Thompson Bros Speyside 30 Year Old Whisky Review!

A cask strength 30-year old single cask from an anonymous Speyside distillery, brought to us by Thompson Bros, the independent bottlers & distillers behind Dornoch Distillery. May as well take a quick look at the state of the independent bottling market while we're at it...

Well, maybe...

Is it just me or are there a lot more mystery distillery malts around these days? And also more "teaspooned" blended malts for that matter. There are certainly a lot more independent bottlers around these days than there were ten years ago, and all of them now have a much harder time when it comes to finding decent casks at reasonable prices. I have no doubt that this explosion in the number of small indy bottlers is a major factor here, but it's not the only factor. Yes, more bottlers probably means more brokers, which is also why we're getting more "mystery malts", but let's not forget the rise of the dastardly "cask investment scheme" which sees often-naïve investors pour their cash into what they're told is the latest hot commodity with guaranteed safe returns. There's a reason they're called investment schemes, people... Not all are treacherous of course, but many have already been proven to be suspicious, or even fraudulent to the point of criminal charges and international press. On top of these factors, more distilleries and distillery owners - including some of the largest in the industry - are now restricting external supply or ceasing it altogether. Many of those distilleries & companies are now happy to sell casks to wealthy private clients instead, at ridiculously exorbitant prices of course. Take Diageo's Prima & Ultima releases for example, or that insane cask of Ardbeg that was sold to a single Asian buyer for a record-settingly stupid sum of money. How anyone could possibly interpret all of those regurgitated press releases as positive is far beyond me. They were a harbinger of doom. When all of those websites clicked their publish buttons they were helping bring on the end-times for reasonably priced casks of aged whisky. The only people who should've been happy with that piece of news were the LVMH shareholders and the company's leadership. That happened over a year ago now, and in hindsight it may have been one of the harbingers of doom for the "traditional" whisky drinker. Just like distilleries and their marketing teams now watch the secondary market and - quite rightly, to a point - want their extra share of the profit pie, upon reading these articles those same distilleries and their marketing teams would've immediately starting seeing dollar signs scrolling behind their eyelids like Neo sees the cascading code in The Matrix. Personally, I hope that cask springs a leak! 

These factors and the continuing boom in single malt whisky means that casks of are becoming vastly more expensive and more difficult to obtain, and none of this is good news for any independent bottler from the latest Taiwanese "hobby bottler" sole operator to the likes of Adelphi and Gordon & MacPhail. Speaking of which, I'm sure we've all seen about three hundred articles about G&M "ceasing independent bottling" recently so I won't go into it too far, but something needs to be clarified in order to avoid a misunderstanding and create a panic. Funnily enough this was not properly discussed in most of the mainstream circles where clicks drive their revenue. G&M is one of the few independent bottlers who solely buy new make spirit from distilleries to fill into their own casks, as opposed to the usual method of buying maturing / mature stock from brokers and/or private cask owners. Yes, G&M is stopping this practice as of next year, but that doesn't mean the independent bottlings will stop anywhere in the near future. They could still have enough casks in their massive warehouses to keep multiple future generations sated. Think of it this way; the final batch of new make spirit that G&M purchase from distillery x in 2024 and then filled into a cask then starts at zero. It must spend three years in cask to even become whisky, so we're already at 2027, and from there it could go on ageing for decades. Both Benromach and The Cairn distilleries are quite small, with a combined annual capacity of less than 2-million litres of spirit, and G&M don't plan to release anything from The Cairn until it reaches twelve years of age, which means roughly 2035. That should give you an idea of the timescale that we're looking at. The company's independent bottlings range from from 7-years to 80-years from a plethora of different distilleries. Remember that record-setting oldest single malt ever, the 81-year old Macallan that broke G&M's record-setting oldest single malt ever, the 80-year old Mortlach? Right, well would you like to guess where Macallan obtained that cask of 81-year old Macallan? It wasn't from their own warehouses... Having been lucky enough to visit the G&M warehouse complex in Elgin, let me assure you that we'll see plenty of their independent bottlings well in to the future. They'll inevitably start to taper off as the mature stock is bottled and isn't replaced with new spirit, but a lot of us won't have to worry about that eventuality, if you catch my meaning... 

But we aren't here to talk about G&M or Ardbeg, we're here to talk about Thompson Bros.! Simon & Phil Thompson started with a whisky bar in the Dornoch Castle Hotel that is owned by their parents, found roughly an hour's drive north of Inverness in the Highlands. The pair quickly establishing the hotel bar as one of the leading whisky bars in the region, which helped them establish their own independent bottling operation. Thompson Bros was founded in 2015, then successfully crowdfunded their own distillery. Housed in the hotel's old fire station, Dornoch Distillery began producing new make spirit in 2017 and released its first single malt in late 2020. With traditional "old school" production - using organic heritage barley varieties, brewer's yeast, and even direct-fired alembic stills - and tiny production volumes of under 20,000 litres per year, this is essentially the new Daftmill, but with a more experimental side. As far as Thompson Bros independent bottlings go, most are cask strength single casks of single malt Scotch whisky, along with some blended malts and blended whiskies, plus some brandy and a few other oddities. Pricing does seem to be quite reasonable, even here in Australia where that's certainly a rarity. Thankfully the local importers Select Spirits - brought to us by the legendary Kelvin & Yao from the brilliant Elysian whisky bar in Melbourne - are very even-handed with their pricing and their stock allocations. 

This particular example is a 30-year old single cask of single malt from an undisclosed Speyside distillery - so not from the actual Speyside Distillery, but from another distillery within the Speyside region of Scotland. It was distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2021 at a cask strength of 50.4% ABV, with a single refill American oak cask yielding 278 bottles. As with everything that Thompson Bros release it's non-chill filtered and natural colour. There are two main rumours regarding which distillery was responsible for this whisky, with most saying Glen Grant, but this is unconfirmed (**edit: Glenlivet has now been added to the list!). Most independent bottlings of Glen Grant - the only Scotch whisky distillery that is owned by Italian company Campari Group - are bottled as anonymous Speysiders, save perhaps those from G&M which has a very long-standing relationship with this distillery. There have been a few independently bottled Glen Grants released at similarly advanced ages recently, which combined with the flavour profile makes me believe those rumours surrounding this bottling from Thompson Bros. Pricing in Australia was $399 AUD, which is extremely reasonable for any single malt in this age bracket here in 2023. To give some perspective for the overseas readers, most 30-year old official bottlings of single malt are priced locally at $1,000 AUD and upwards, and most of those are only bottled at 40% or 43% and are chill filtered. So this Thompson Bros. bottling is something of a bargain! Let's get to it.

Thompson Bros. Speyside 30-year old, 50.4% ABV. Speyside, Scotland.

Undisclosed distillery in Speyside region. Distilled 1990, bottled 2021, matured in a refill American oak cask. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 278 bottles. 

Colour: Medium gold. 

