SMWS 10.116 & 10.130 (Bunnahabhain) Whisky Reviews!

Review & compare two young, peated, cask strength, single cask Bunnahabhains? Don't mind if I do!

It's been quite some time since I reviewed a Bunnahabhain, about 18 months in fact, so before we get down to it, we're long overdue for some revision! Bunnahabhain is a bit of an outlier on Islay. The majority (currently around 80%) of their 2.75-million litre production capacity is essentially un-peated, since their standard malt generally measures 1-2 ppm phenols, which of course is undetectable in the whisky. But there is also an increasing amount of good quality peated Bunnahabhain around, with the official bottlings mostly going under the sub-brand name "Moine" (Gaelic for "peat"), and many of the peated independent bottlings under the name "Margadale" (Bunnahabhain's water source is the Margadale spring). A large chunk of the distillery's production still goes into blended whiskies, particularly Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark, both of which are owned by Edrington who in turn owned Bunnahabhain from 1999-2003. It also features in the Black Bottle blended whisky, which is owned by Burn Stewart Distillers who owned the distillery from 2003-2013, but the current version of that blend contains much less Islay whisky than earlier iterations did. And those earlier versions were actually quite good!

Bunnahabhain is currently undergoing substantial renovation & restoration work, and will be for a couple of years to come, including a new visitor's centre, improved car parking and even on-site holiday accommodation. It was looking a little shabby, so I can see why the distillery is getting a face-lift, although that shabby-ness is / was also part of its charm. Unlike their fellow Distell-owned distillery on the Isle of Mull, Tobermory, the distillery is still working during these renovations, and tours aren't expected to be affected. Bunnahabhain is the most remote of the Islay distilleries and isn't particularly easy to get to, so it's good to see that the owners are investing in the visitor experience and also the aesthetics of this softly-spoken but venerable distillery.

The two Bunnahabhain's that I'm looking at today are a little different from most. As you've probably noticed from the title of this review, they're independent bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a.k.a the SMWS or "the society". The SMWS only bottle single cask, cask strength, non-chill filtered and naturally coloured spirits (they're bottling more than 'just' whisky these days), and they don't name the distilleries on the labels. Instead they use distillery codes, for example 29 is Laphroaig, 33 is Ardbeg, and 10 is Bunnahabhain, which is followed by a bottling or cask sequence number. So the first of their malts that we're looking at here, 10.116, is the 116th cask of Bunnahabhain that the society has released. I've only reviewed a couple of SMWS whiskies so far, namely a brilliant young sherry-matured Ardbeg and a very interesting and extremely rare & expensive Karuizawa, and I've also had the pleasure of attending a masterclass with their Australian cellar master, Andrew Derbidge with a few more tasty drams included (write-up here), but I'm generally not exposed to many of their bottlings. The samples for today's two reviews were kindly donated by the society's Queensland manager, Scott Mansfield. Cheers Scott!

What we have here are two 9-year old peated Bunnahabhains, one from a refill ex-bourbon barrel (200-litre cask), and one from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead (250-litre cask), so this should make for an interesting comparison. 10.116 "Flaming Orange Twist" was distilled in February 2008, and came from the aforementioned refill barrel, which yielded 187 bottles at a cask strength of 59.6% ABV. Whisky number two, 10.130 "Chimney Sweep on a Trawler", was distilled in October 2007, and the refill hogshead yielded 270 bottles at 61.9% ABV. So the larger cask was responsible for the slightly older whisky, but at a notably higher ABV and (it would seem) not as much attention from those thirsty angels. Time for a closer look!

SMWS 10.116 (Bunnahabhain) "Flaming Orange Twist", 59.6%. Islay, Scotland. 
Distilled 2/2008, matured in single refill ex-bourbon barrel, bottled 2017 (9 year old). 187 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Surprisingly subtle and refined, with grassy, oily, fresh vegetal peat, bitter orange peel, and semi-sweet vanilla paste. There's a lovely briny and sandy coastal note too. With more time in the glass it becomes more herbal and grassy, with some fennel seed coming through.

Texture: Medium to heavy weight, nice and oily, there's some heat but it's felt more in the chest than on the palate, which is different, but it's not a harsh or rough spirit-y heat.

Taste: Creamy vanilla and more dark, oily, vegetal peat, some old marine tar and hot bitumen or asphalt (which tastes better than it sounds). Some hot chilli spice and more bitter orange peel.

