extract known as "boise" which is made from boiling wood chips and reducing the liquid down over heat. The vast majority of commercially produced cognac on the market contains all three of these permitted additives, including even the older, mega-expensive "luxury" cognacs made by the biggest names in the industry. And yes, most cognacs are also chill filtered for the same aesthetic reasons as the whiskies that are put through this unnecessary step in the bottling process. The two cognacs from Old Master Spirits that we're looking at today do not contain any of these additives - no added colour, sugar, or wood flavouring - and they are non-chill filtered. These cognacs are bottled "au naturel", just as any spirits aficionado would want them! 

On to the reviews! First up, the upcoming 51-year old cognac that is landing soon as Old Master Spirit's second release. Now, I know what you're thinking. A 51-year old single cask cognac must be prohibitively expensive, right? I mean, that's over half a century of maturation, and a similarly aged single malt whisky sells for tens of thousands of dollars - for example, Glenfiddich 50-year old is circa AUD$40,000! Well, cognac is a very different thing, and it doesn't tend to suffer from the same levels of "exclusive" and "luxury" marketing angles as whisky does at these advanced ages, nor the huge profit margins and high demand that go along with those angles. This 51-year old single cask cognac, distilled in 1970, is going to retail for just $365 AUD in a 500ml bottle. That bottle size is a more common practice in cognac, and isn't an issue if you ask me since it allows more people to purchase a bottle, and at a lower price. Even with that bottle size taken into account, aiming the same funds at malt whisky would get you as little as the likes of an 18-year old Macallan (at 43%) or the latest batch of 19-year old Ardbeg. Old, quality cognac certainly looks to be something of a bargain! 

This 51-year old - denoted on the label by the A.51, as in age - Old Master Spirits cognac was distilled in 1970 - denoted on the label by the V.70, as in vintage - by Mr. Jean Michel Tribot at Maison Tribot, the cognac house that has been skilfully illustrated on the bottle's label. Maison Tribot is located in the Grande Champagne Cru, considered to be the premier Cru in the Cognac appellation, the best of the best. This single cask cognac was sourced by Domaine Pasquet for Old Master Spirits, after spending a whopping 51-years of maturation in a French oak cask, and it was the oldest cask in the Tribot family's traditional stone-walled cellar. This cognac has been slowly reduced from cask strength over a period of months to the Old Master team's desired strength of 50.3% ABV, and as mentioned above it is non-chill filtered, natural colour, and additive free. This 51-year old cognac will be released in the first week of May 2022, and subscribers to Old Master's mailing list will get early access - sign up here. There are only 120 bottles available, so don't delay. Let's see how it tastes!

Colour: Amber gold. 

Nose: Immediately smells mature. Not quite "old" as in tired, boring or one dimensional though, but rounded and mellow, relaxed and inviting. It's lively though with dried & fresh stone fruit - I'd say fresh peach and dried apricot, maybe a touch of nectarine. Pineapple in behind that too. Dried herbs and a touch of mint, soft wood spices, roasted nuts with some brown sugar. Soft old leather comes out with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Lightly spicy & softly oaky. No heat whatsoever.

Taste: Stone fruit again, but more tropical fruit here. Pineapple, touch of white grape. Strong dark tea without milk (lightly bitter). Touch of charred wood and more brown sugar. Dried herbs coming through leading into the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Earthy & spicy (wood spices), touch of cured meats and more roasted nuts. Lightly astringent with ground ginger and cinnamon spice warmth. Touch of mild (light roast) coffee grounds and creamy milk chocolate in the background. 

Score: 4 out of 5 (bearing in mind my limited cognac/brandy experience). 

Notes: Lovely soft, mature & rounded spirit with a lively, bright fruitiness that belies its age, and a nicely balanced wood influence with only milder tannins - e.g. those tea and coffee ground notes. I would not have guessed it had spent a whopping 51-years in French oak - which is handled with care in whisky circles for its spicy, tannic assertiveness - and clearly the wood influence has been carefully managed over that massive period of time. No doubt helped by that dark & cool stone cellar that this cask slumbered in for over half a century. Certainly not as sweet as I was expecting either, which is a good thing! That's no doubt helped by the natural presentation in this Old Master Spirits bottling, with no added sugar, colouring or wood flavouring. 

Those bright tropical fruit notes were a surprise also, and that's not something I remember finding in any of the cognac or brandy that I've tasted previously. I'd assume that's coming from a combination of the (very) advanced age and the careful management of the wood - much like in whisky, it seems that refill casks are often where the magic happens! This 51-year old is by far the finest cognac or brandy that I've ever come across, and it was a real treat. Don't miss this one when it lands! 