Nose: Lovely relaxed & mature freshness. Malty, fruity & sweet. Fresh red apple skins, white peaches, beeswax, malt biscuits, touch of white pepper. A little sawdust, vanilla pudding, oat cakes, subtle hint of liquorice. Crystallised ginger, and a touch of leafy green herbs with more time. 

Texture: Medium weight. Nicely oily, slightly waxy, sweet & fruity. Great balance. No heat at all. 

Taste: Delicious malty, sweet, waxy, and fruity entry with waxy red apples, vanilla pudding, malt biscuits, and powdered ginger. Touch of sawdust, white pepper, and powdered ginger. White peaches & beeswax again heading into the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Tinned orchard fruit in sweet juice (not syrup), white pepper, and powdered ginger again. Then the beeswax, fresh red apples and malt biscuits return. Sweet fruit juices, malty & sweet to the end. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely fruity, waxy, and malty Speysider. Touches of sawdust and ginger from the cask, but on the whole it's delightfully spirit driven after three decades in a refill cask. The nose is nicely complex, less so on the palate and finish, but there's still plenty to keep you entertained in that lovely relaxed, patient, contemplative style that quality old Speyside malts do so well. For the price, given this is a 30-year old cask strength single malt from a single cask, this is a no-brainer. As to the distillery responsible, as said above the two main rumours were Glen Grant and Fettercairn. I'm yet to try any old Fettercairns, and the old Glen Grants that I've tasted were all sherry casks, so I can't be sure, but my money is still on Glen Grant. Particularly when there have been quite a few similarly aged Glen Grants released by other independent bottlers recently, which probably means a broker has gotten their hands on a parcel of 30-year old casks. That lovely malty fruitiness and a near-perfect balance of cask influence & spirit character at this age make this anonymous Speyside single malt a real winner.

I'm yet to taste anything from Thompson Bros that has been anything less than lovely, and this is no exception. Great stuff!

Cheers!

Deanston 18 Year Old Whisky Review!

I'd been wanting to try Deanston 18 for quite some time, and then I came across an older brown label bottling and was left underwhelmed. Hopefully this more recent redesigned bottling will change my mind!

Despite a slight resurgence recently, Deanston is still wildly underrated by whisky fans. Always playing third fiddle to owner Distell's other two distilleries; Islay's Bunnahabhain and Mull's Tobermory which get more attention. Which is a little odd when you think about it, because Deanston is arguably more "mainstream" in its style of whisky, and also in its marketing approach. Tobermory is better known amongst enthusiasts for its dirty peated alter ego Ledaig, pronounced either "Lay-chig" or "La-chayg" depending on who you listen to, while Bunnahabhain love their beautiful but difficult Gaelic names with whiskies like Toiteach, Stiuireadair, Ceobanach, and Aonadh. No, none of those sound anything like they're written! You won't find any of those Hebridean hijinks over at Deanston on the mainland, located in the namesake village found roughly 40-minutes north of Glasgow. This is a more modern and conventional distillery that was only founded in 1965, making it 167-years younger than Tobermory and 85-years younger than Bunnahabhain. Deanston Distillery didn't even last two decades from its initial birth, becoming one of the many distilleries that shut down during the dark times of the 1980s. It remained that way until 1991 when it was rescued by Burn Stewart Distillers, which would later become part of South African company Distell, the current owners. Deanston is yet to reach its 60th birthday but the site itself isn't short on history, with the distillery and surrounding village dating back to the late-1700s when it served as a cotton mill, with the village initially built as housing for the mill workers and their families. The mill was originally powered by water wheels fed by the River Teith that runs alongside and serves as the distillery's water source, while hydro-electric turbines were installed in the 1940s which still provide the distillery's power today. Which would have to make this one of the earliest sustainable Scotch whisky distilleries to be built in the modern era.

When it comes to the whisky, Deanston is again more modern and more conventional compared to the two other Burn Stewart / Distell distilleries. No dry, nutty, hard-edged characteristics like Bunnahabhain, and no dirty, sulphurous, funky characteristics like Tobermory/Ledaig - aside from the occasional sulphured sherry cask of Deanston, at least, which are generally only seen in older independent bottlings. This is a fruity, malty spirit with a good viscosity which lends itself nicely to ex-bourbon casks of just about any description, although they also use a variety of more exotic casks for both finishing and full maturation. I don't think there's such a thing as a "typical" Highland region style of whisky these days, particularly with the islands included as per the SWA regulations. But if you subscribe to the traditional idea of a Highland malt being a drier, spicier whisky in comparison to the traditional lighter, sweeter & fruitier idea of a Speyside malt, then Deanston doesn't really fit in to the Highland pigeonhole. I suppose it's geographically closer to the Lowlands anyway, so let's just add it to the growing list of flavour outliers in the official Scotch whisky regions. Deanston was in high demand from blenders for quite some time, although there's now much more attention given to single malt official bottlings, with a plethora of limited releases that are often finished in some exotic cask type. I have to say though, in my experience those are very hit & miss, and the expensive older examples should ideally be tried before buying. In some cases there's a waxy quality to Deanston's single malt which seems to be particularly evident in teenaged whiskies that have been matured in active ex-bourbon casks, much like that other waxy distillery in the Highlands region; Diageo's Clynelish. This waxy character in Deanston is attributed to an oily build-up in the feints receiver, again much like it is at Clynelish, and I'd argue that it's actually easier to find the wax in a modern Deanston than it is in a modern Clynelish. Case in point is the 18-year old Deanston that we're looking at today. 

It was initially launched in the previous Deanston line-up with the drab-looking brown labels, then was discontinued for a time, and was re-launched circa 2016 after the brand had undergone a complete redesign. I have to say the new designs are a massive improvement visually, and the whisky seems to have improved considerably as well. The flagship Deanston 12-year old is matured in ex-bourbon casks, but it was never specified whether they were first-fill or refill, or a mix of both. Likewise the previous brown label version of the 18-year old, which was labelled as "bourbon cask finish" - so we can safely assume that it was matured in refill casks and finished in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, or at least finished in more active ex-bourbon casks. As stated above I've tasted that version before and it didn't impress, coming across as both too oaky and also a little under-matured. This more recent white label version, however, states that it was aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and given that wording - and the difference in flavour profile - I'm assuming that means it has been fully matured in those first-fill bourbon casks rather than merely finished. Whatever they changed, it's certainly worked. All Deanston single malts do clearly state that they're non-chill filtered, and their single malts are bottled at a minimum of 46.3% ABV. Let's get to it!

Deanston 18-Year Old, 46.3%. Highlands, Scotland.

Matured in refill ex-bourbon casks, finished in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Soft, malty, fruity, waxy. Some oak spices (mild ginger) as you'd expect, but quite clean and not a "bourbon cask bomb" by any means. Rich freshly malted barley, and waxy orchard fruit - red apples, oranges, touch of brown pear). Some golden syrup / treacle, vanilla bean, black pepper, and sweet ginger biscuits (with the pieces of crystallised ginger in them). 