Finish: Short length, becomes surprisingly soft quite quickly, with that herbal grassy note from the nose coming back through, and the fennel seed as well, but it's been toasted this time.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Notes: It's always hard to combat the power of suggestion with these SMWS bottlings. As soon as you've sighted the label or just the name of the bottling your brain is pre-programmed into looking for, and often finding, certain aromas and flavours. But this one definitely does seem to do what it says on the tin, with the bitter orange, chilli spice and peat notes coming through nicely. I can't say that I find it particularly smoky, it's definitely more peaty and herbal for my palate, but it's nicely balanced as well. Admittedly there's not a huge amount of complexity here, and the finish is surprisingly short and light, but it's a nice young, fresh peated Bunnahabhain with a great weighty texture.

SMWS 10.130 (Bunnahabhain) "Chimney Sweep on a Trawler", 61.9%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 10/2007, matured in single refill ex-bourbon hogshead, bottled 2017 (9-year old). 270 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Immediately very different to the .116. Much lighter, softer and cleaner on the nose, despite the higher ABV. There's some charcoal BBQ briquettes, floral honey and dried leafy herbs, some wallpaper paste (flour-y glue) and putty, and a nice sweet lemon citrus note.

Texture: Medium weight, soft on entry with a quick crescendo. There's slightly less heat than the .116 as well, again despite the higher ABV, and it doesn't hang around as long either.

Taste: Cleaner and fresher, more floral honey, sweet citrus, a dry powdery peat and some coal dust. Is this Bunnahabhain's take on a Bowmore? And that's absolutely not a complaint! There's a dry spice as well that releases its heat gradually, like a cayenne powder or dried chilli flakes. Some sweet leafy herbs and a light wood smoke as well.

Finish: Medium length, more staying power here. A little astringent to start with, with more of that floral honey and some lemon oil, then more dry chilli powder and a touch of musty old oak coming through. Sweet citrus again, and maybe a hint of honeydew melon? Some coal dust again, and a good pinch of dark cocoa powder to finish.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Notes: Very interesting! It's less peaty and much less coastal than the .116, and it's dryer as well. There's also less heat, and the heat that is there is more on the front of the palate & tongue rather than the back like it was in the previous dram. I definitely get the "chimney sweep" part of the name of this bottling, but not so much the "trawler" part. And I don't think I'd pick this whisky as a Bunnahabhain if it was served blind, it's much less obvious here with the distillery style more hidden, which makes for a very interesting dramming experience. I really think I could be convinced that this was a Bowmore. But after all, that is the beauty, and also the fun, of tasting single cask whiskies. No two are exactly alike, even when they look similar on paper, and some are vastly different!

Overall notes: They may not be astronomical scores, but these are both very enjoyable whiskies, and they made for a great comparison! In fact the scores wouldn't be this close if I'd gone with a 10-point system way back when. Good old hindsight is always so accurate! The .130 is the winner for me, partly because it's so unexpectedly different, and also because of the longer and more assertive finish. But both are interesting whiskies, and both are different (to different degrees) from the typical distillery style, which is all as we should expect from the SMWS. That's pretty much what they do! Both are also quite mature for the age and strength, and without the helping hand of fresh casks, which is a good sign of careful production from the distillery, and discerning cask selection from the society. Thanks to Scott Mansfield from the SMWS for the samples, and for the opportunity to taste these bottles!

Unfortunately there'll be a short break between reviews over the next five weeks or so, since I'm off on holidays! England, Italy and then of course Scotland - almost exactly 13 months after the last visit! See you on the flip side folks!

Cheers!

Springbank 14 Bourbon Wood Whisky Review!

An ex-bourbon only matured Springbank isn't a very common thing, since there are usually some sherry or wine casks involved in their whiskies, so this'll be interesting!

For quite some time, Campbeltown's Springbank Distillery has had a wide and eclectic range of whiskies that were either fully matured or finished in unusual or uncommon cask types. Known as the wood finish bottlings, they ranged from Rum and Calvados casks, to Gaja Barolo and Tokaji wine casks, with many more in between. They were very simply packaged with largely hand written-style brown labels, and a stamp-style descripton of the cask type stamped across the front label. Those varied and often much-loved bottlings are still being released, although seemingly not as often, but the presentation is now more in-line with Springbank's current packaging. So the off-white labels are gone, the hand written-fonts are gone, and the generic plain outer boxes are gone, replaced by more modern and more appealing designs, as you can see below. It's also worth noting that this new design is also now used for Springbank's single cask bottlings, albeit with a darker shade of blue.