With that, on to cognac number two! This sample is from Old Master's first batch of releases, and is completely sold out. This is a 36-year old single cask cognac that just happened to be distilled in my "birth year", which is not something that happens every day! This 36-year old was distilled in 1984 -  again denoted on the label by the V. and A. figures, for vintage and age - by Mr. Claude Hillare in the Grande Champagne Cru in the Cognac appellation, and it was bottled in March 2021 at its natural cask strength of 53.8% ABV. Again, this cognac has been fully matured in French oak prior to bottling, no glass demijohns, and it is non-chill filtered, natural colour and additive free. So significantly younger than the forthcoming 51-year old, but 36-years of maturation is still very, very old for any aged spirit. This should make for a great comparison!

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Richer & bolder. Fresh cinnamon scrolls / buns with butter icing, strawberry syrup and dark tea leaves. Touch of dried orange peel and leather. Raspberry bubble gum around the edges, but without the artificial sweetness. Floral & minty further in as well. 

Texture: Medium weight. Buttery & warm, richer, more oaky & spicy. No heat again. 

Taste: Strawberry gum, dark tea leaves, spearmint. Baked sweet bananas with a touch of brown sugar (almost banoffee). Oak spices, more fresh cinnamon buns / scrolls. Dried orange peel & leather again. Spearmint again around the edges heading into the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Touch of bitter herbs and more strawberry gum, strong dark tea and leather. Orange peel again but it's sweeter this time. Buttery cinnamon scrolls/buns again but with a few currants thrown in.

Notes: 3.5 out of 5 (again, bearing in mind my limited cognac & brandy experience). 

Overall Notes: Deeper, richer and more "up-front" than the 51-year old, this one jumps straight out of the glass in comparison. There's more wood influence and less complexity, and less balance. Bear in mind though that I've just recently tasted a 51-year old cognac, so this 36-year old had some big shoes to fill! Prior to this review I had expected to prefer this younger example, since I often prefer younger spirits for their vibrancy - not that it's a spring chicken at 36-years of age, and I should know seeing that it was distilled in my birth year! But that's proven not to be the case, although that's more of a credit to the previous 51-year old cognac rather than a critique of this 36-year old. 

Thanks to Deni & David from Old Master Sprits for the samples for these reviews, and for bringing these tasty cognacs to Australia at very reasonable prices. I also have to add that the level of professional communication and the passion shown by Deni is something that many large corporations should be striving for!

Cheers!

Springbank 16 Year Old Local Barley Whisky Review!

The mighty, legendary first release of the current Springbank Local Barley series, the 16-year old. Despite being released only six years ago (but it feels more like a decade ago), this whisky has become almost mythical in the last year or two!

Nostalgia in whisky can be a cruel mistress. We whisky lovers tend to look at the past through rose-tinted glasses, whether they're aimed at closed or dead distilleries, older limited releases, or older and/or discontinued core range bottlings. Some are underappreciated at the time, and to paraphrase about twenty 1980s power ballads, sometimes "we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone". Sometimes these whiskies are immediately appreciated in smaller circles, but the distillery responsible then explodes in popularity and can't keep up with demand, making them near impossible to find - which brings us to Campbeltown stalwart Springbank. For quite a long time this quieter distillery was something of a "deeper cut", as in it was really only recognised by hardcore whisky fans and often spoken about in hushed tones. Springbank and it's three different spirits have always been harder to find than the more commercially-oriented, marketing-heavy brands, generally requiring more effort than simply walking into your nearest supermarket/supermarket-owned liquor store or bottle shop and grabbing one from the shelf. And it still is harder than that, except it's now gotten to the point where the usual sources have all but dried up, and most of the stock never reaches shelves of any description before it's completely sold out and allocations are exhausted. Importers themselves are selling out of entire shipments before they'd even sent their allocations to other retailer, thus narrowing the pool even further. In a way, we've brought this on ourselves - we should've all kept our mouths shut about this brilliant old-school distillery and their brilliant old-school whiskies. But in the current & continuing whisky boom, both sustained & accelerated by the pandemic, it was inevitable that the spotlight would finally shine on the "wee 'toon" that is Campbeltown. It's a shame that the region's three small distilleries never had any real chance of keeping up!