Texture: Medium weight. Waxy, malty, soft & fruity. No heat at all. 

Taste: Rich malty entry. More of those sweet ginger biscuits, vanilla bean, and waxy oranges & red apples. More ginger & black pepper here, and some dried currants too. Touch of nutty fresh oak, and honeyed nectarine heading into the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Waxy orchard fruits again, more so the red apples here. Ginger and black pepper still there but easing off into the fruity & malty side. Flashes of green apple and lemon peel as it winds down.

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Close to a 4 though - i.e. 7/10.

Notes: Definitely a massive improvement over the old brown label version that I'd tried previously. This is probably the waxiest Deanston that I've come across so far, I certainly don't remember getting any of that in the 12-year old, so maybe it's a little like Clynelish in that regard where the waxiness seems to come out more in the teenaged years and beyond. Since most modern Clynelish isn't as waxy as it used to be - in fact many contemporary bottlings aren't waxy at all - I'd say Deanston 18-year old is a viable alternative. Especially when you consider the crazy prices people are trying to charge for independent bottlings of Clynelish these days!

At $180-200 this Deanston used to be considered expensive for an 18-year old single malt, but here in 2023 it's not as bad as many of the competitors - ahem, Glengoyne 18 - and at least it's bottled at 46% and non-chill filtered, unlike many of the competitors - ahem again, Glengoyne 18! All in all, this is a very nice waxy Highlander that won't be too "out there" for newcomers, but still has enough character to keep the hardened enthusiasts entertained. 

Cheers!

Bakery Hill The Blunderbuss Whisky Review!

A unique limited release from one of Australian whisky's quiet achievers, Victoria's Bakery Hill Distillery. This is easily my favourite beer/ale/stout cask influenced whisky to date!

Despite being overshadowed by Melbourne stablemate Starward and the more glamorous Tasmanian brands, Bakery Hill Distillery has been around since the Australian whisky industry was in its infancy. In fact if I'm remembering the timeline correctly this was the first malt whisky distillery to open on the mainland of Australia since the 1980s, and it was only the fourth Australian malt whisky distillery (after Cradle Mountain, Lark, and Sullivan's Cove) to be established after Bill Lark's famous epiphany struck in 1993, kickstarting the Australian whisky industry as we know it. Founded in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs by chemistry teacher David Baker in 1999, Bakery Hill Distillery's first three expressions were released back in 2003, including the first peated Australian single malt, even attracting attention from a certain infamous hat-wearing whisky writer a couple of years later. Even in those early days Bakery Hill stood apart in our fledgling industry by favouring ex-bourbon casks for maturation, primarily from Jack Daniels (let's just call it bourbon), when the majority of our producers were focussing on ex-wine and ex-fortified wine casks that were much more plentiful on these shores. Just as important was Bakery Hill's use of larger-format and full-size casks, initially 50-litre and then 100-litre, 200-litre, and 225-litre (recoopered) capacity, at a time when our producers were leaning heavily on the 20-litre casks that unfortunately then became synonymous with Australian whisky - thankfully that trend is shifting now. I'd argue that Bakery Hill was ahead of that curve right from the start, and they've only been filling full-size casks for quite some time now, letting the spirit itself have more of a voice. 

Being made from charred American oak rather than French oak, and having previously matured a spirit rather than wine or fortified wine, means that the influence of both the wood and the previous contents on the spirit is more supportive rather than aggressive, and they allow for slower and steadier maturation than a smaller French oak ex-wine cask would. Obviously this is still an Australian whisky so the climate still has a large part to play in the maturation process, particularly in Melbourne where the weather swings from one extreme to the next, but opting for a less aggressive wood type in a relatively large format helps to balance out this effect rather than accelerate it. I'd argue that this more conservative approach to cask types and maturation has kept Bakery Hill out of the spotlight in comparison with some of the louder & larger players in the industry who lean almost entirely on cask types and wood influence for both their flavour profile and their marketing. That's another thing that has unfortunately become synonymous with Australian whisky, but thankfully it's another trend that is slowly changing! Despite a minor expansion and increase in production around 5-years ago, Bakery Hill is still a very small distillery, even by Australian standards. But David and his son Andrew are soon relocating to a new site close to the Melbourne CBD which will also feature a cellar door and tasting bar. It'll also allow for a proper increase in production giving them more scope for limited releases and also more capacity for export.

These days Bakery Hill's whisky is generally aged for 6-7 years in full-sized ex-bourbon casks, and those three initial releases; unpeated ex-bourbon cask Classic Malt, unpeated virgin French oak-finished Double Wood, and ex-bourbon cask Peated Malt, still form the distillery's core range. Interestingly Bakery Hill only bottles single casks, even in these core releases at 46% ABV, so no two batches will ever be exactly the same. There are also cask strength releases of both the Classic Malt and Peated Malt available on a regular basis, and there have been a number of limited releases in the last few years that have finally given this tiny distillery some well-deserved attention. The Bakery Hill release that we're looking at today was one of the first of these limited releases, hitting the market back in mid-2020. Bakery Hill 'The Blunderbuss' was a collaboration with Melbourne brewery Hop Nation, who acquired a freshly emptied ex-bourbon cask that had matured Bakery Hill's Peated Malt for over a decade, and promptly filled it with their 'Kalash' Imperial Stout. After ageing the beer for 3-4 months, the cask was emptied and sent back to Bakery Hill, where it was promptly filled with unpeated 6-year old ex-bourbon cask single malt which was left to mature for another 12-months. So an unpeated Bakery Hill whisky that was finished in an ex-stout cask which had previously matured a peated Bakery Hill whisky!

Stout cask finishes are becoming more popular in whisky production as are ale / beer casks in general, with some big "old world" names like Teeling, Jameson, Glenfiddich, and even Lagavulin dipping their toes in the water recently. Barrel-aged beers are usually filled into refill casks, typically ex-whisky or ex-whiskey, and only for relatively short periods of 1-2 years at most. The lower ABV of the liquid is gentler on the wood than a spirit would be, so in theory the barrels should have plenty of life left in them once the beer is emptied out. Not all stout beers/ales are barrel aged, but all are made from high percentages of heavily roasted barley, which provide the characteristic dark colour and dark / burnt caramel and coffee flavours that tend to come through in the resulting whisky. The term 'Imperial' only refers to a higher alcohol content, typically 9-10% ABV (roughly double that of a typical full strength beer), originally to slow spoilage and prevent freezing during shipping. Since we're talking about names, why "The Blunderbuss"? A Blunderbuss is basically an ancient shotgun with a short barrel and flared muzzle, but what an old gun has to do with this whisky I couldn't say - something to do with the flavour profile perhaps? Or like the guy printed on the label it could be linking back to the Hop Nation 'Kalash' stout which refers to Kalashnikov - as in AK47. There was a second Blunderbuss release from Bakery Hill in 2022 which spent two years in the ex-stout cask rather than one, and it was bottled at 58.0% rather than 52.0% like the first release that we're looking at today. I was lucky enough to nab this 2020 bottling at auction for a very reasonable price, below the original retail pricing in fact. So I had to crack it open!