But the contents are the main thing, which were always cask strength, with the month and year of both distillation and bottling printed on the bottle label, and hailing from Springbank Distillery of course means they were -and obviously still are- always non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. None of the above has changed with the move to the new packaging, which is great to see. Some of these releases were more limited than others, and some were more lusted after than others, but all offered something different. There were also releases of Longrow, Springbank's heavily-peated and double-distilled whisky, and Hazelburn, Springbank's un-peated and triple-distilled whisky, in this range, alongside the lightly-peated and 2.5-times distilled Springbank namesake whisky. I really can't wait to finally visit this very "old school" distillery later this year. To stand in those musty warehouses in Campbeltown and breathe it all in will be an almost... spiritual experience!

The bottling we're looking at today is Springbank 14-year old Bourbon Wood, which was fully matured in both first-fill and refill ex-bourbon casks. It was distilled in November 2002, and bottled in August 2017 at a cask strength of 55.8% ABV, with a yield of 9000 bottles. 14-year old Bourbon Wood retails for around $190 AUD and is still around at the time of writing (probably because there aren't any sherry casks involved), and while that's a bit of a step up from the more regular 12-year old Cask Strength bottlings, that's quite reasonable for a slightly older limited cask strength release in Australia. Since an ex-bourbon cask-matured Springbank is quite unusual, in fact the last time one was released was over 15 years ago, it'll be interesting to see how well Springbank's briny, musty "dirty" funky-ness gets along with the lighter and sweeter cask influences from the ex-bourbon casks. And since there are also some refill ex-bourbon casks involved, we may also get to see more of the actual spirit presence in this one. Let's find out...

Springbank 14-year old Bourbon Wood, 55.8%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Distilled 11/2002, matured in first- and re-fill ex-bourbon casks, bottled 08/2017 at cask strength. 9000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Sweet & fresh with a light funk & minerality. There's loads of vanilla custard & marshmallows, and bright tropical fruit - banana, green papaya & melon, plus some lemon & a little apple. Lightly malty & dusty, and some muddy river rocks & icing sugar. With more time, a dry, herbal & floral honey and mixed peppercorns come out.

Texture: Medium weight, silky. Rich & sweet, then dry and funky. Plenty of character here, and no alcohol heat or roughness.

Taste: Sweet entry with more vanilla custard & marshmallow, then a lovely dry minerality with damp stone, dank dunnage warehouses and muddy hay. Crystallised ginger chunks, white pepper and more dry honey. A light hint of bitter & vegetal peat behind as well.

Finish: Medium length. The white pepper, ginger & dry honey carry through, then becomes a little sweeter again and the tropical fruit from the nose resurfaces. No banana this time though, and there's lemon juice alongside. Then vanilla butter icing / frosting and light brine, and a lightly bitter ginger to round things out.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Great stuff! As expected, it's a sweeter take on the typical Springbank single malt, the 12 year old cask strength for example, and perhaps there's more of the actual spirit character showing through thanks to there being less overt cask influence. It's definitely less "funky" than some Springbank bottlings, and there's a touch more minerality here, but it's still very much a characterful and complex whisky. I really enjoyed having that sweetness switching places with the dryness and minerality, and that trademark farmyard-style musty dirty-ness that Campbeltown is known (and loved) for. That kept things more interesting, and of course is a sign of a very well-made whisky. Having said that, this dram has definitely become more complex and less sweet as it oxidised, on initial opening it was considerably sweeter, and perhaps less interesting. But with the magic of time and a little air it's opened up beautifully, and the Springbank DNA is now much more evident. It was still tasty on first contact of course, but this is a seriously delicious dram as it sits now.

Surprisingly this 14-year old Springbank is still available from a few Australian retailers, and it's still very reasonably priced for what's on offer. I would've put that down to the bourbon cask-maturation not having the immediate "sexy-ness" of a sherry cask, but then the 17-year old Sherry Wood Springbank can also still be found within our shores, and that's a considerably earlier release (but is considerably more expensive). So I'm not sure what's going on there, but I can say that if you're a Campbeltown fan and you haven't tried this one, you're going to want to. Personally, I think I'll be needing a second bottle before this one is gone.

Cheers!

Bowmore Tempest Whisky Review!

Possibly one of the best recent official bottlings from Bowmore, which is sadly now discontinued and hard to find.