One specific iteration of Springbank that has really catapulted in demand is the Local Barley series, distilled from barley grown on the Kintyre peninsula. Prior to the sixth bottling in the series, the 10-year old sherry cask matured release from late 2020, the "LB" series was slowly on the rise in popularity, but once that dark-coloured sherry cask hit the interweb in the middle of the pandemic-induced wave of insanity that is still continuing, the entire series was propelled into the stratosphere. Now there has been another release of 10-year old Local Barley Springbank, this time from 100% bourbon casks and the largest release to date of 15,000 bottles, which in theory should make it a little easier to source than its predecessors since it won't have the same appeal to the flippers and speculators. Although something tells me I may be dreaming there! Ignoring the older releases from the late 1990s that are now unicorn bottles, this 'modern' Local Barley series started back in 2016 with the 16-year old release that we're looking at today, which is the oldest in the series by a significant margin, followed by the 11-year old. If you're wanting to buy a bottle of this 16-year old Springbank here in 2022, you'll be looking at over £2,000 GBP at the latest overseas auctions - which has almost doubled in only a few months on the same auction site. For those of us playing on the other side of the planet, that would come to something like $5,000 AUD once Australian customs have had their way with you. Truly an insane amount of money for a teenaged whisky with a relatively high amount of bottles released (9,000), and only six years ago. Here's the kicker; the original retail pricing was around £95 GBP and around $220 here in Australia, which was widely considered to be too expensive at the time, particularly in Europe. Those naysayers have certainly been proven wrong since. I did say that nostalgia in whisky was a cruel mistress!

Given those astronomical and frankly stupid current values, the source of today's review may come as something of a surprise. I actually won this 30ml sample via an Instagram giveaway during a "like & share" promotion from Australian online retailer The Old Barrelhouse, who believe it or not actually gave away four of them! Before you start sharpening your pitchforks, there was no special treatment involved, all four winners were chosen by randomiser, nor was there any obligation whatsoever to review said sample here, or to mention where it came from. In fact I debated what to do with it for quite a while! With 30ml of this modern-day unicorn whisky in hand, which is now basically unobtainable, I could either a) drink it, b) share it with a friend, or c) review it here. As you can probably tell by now, I've gone with option C, although I was leaning towards the slightly more philanthropic option B until I realised that this would only upset the friends that I didn't share it with. So I'm going to upset you all instead, by singing this whisky's praises all over the internet. Now that I think of it, I suppose option C does also contain shades of option A...

The 16-year old Springbank Local Barley was distilled in 1999 from Prisma barley grown on Low Machrimore farm on the Kintyre Peninsula, a few miles from the distillery. That barley was of course floor-malted on-site at the distillery, lightly peated to roughly 15 ppm and distilled 2.5-times in the usual Springbank fashion. It was matured in 80% ex-bourbon casks and 20% ex-sherry casks, and bottled in January 2016 at a cask strength of 54.3%. As with everything from Springbank, it is non-chill filtered and no colouring has been added. Fire up the DeLorean, doc!

Springbank Local Barley 16-year old, 54.3%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Distilled in 1999 from Prisma barley grown on the Kintyre Peninsula, floor-malted and lightly peated at the distillery. Matured in 80% ex-bourbon and 20% ex-sherry casks, bottled January 2016. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 9,000 bottles. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Soft, minerally, malty. Peeled red apples, wet stone (flinty minerality), touch of old galvanised sheet metal and a little minty around the edges. Lovely golden malted barley, lightly grassy. Zesty lemon peel and a little honey-roasted nuts. Earthy, dusty dunnage warehouse floors, touch of fennel and white pepper. Grapefruit, clean wax and olive oil with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich & oily, malty & zesty. No heat at all. 

Taste: Clean engine oils, touch of petrol, gentle ashy peat smoke. Loads of lemon peel, even more grassy malt. Drying minerality (damp stone / flint), grapefruit and white pepper again. Dusty, earthy dunnage floors, but not as dank & musty as some can be! 

Finish: Medium-long length. Grapefruit & lemon again, dried lemon now though. Dusty grassy malt, a touch of hay, soft ashy/sooty smoke and that subtle metallic note. Earthy dunnage floors again with clean industrial oils and a subtle touch of salt. 

Score: 4.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Just delicious. Very "old school", with great maturity and character. But it's not as "funky" as some Springbank can get (which can tend to fade with maturation time), instead it's very malty, oily, citrusy and mineral. And there's very little obvious cask influence. Which is just what we want in a local barley Springbank! There's a nice industrial side here too, particularly on the palate and finish, but again it's not as dirty or dank as you may expect. Loads of character though, and it certainly doesn't feel like anything is missing or lacking. Not at all! 

This 16-year old Local Barley Springbank has to be one of the most "old school" whiskies that we've seen in modern times, particularly given the lack of overt cask influence of wood impact getting in the way of that lovely malty spirit. It's still the king of the current iteration of the Local Barley line-up if you ask me, but really you can't go wrong with any of them. Even the sherry cask from 2020/2021, albeit in a completely different way. These guys do not skimp on quality! 

Thanks to The Old Barrelhouse team for generously giving this sample away via Instagram - again, at random and with zero obligation whatsoever - when they could've easily sold the four samples for substantial amounts of money. This whisky deserves its legendary status - less so the current asking prices, though. 

Cheers!