Bakery Hill The Blunderbuss, NAS (see below), 52.0%. Melbourne, Australia.

7-year old single malt matured in ex-bourbon cask for 6-years, finished in ex-stout cask for 12-months. Stout cask had held beer for 3-4 months, after maturing peated Bakery Hill single malt for 10-years.

Colour: Full gold. 

Nose: Malty, fruity, and rich. A little nippy too. Thick burnt caramel, thick honey, touch of coffee grounds, and passionfruit curd a.k.a. passionfruit butter (sweet & tangy). Brown butter, vanilla cream, under-ripe tropical fruit (banana, guava, pineapple). Heavily roasted malt behind, and a tiny puff of earthy peat. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich, malty & creamy. Minor heat, warming. 

Taste: Thick roasted malt again, more coffee grounds and burnt caramel. Dark honey, same under-ripe tropical fruits again, and some mocha (coffee & chocolate) ice cream. 

Finish: Long length. Bitter dark chocolate, more roasted malt, and a touch of that passionfruit curd / passionfruit butter. Touch of spicy wood smoke comes out with the vanilla cream, honey, and coffee grounds. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Only just over the line, though.

Notes: Still my favourite stout / ale cask finished whisky to date. It's a little boozy and rough around the edges at times, but the sheer volume of flavour more than makes up for it, as does the balance between the stout cask, the original ex-bourbon cask, and the lovely citrusy & malty unpeated spirit. Worth remembering that this is only a 7-year old whisky too, and it's been matured in large format casks which is not the norm in Australian whisky. While I'm yet to taste the second Blunderbuss release I can guess why they've given it that extra year in cask, although that could mean that it's too heavy on the stout influence, whereas the level of cask influence in this original release is bang-on for my tastes. That mix of bitter chocolate, roasted malt, and burnt caramel from the stout cask, the honey and vanilla from the original cask, and the hint of peat from the original contents of the ex-stout cask, and then the tangy citrus and creamy maltiness from the unpeated whisky all add up to one very flavoursome Bakery Hill! 

Stout drinkers should love this one, including the one-time stout drinkers like myself who can't stomach the stuff anymore! It's a different style of whisky than anything I've tasted before from these shores, which is certainly a breath of fresh air. No more fortified or red wine cask single malts here please, let's cash-in on our massive craft beer industry and put those beer casks to work!

Cheers!

Adelphi Breath of Islay 12 Year Old 2010 Vintage Whisky Review!

A mysterious "undisclosed" Islay single malt from independent bottlers Adelphi, fully matured in a second-fill ex-sherry quarter cask. And I'm told that, for once, it's one of those rare mystery Islays that is NOT a Caol Ila!

Adelphi has always had a cult following in the world of independent bottlings, even way down here in Australia. Founded thirty years ago in 1993 this relatively small bottler is named after the long-dead Loch Katrine Adelphi Distillery that was located in Glasgow and ran from 1826 to 1932. These days Adelphi remains privately owned and is run by Managing Director Alex Bruce, and like a growing number of independent bottlers now has its own distillery; Highland distillery Ardnamurchan. Considering this remote west coast distillery has only been operating for nine years or so and they took their time with their initial releases, the distillery has already gained a well-deserved cult following. They produce both peated and unpeated spirits with great character and a distinctly coastal edge, and they're also committed to renewable energy, to natural presentation, and to reasonable pricing. Definitely one to watch! As far as Adelphi's independent bottlings things are continuing as normal for now, although like all independent bottlers they're starting to feel the pinch when it comes to sourcing whisky and sourcing casks at reasonable prices, although it should be a little easier in their case with such a long career and such a high reputation. Many distilleries are no longer selling to brokers or independent bottlers due to the massive demand for their official bottlings, or at least drastically reducing the amount that they sell, all of which pushes up the prices of what is available. There are even rumours around that some of the giant "workhorse distilleries" that currently form a large chunk of the independent market will be following suit in future. Scary times ahead? Possibly, but remember that Scotch whisky has always been unpredictable in the long run. Almost all of the large companies have expanded their distillery's production by large amounts in the last few years, and the number of new & upcoming malt whisky distilleries in Scotland today is staggering. It'll be interesting to see what happens once their stock comes of age and hits it stride, and the extra stock from those expanded distilleries becomes available. 

There are plenty of "mystery distillery" bottlings out there, even if you focus solely on Islay. Some are "teaspooned" blended malts - where a cask or casks of a particular single malt has a bottle (sometimes even less) of a different distillery's whisky tipped in, meaning that it's no longer a single malt and can't be labelled as such. Plenty of the mystery Islays are single malts though, and while some are more mysterious than others, sheer mathematics means that these are often undisclosed bottlings of Caol Ila. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Johnnie Walker - which is where the vast majority of Caol Ila's production goes - or Diageo's other blends, and there'll also be filling contracts for blended whiskies owned by other companies. But given Caol Ila's 6-million litre production capacity and the relatively tiny number of official bottlings that are released by Diageo, and the abundance of declared / disclosed independent bottlings that are on the market, it stands to reason that their probably responsible for most of these mystery Islays. There's still no shortage of Caol Ila out there - for now.  That aside, just because most of these mystery bottlings are Caol Ila certainly doesn't mean that they're all Caol Ila. And I have it on good authority that this particular Adelphi mystery Islay single malt is actually not a Caol Ila! A few of the island's nine distilleries insist on any independent bottlers abstaining from using their distillery names, which has resulted in some imaginative labels and names over the years, and some non-so imaginative. Sometimes this is because a cask or casks don't fit the distillery's perceived quality standards or flavour profile, but more often these days it's because the distillery's owners do not want the brand to be associated with what is effectively someone else's whisky. And that's probably the case here. 

Adelphi's "Breath of the Angels" series of mystery / undisclosed bottlings first launched in 2007 to accommodate distillery & brand owners who did not want their name used on independent bottlings. This series of sporadic releases is separate into regions, so far being Speyside, Highlands, Isles, and Islay. But that's pretty much all the information that you get, the rest is up to you. As with all Adelphi single malts these are single cask bottlings that are bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour. The 'Breath of Islay' bottling that we're looking at today is a 12-year old that was distilled in 2010, and it was bottled at a cask strength of 51.9% ABV with a yield of only 110 bottles. Why so few? Well that's because it was fully matured in a second-fill Oloroso sherry quarter cask - 125-litres in capacity, a quarter the size of a 500-litre sherry butt - that had previously been used at Glenfarclas Distillery in Speyside. So it was a second-fill cask, meaning less cask influence than a first-fill cask, but a small cask, meaning more cask influence than a larger full-size cask. 12-years is a long time to mature a whisky in a quarter cask, and it's certainly left it's mark on this whisky. Let's see how it goes!

Adelphi 'Breath of Islay' 2010 Vintage, 12-Year Old, 51.9%.

Unknown Islay single malt, fully matured in second fill ex-Glenfarclas ex-Oloroso sherry quarter cask (125-litre). Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 120 bottles. 

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Rich and quite sherry forward, with a pinch of gunpowder sulphur and that slight "flatness" that I usually associate with the dread "s word". Thankfully that breathes off, leaving x-mas fruit cake, orange zest, and sweet cherry cola. Touches of salted dark chocolate and fresh seaweed behind that, slight coastal qualities trying to poke through the sherry influence. 

Texture: Medium weight. Richly sherried, sweet, lightly peaty & smoky. No heat at all. 

Taste: That gunpowder sulphur and sweet cherry cola again. More x-mas fruit cake but with extra raisins and some dried figs thrown in. More smoky here than on the nose, a dry ashy peat smoke that helps to balance the sweeter notes from the cask. Touches of sweet plum jam and orange zest around the edges. 

Finish: Long length. Dry ashy peat smoke carries through with a little gunpowder sulphur again, and some buttery toasted oak. Plum jam, orange peel, and sweet cherry cola. Dried stone fruit to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Very sherry forward, which is to be expected from 12-years in an ex-sherry quarter cask. But this was a second-fill ex-sherry quarter cask, so it was clearly still packing a punch! The underlying spirit has had a tough time keeping up (or fighting back) over that 12-years. While the peat & smoke are still there they've been beaten down to Bowmore levels, and I have it on good authority that this isn't a Bowmore, and that the spirit was heavily peated. That gunpowder sulphur and the slight "flatness" that I attribute to mild sulphur are something that I do sometimes find in Glenfarclas, and I have to assume that's come from the cask since none of the Islay distillery's spirits are generally particularly sulphurous. I don't mind the gunpowder / struck match side of sulphur in the right whisky, and it suits the style of this heavily sherried Islay. Thankfully it's far away from the god awful vulcanised rubber & rotten egg gas style of sulphur that I absolutely cannot stand. 

Do I have any guesses as to which distillery this Adelphi came from? I don't think it's from the southern three based on smell & taste, and I'm told it's not a Bowmore or a Caol Ila. Which leaves peated Bunnahabhain, Kilchoman, or Port Charlotte/Octomore. I don't think it's a Port Charlotte or Octomore either based on smell & taste, so that narrows it down considerably. Regardless, it doesn't fit right in to any of the distilleries' flavour profiles with that big sherry influence, so it doesn't really matter which distillery it came from. Which is probably why it was allowed to go to Adelphi and be bottled as a mystery malt. And there's nothing wrong with that!

Cheers!

Cadenhead's Kilkerran 11 Year Old Single Cask Whisky Review!

A cask strength single cask independent bottling of Kilkerran from Cadenhead's 'Authentic Collection'. When is an independent bottling not an independent bottling? Well, when the whisky is great, does it matter?

Both Cadenhead's and Glengyle Distillery (producing Kilkerran whisky) are owned by Campbeltown's J&A Mitchell, which makes this one of those rare occasions where both the distillery and the independent bottler are part of the same company. Is this still an independent bottling, then? Technically I'd say no, but it really doesn't matter. Plenty of independent bottlers own their own distilleries these days, such as Gordon & MacPhail with Benromach and Adelphi with Ardnamurchan, and both of those examples do also bottle their distilleries' single malt under their independent bottling labels. In this case Cadenhead's are allocated just one cask of each of J&A Mitchell's four single malt brands; Kilkerran, Springbank, Hazelburn, and Longrow, per year. Most are bottled as part of the 'Authentic Collection' which is the series of single cask bottlings that are exclusive to the Cadenhead's stores, particularly the flagship store in Campbeltown, down the road from Springbank and Glengyle Distilleries. In fact most of these bottlings are pre-sold to Cadenhead's VIP customers before they're even officially released, but that's another story! I've only been lucky enough to visit Campbeltown once, back in 2018, so I obviously didn't purchase this 2021-bottling from said shop. It was an auction purchase, and while not exactly cheap - around $270 AUD once DHL and Australian Customs had had their way with me - it's not unreasonable considering the rarity of such a thing. Is it worth the extra ~$100 over the 8-year old Cask Strength official bottlings (OBs) here in Australia? That's a tough question. But it's different to those, and it's also delicious, which is the main criteria. 

I'm sure Kilkerran single malt needs no introduction if you're reading this review, but that may change when it comes time to talk about Glengyle Distillery. The "newest" of the three operating distilleries in Campbeltown when it opened back in 2004, this was the first "new" Campbeltown distillery to be built in over 130 years. Note the quotation marks in that sentence though, which has nothing to do with the three new Campbeltown distilleries that are in the planning stages. I've used quotation marks there because Glengyle Distillery was actually reopened after a hiatus of nearly 80-years, on the same site as the original which ran from 1872-1925. Having housed a number of different business ventures during that slumber - it was even a rifle range at one point - and having since fallen into disrepair, it took nearly 4-years after the site was purchased to get the distillery up & running. Going even further, the current owner of J&A Mitchell, Mr. Hedley Wright, is the great-nephew of the founder of Glengyle Distillery, William Mitchell, who along with his brother John had purchased Springbank Distillery in 1837. 35-years later the two brothers had a falling out which resulted in John purchasing his brother's share of Springbank, and William founding Glengyle Distillery just a few hundred metres down the round. 

So the big question is, why isn't Glengyle Distillery's whisky brand named after the distillery? That's because the Glengyle brand was owned by another company whose asking price was too high, so J&A Mitchell decided to go with a regional brand name instead. The original settlement at Campbeltown was named "Kinloch Kilkerran" in Gaelic, which roughly translates to "Head of the Loch by the Church of Saint Ciaran" in English. Glengyle is a more modern & more conventional distillery than its older brother Springbank, with only two stills that are heated by internal steam coils and are fitted with shell & tube condensers. Aside from a few experimental distillation runs, Kilkerran single malts are "only" double distilled, and the majority of spirit production - which is a tiny amount - uses lightly peated malt that is floor-malted down the road at Springbank. The exception there is Kilkerran Heavily Peated, which now uses commercially malted barley sourced from Inverness shire. There have also been some experimental triple distilled releases, mostly bottled for the Campbeltown Festival / Kilkerran Open Day, but it's unlikely they'll ever be permanent given the distillery's tiny output and the reduced yield that comes with triple distillation. 

The Cadenhead's bottling of Kilkerran single malt that we're looking at today is an 11-year old single cask that was distilled in 2009, was fully matured in a single ex-bourbon barrel, and was bottled in early 2021 at a cask strength of 56.5% ABV. As with all J&A Mitchell-owned single malts it's non-chill filtered and natural colour. I'm a massive fan of ex-bourbon cask Campbeltown whisky regardless of distillery, and a 100% ex-bourbon cask Kilkerran isn't as easy to find as you might expect. The 12-year old, 16-year old, and Heavily Peated all contain some sherry casks to varying degrees, so the only (relatively) readily-available example would be the recent 8-year old Cask Strength 2023 release that is yet to arrive in Australia. The first three or four batches of 8-year old Cask Strength Kilkerran (bottled late 2018 and earlier) were ex-bourbon though, and they were fantastic. Let's see how this older example fares!

Cadenhead's Kilkerran 11-year old, 56.5%. Campbeltown, Scotland.

Cadenhead's 'Authentic Collection'. Lightly peated, distilled 2009, matured in a single ex-bourbon barrel, bottled 2021. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Lovely. Waxy, mineral, acidic. Fresh candle wax, hessian sacking cloth (i.e. bung cloth), warm waffle cones without the ice cream. Freshly squeezed pineapple juice (the real stuff), touches of lightly burnt honeycomb / cinder toffee, salted fatty cured meats, and dry seashells. Dried mango skins, candied lemon peel & packed earth barn floors (with straw covering) with more time, plus a puff of ashy peat smoke.

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, waxy, sweeter than the nose but still quite acidic. No heat. 

Taste: More lightly burnt honeycomb / cinder toffee, fresh candle wax, and that acidic pineapple juice. A nice light helping of dry ashy peat smoke now. Slight flash of rich vanilla bean custard (think creme brulee). Packed earth barn floors with straw covering again, candied lemon peel, and sweetened malt biscuits. Dry seashells and clean machine oils heading into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. More malt biscuits & freshly squeezed pineapple juice, candle wax, melted salted butter. Touches of white pepper & bitter woody herbs. Flashes of vanilla bean custard again but fleeting. More dry seashells and hessian cloth / sacking towards the end. 

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

Notes: Right in my wheelhouse, this one. Absolutely love this style of whisky; oily, mineral/maritime, acidic & malty in equal measures. Ex-bourbon cask Campbeltown malts seem to excel at this profile, and I can't get enough of it. Take the recent 55.9% ex-bourbon Springbank 12 Cask Strength for example, and also the excellent Talisker 8-year old from 2018 - albeit with more sweetness and more wood influence in that example. It's worth noting that I've had this bottle open for nearly just over 6-months now, and it's become slightly smokier, more acidic and a little drier over that time. The green fruitiness (melon rind, as I recall) and vanilla that were there have receded substantially, but it's still dynamic, even after that time open this Kilkerran can't sit still. It's still changing in the glass, even after the usual 10-minute resting period after pouring. Which is a wonderful thing!

I'd say this 11-year old Cadenhead's bottling is noticeably less cask-forward than those ex-bourbon official Kilkerran 8-year old releases from a few years ago. While I wouldn't exactly call those cask driven and while I love both styles, this 11-year old feels more on the oxidative and interactive side of maturation rather than the additive side. More spirit driven, maybe a little more divisive. And just as delicious!

Cheers!

Bruichladdich Regeneration Project Whisky Review!

Bruichladdich's first single grain whisky, Islay's first single grain whisky since the term came into existence, and the first Scotch whisky to include Islay-grown rye. This should be interesting!

I've seen plenty of confusion about the term "single grain" out there in the whisky world, even recently from a certain beloved YouTube reviewer, and I've gotten into plenty of online arguments about the Scotch whisky definitions in general. So let's clear it up right now! Many seem to misinterpret the term as defining a whisky that is made from one variety of grain, which is wildly incorrect. Just like the term "single malt" does not mean one type of malted barley and actually means malt whisky made at one single distillery, "single grain" does not mean one type of grain, it means grain whisky that was produced at one single distillery. The word "single" only refers to the whisky being made entirely at one "single" distillery. In Scotch whisky, anything that does not meet the definition of a single malt - which can only be made from 100% malted barley and must be distilled in pot stills - or a blended whisky that is a blend of whisky from different distilleries - whether a blended malt whisky, a blended grain whisky, or a blend of malt & grain whisky - can only be a single grain whisky. It may help to think of these Scotch whisky definitions as being a process of elimination. Does it meet the criteria for a single malt Scotch whisky? No. OK, is it a blend of Scotch whisky from different distilleries? No. Well then it's a single grain Scotch whisky. At present there is no other legally recognised category in Scotch whisky, and to go outside these categories would mean you could not label your product as Scotch whisky or even as whisky, since Scotch whisky is the only whisky that can be made in Scotland. If you're unsure, have a read of the Scotch Whisky Association's Scotch Whisky Regulations. Looking at some examples; if your Scotch whisky is made from 100% malted barley at one single distillery but it is distilled in column stills, it is then a single grain Scotch whisky (this is Scotland, not Australia or England). If your Scotch whisky is made from 99% malted barley and 1% unmalted barley and is distilled in pot stills at one single distillery, it is then a single grain whisky (this is Scotland, not Ireland). If your Scotch whisky is made from 100% malted rye and is distilled in pot stills at one single distillery, it is still a single grain whisky. And if your Scotch whisky is made from 55% unmalted rye and 45% malted barley and is distilled in pot stills at Bruichladdich Distillery, then yes, it is a single grain whisky! 

Enter Bruichladdich's The Regeneration Project Single Grain Scotch Whisky. Apparently they did initially want to call it "The Rye Project" but the SWA objected to this since it wasn't distilled from 100% rye grain. Personally I think they missed a huge opportunity by not calling it "The RYEgeneration Project". Sure, that may have still raised some eyebrows at the SWA, but let's not forget that this distillery used to have "The Dog's Bollocks" printed on it's packaging! Come on Bruichladdich, you used to be fun... "The Regeneration Project" was the brainchild of Islay farmer Andrew Jones and Bruichladdich's Production Director Allan Logan. Jones had been growing barley for Bruichladdich at Coull Farm on Islay, but decided to add rye to his farm's crop rotation in an effort to improve the health of the soil and reduce the need for fertilisers and other augmentation. Barley is quite an aggressive crop as far as its effect on the soil, and it's also quite picky if you want to get a decent yield. Rye is much less picky and also replaces some of the nutrients that the barley crops have stripped from the soil, hence "regeneration". There have been three "Project" releases from Bruichladdich so far, all distillery exclusives (website or physical shop). These began with "The Ternary Project" in early 2021 which was a vatting of all three single malts that are produced at the distillery - unpeated Bruichladdich, heavily peated Port Charlotte, and super-heavily peated Octomore. At an absolutely ridiculous £275 and without an age statement, I'm not surprised that it's still available - in fact all three of these "Project" bottlings are. Next was "The Biodynamic Project" released in late 2021, which was a 10-year old that was distilled from biodynamic (basically organic) English grown barley. To my knowledge that's the first and only time since the reopening in 2001 that Bruichladdich have made new make spirit that was not distilled from Scottish barley. Which seems a bit of a shame - we can't blame Remy Cointreau for that either, it was distilled in 2010 during the Reynier era. And that brings us to today's subject, The Regeneration Project single grain whisky, bottled in early 2023.

While still a rarity, this Bruichladdich single grain is not the only single grain Scotch whisky to use rye in its mashbill, nor was it the first released. Highland distillery Arbikie was the first to release such a thing, and Fife distillery InchDairnie has since added to that. But this Bruichladdich is the first single grain whisky to be made on the island of Islay since the term was coined, and there will be more of it from Bruichladdich in future. Three distilleries making relatively tiny amounts of whisky will not be enough to get the SWA to add a "Rye Scotch Whisky" or "Scotch Rye Whisky" category to their regulations, but that could certainly change in future if there's enough demand - particularly if one of the large corporations takes an interest in the potential for a new category. Bruichladdich have played it a little safe with this first appearance of their single grain whisky, in that they've used 55% unmalted rye grain in the mashbill, with the remaining 45% being malted barley that was also Islay grown. Back in 2017 the distillery did experiment with different percentages, starting with the 55/45 ratio but trialling a 70/30 mix - which wreaked havoc on the ancient equipment used at Bruichladdich. Rye is a difficult grain to work with, particularly in mashing where it can take much longer to mash and can cause problems with drainage and cleaning. This of course makes it more costly to work with than barley, and in this case using unmalted rye means that you're getting significantly less enzymes in comparison to a 100% malted barley mash, meaning there are less fermentable sugars available in the mash, which means a lower alcohol yield in the wash and subsequently in the spirit. Since rye had never been used at Bruichladdich before, the production team also had to play around with the fermentation times and distillation cut points, and also the filling strength when it was being filled into casks. 

The Regeneration Project is a 5-year old single grain whisky, distilled in 2017 from 55% unmalted rye and 45% malted barley, all grown on Islay, and it was matured in a combination of first-fill ex-bourbon casks and virgin American oak casks. Interestingly those virgin oak casks were not charred prior to filling, they were only toasted in an effort to limit the level of wood influence in the whisky and let the spirit itself, and therefore the grain itself, show through. But if that was the goal then why use virgin oak casks at all? I'm assuming that was to give the maturation a boost and get the whisky ready at a younger age, so hopefully we'll see different cask types used in future older examples. The Regeneration Project was bottled at a diluted strength of 50% ABV in March 2023, with no chill filtration or added colour. There were only 1,800 x 700ml bottles released in this batch and it was only available from the distillery's website or from the physical shop on Islay. Pricing was a rather staggering £125, plus shipping and local charges for those of us that are playing overseas - in Australia with our dastardly customs department, the final cost landed at your door would be around $350 AUD. Which is a huge chunk of money for a 5-year old whisky at 50% ABV, even one this unique. But that's the price of entry to try the first Bruichladdich single grain whisky, and the first Bruichladdich ever made with rye grain. Funnily enough there still seems to be stock available on said website at the time of writing, but the sample for this review was generously donated by David from Australian whisky retailer The Old Barrelhouse. Let's see how it goes!

Bruichladdich 'The Regeneration Project' Single Grain Whisky, 50% ABV. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2017 from 55% unmalted rye and 45% malted barley. Aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and toasted virgin American oak casks. Bottled March 2023 at 5-years of age. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Spicy, sweet, oaky. Rye spice (i.e. toasted rye bread), sweet fresh oak, touches of intense spearmint and cayenne pepper. A little eucalyptus / tea tree, and nutmeg too. Sweet tinned peaches, dry pie shell pastries, vanilla essence. Dried bitter orange peel, and a touch of maltiness further in. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, very sweet, oaky, spicy. Slight heat. 

Taste: More sweet tinned peaches, plus some apricots in syrup, and a little blueberry as well. Powdered ginger, buttery pastry, sweet toasted oak, and sweet vanilla essence. The rye influence is much harder to spot here than it was on the nose, obscured by the oak and the sweetness. 

Finish: Medium length. More spearmint, cayenne pepper, and eucalyptus. Aniseed, and more powdered ginger. More sweet oak, and vanilla essence. Dried orange peel again, milk chocolate and sweet tinned peaches to finish. 

Score: 2.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Interesting. Too sweet for my tastes, and also a little strange! The spicy rye character shows through nicely on the nose to start with, but it faded with breathing time and was obscured both on the palate and in the finish, which is a shame. Overall this is really quite a sweet whisky, which I assume is down to the virgin oak involvement, and I'd have preferred a 100% ex-bourbon maturation instead. That would've showed more spirit character, but I'm not sure if that was the goal with this Bruichladdich release, it feels like they're trying to ease into it with that aggressive virgin oak sweetness. Then again even with that virgin oak it still comes off as a little feisty and youthful, so maybe we'll see more spirit character in some older releases in future. Personally virgin oak isn't my bag, particularly in unpeated whiskies, and if I'm having a rye whisky/whiskey then I want to the rye to show all the way through, otherwise I don't see the point. So bear that in mind if you've scrolled straight to the score! I can see lovers of American-style rye whiskeys liking this one with the extra sweetness and the lighter rye grain influence that seem to be in their wheelhouse. In my view as a malt whisky lover this Bruichladdich single grain is quite a strange one; it's obviously unlike any other Scotch whisky that I've come across so far, and in all honesty it's not one that I'd rush out to buy. I'm sure we'll see more adventurous variants in future, hopefully with some more age and also less cask influence - or at least hopefully without virgin oak!

Kudos to Bruichladdich for having the guts to do produce Islay's first single grain whisky. If any of Islay's malt whisky distilleries were going to do it, it was always going to be these guys! And if it helps support Islay's grain farmers and their barley crops then I'm all for it, and I look forward to trying more examples in future. 

Cheers!

Talisker 11 Year Old 2022 Special Release Whisky Review!

The one bottling in the 2022 Diageo Special Releases that immediately caught my eye. Why? Because it's a reasonably-priced, cask strength, ex-bourbon cask Talisker that is natural colour and non-chill filtered. Which is a winning formula! 

The packaging has stepped even further into the cartoon realm with these 2022 Special Releases, which as usual have arrived in Australia just under a year after their release in Europe. There are quite a few departures from the norm in this latest batch; adding virgin oak casks to the venerable Lagavulin 12-year old, adding a PX & Oloroso sherry finish to a 12-year old Clynelish with a hefty price tag, and releasing a 26-year old single grain whisky from Cameronbridge Distillery which retails for a very ambitious $599 AUD. What is not a departure from the norm perhaps is a very expensive non-age statement Mortlach release, this time featuring not only virgin oak casks but also two different varieties of sweet fortified wine cask, and retailing for $420 AUD. It's great that Diageo is giving Mortlach some well-deserved attention, but if I can speak for the whisky nerds of the world, all we want is a teenaged Oloroso sherry matured/finished Mortlach, with an age statement, that allows the distillery to live up to its legendary moniker of "The Beast of Dufftown". The 2023 Special Releases were recently unveiled in Britain, and thankfully both the packaging designs and the cask treatments have seemingly been dialled down. Despite the size of the company, Diageo certainly does seem to react to customer feedback, or even predict it! Besides all of that, these are still cask strength, non-chill filtered and natural colour releases from some of Diageo's most highly regarded distilleries, many of which are among Scotland's best. But I'm getting off topic here, we should be talking about Talisker! 

From the outset there were two bottlings in the 2022 releases that immediately appealed to me, not only because they're the cheapest / most reasonably priced of the bunch! These were the 10-year old Oban that was finished in Amontillado sherry casks, and the 11-year old Talisker that we're looking at here. We've been treated to some delicious Taliskers in the Special Releases over the last five years; starting with the fantastic 8-year old from 2018 that was matured in heavily-charred first-fill bourbon barrels, then a delicious 15-year old in 2019 that was matured in re-charred refill ex-bourbon barrels, followed by a slight departure in 2020 with an 8-year old rum cask finish, and then the 8-year old refill cask from 2021 that was taken from their "smokiest reserves". When the news first appeared about this 2022 bottling I was rather excited, partly since it was a little older at 11-years, but mainly because it was matured in bourbon casks. Specifically, the packaging states: "Lightly peated stocks from ex-bourbon casks". However, as is sometimes the case with Diageo's Special Releases, some of the press release blogs & also plenty of retailer websites seem to have gotten a little confused, and are stating that this whisky was matured in both ex-bourbon casks and ex-wine casks. Both the packaging and Diageo's official whisky site (malts.com) don't mention wine casks in relation to this Talisker, and to my palate there's no overt wine influence in the whisky itself. Furthermore, I can't see Diageo adding wine casks to a Talisker special release, which would be quite a big deal, and then neglecting to mention it on either the packaging or on their own website.

Being the whisky pedant that I am, I had to find out! So I reached out to Ewan Gunn, Diageo's Senior Global Brand Ambassador, to ask if he could confirm. Ewan was very helpful when I reached out to clear up the confusion that surrounded the brilliant 2019 12-year old Cragganmore special release, where many sources were wrongly stating that it was merely matured in ex-peated whisky casks, rather than the spirit itself being distilled from peated barley. Come to think of it there was a similar issue with the 15-year old Talisker released in the same year, which some had misinterpreted as being fully matured in virgin oak! That time Colin Dunn, Diageo's Whisky Brand Ambassador for Western Europe, came to the rescue and helped clarify that this was certainly not the case. This time Ewan has once again been extremely helpful, and even went so far as to contact the actual blender who signed off on the vatting for this release! Said blender confirmed that this 11-year old Talisker was matured solely in ex-bourbon casks, both first-fill and refill, and there was no wine involved.

Many whisky cynics like to think of Diageo as some faceless & soulless corporate monolith, and that its employees have all been enslaved towards the ultimate goal of global domination. In my experience that's really not the case, the staff that I've come across at the company's distilleries in Scotland have all been warm & welcoming, and passionate & professional. Now we have some pesky small-time whisky blogger in Brisbane, Australia, contacting Diageo's senior brand ambassadors in Britain and questioning details on whiskies from the previous year/s. Rather than being told to go away or being ignored completely, both of these gentlemen have promptly gone above & beyond to find the answer/s and set the record straight. Both Ewan and Colin deserve to be commended for their fantastic work that to my mind exemplifies what a brand ambassador should be. 

So, we have an 11-year old cask strength Talisker from the Isle of Skye. It has been fully matured only in ex-bourbon casks, both first-fill and refill, and bottled at 55.1% ABV without chill filtration or added colour. Retail pricing in Australia is around $190 AUD, which is very reasonable in this day & age. Summarising Talisker in twenty words or less; lightly peated, wooden washbacks, purifiers on spirit stills, worm tub condensers, sea salt & black pepper, coastal & delicious. Side note before we get to the review, you may have noticed that this 2022 release states that it's from "lightly peated stocks" while the 2021 8-year old stated "from our smokiest reserves". Talisker only makes one spirit which is peated to around 20 ppm, so these labels are referring to the flavour profile of the casks that were in the vatting/blend, rather than a different peating level in the spirit itself. Tasting time!

Talisker 11-Year Old, Special Releases 2022, 55.1%. Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Fully matured in ex-bourbon casks, both first-fill and refill (no wine casks involved). Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Fresh, fruity, and briny. Green olives in oily & salty brine, crumbly & sharp mature cheddar cheese, sweet vanilla fudge, and warm sandy beaches. Touch of tinned peaches & pineapple chunks in juice. Green chilli flakes (trademark Talisker), golden malted barley, sweet lemon zest, and dry & ashy wood smoke. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, spicy, smoky. Slight heat but it works. 

Taste: More tinned peaches & pineapple chunks in juice, and sweet lemon zest. Sweet vanilla fudge fades quickly into table salt, white pepper, and those green chilli flakes. Dry wood smoke with hot ash, and a touch of melted salted butter. 

Finish: Long length. Mild green chilli flakes and warm sand carry through, with the melted salted butter and olive brine following along. That ashy wood smoke is softer now, more of an undercurrent. Golden malted barley, tinned fruit, sweet lemon, and a flash of almond frangipane (almond pastry cream filling) to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. Just over the line maybe, but it's there.

Notes: An easier, lighter take on young cask strength Talisker. But there's no loss of distillery character, and the cask influence is kept nicely in check. That blender mentioned above has certainly done a good job with this one, if you ask me. It's possibly a little sweeter than expected, probably that lighter style showing through, but there are good doses of the trademark Talisker salt & pepper and that green chilli fruitiness that I love in the good examples of the make. It's still undeniably coastal as well, despite the widely lamented mainland maturation for the vast majority of Talisker spirit. Both Talisker and Caol Ila are great examples for the "terroir" and "there's no salt in whisky" arguments, with good talking points for both sides of the debate! 

Getting back to this 11-year old Special Release, it easily beats both the 2021 and 2020 8-year old releases if you ask me, and I'd put it on par with the 2019 15-year old. It's different in style to all of those of course, but quality-wise this 2022 release is a serious player. That said, it can't hope to square up against the 2018 8-year old, but there are few who can. That was almost a freak of nature, and it was released nearly 5-years ago now in a very different whisky world. It's still my favourite Talisker of all time (even over the cask strength 25-year old, but don't tell that bottle's owner) so it's not a fair comparison. That said, this 11-year old is probably the closest in style of all the subsequent Talisker Special Releases to date, and at ~$180 AUD here in 2023 it's holding up very well. Talisker fans will not be disappointed. Highly recommended.

Cheers!