Tempest was a series of limited release / small batch 10-year old Bowmores, all matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and bottled at cask strength, with one batch of around 12,000 bottles released per year. Batch 1 debuted back in 2009, and the Batch 6 release that I'm reviewing today was the last of the line in 2015. This series was named "Dorus Mor" in the United States due to a trademark issue, meaning something along the lines of "wild ocean". On face value it may sound like these bottlings were a bourbon cask-matured version of the much-lauded Devils Cask series that were matured in sherry casks, but there were only three batches released of that one, and those three batches were around half the size of the Tempest batches, meaning that the Tempest was far easier to find, and was more affordable and far less collectible. Plus the first 'Devils' debuted in 2013, so they're not closely related, although the specifications are similar.

Nowadays it's pretty much impossible to find cask strength Bowmore official bottlings, particularly with an age statement, unless you happen to be on Islay during the Feis Ile (or unless you buy a flipped bottle at auction a few days later). In fact you'll be hard-pressed to find an official Bowmore with an ABV higher than 43%, with the NAS 'Vault Edition' series being pretty much the only option at present. I've tried the first release in that series, and it was enjoyable, but with an asking price of $220 in Australia it 's roughly twice the price of the last of the Tempests, which is a bit nasty! That said, there is a 'Vintner's Trilogy' series coming which will consist of three age-stated expressions finished in various wine casks, but - if they get to Australia - I'd say we can expect them to be rather expensive as well. That lack of higher strength available Bowmores is a real shame, because they can be delicious, particularly thanks to the lack of chill filtration. Aside from showing a more assertive side to the distillery, they can also showcase some of the bright tropical fruit character that older Bowmore bottlings were known for, particularly when they were matured in ex-bourbon casks.

Which brings us to the whisky at hand. Bowmore Tempest, Batch 6, which was released in 2015. This is a 10-year old single malt that was matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks before being bottled at a cask strength of 54.9%. Unlike the vast majority of Bowmore's official bottlings it's non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, so this is pretty much as natural as the distillery's bottlings get. This one was a real bargain when it was last released in Australia, with a certain large retailer selling it for around $95 AUD, which is only a few dollars above what the regular 12-year old at 40% ABV goes for on this continent. For a limited release, cask strength Islay malt with an age statement, that is an absolute steal. In fact I suspect that either that large retailer made an error with their pricing, or they got a bargain price from their source, whoever it was. That deal is now long gone of course, but a couple of smaller online retailers still have some stock at higher prices. Seeing that this Tempest was matured in all first-fill casks, and that Bowmore is only peated to around 25 ppm, we shouldn't expect a big peat monster here, but we can expect a little more Islay character than the 'core range' offers. It's tasting time!

Bowmore Tempest, 10 Year Old, 54.9%. Islay, Scotland.
Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, bottled at cask strength. Batch 6 released 2015, 12,000 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Light-medium gold.

Nose: Soft and a little closed initially, with semi-dried pineapple, coal dust, spicy wood embers and candied grapefruit. Once it opens up more there's rich vanilla fudge, mango skins, some lemon and a little floral sweetness. Further on there's a nice wet stone minerality and some damp malted barley.

Texture: Medium weight, builds slowly, warming but no heat.

Taste: Soft on entry, with loads of dried citrus - grapefruit and lemon, and a soft minerality with damp rocks and sea spray. Some more coal dust / chimney soot and more vanilla fudge.

Finish: Short-medium length. More dried citrus and chimney soot, and a little astringent and drying. Then dried pineapple again, white pepper, and vanilla sponge cake with lemon icing.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: It may not be massively complex, and it doesn't have the immediate intensity of most 10-year old cask strength Islays, but it's a very enjoyable dram regardless with plenty of character. In fact I can comfortably say it's the best bourbon cask-only Bowmore that I've tasted to date. That tropical fruit that I mentioned earlier is there, as is the citrus that I've found in pretty much all of the better Bowmores. The chimney soot / coal dust note is excellent too, which might have something to do with the distillery using powdered peat for their floor-malted barley (although that only makes up a small part of their malt requirements), but I could be wrong there. In any case it works very well in this dram, and this one was an absolute bargain at the last price that that large retailer had it going for. If you managed to get one back then, that was definitely a win for you!

If you've been hearing good things about Bowmore but the distillery has never quite clicked for you, I suggest you get your hands on a cask strength version without the chill filtration, and preferably from first-fill casks. I'm guessing it'll all make more sense to you after that!

Cheers!

Starward Bourbon Cask Whisky Review!

The first ever ex-bourbon cask bottling from Starward, the best bang-for-buck Australian single malt distillery around. Exciting stuff!

Ex-bourbon cask malts may be a dime a dozen from most whisky producers around the world, but they're far less common in Australian single malts. There are only a couple of Australian distilleries that are using ex-bourbon casks on a regular basis, largely thanks to our massive import costs, their relative scarcity, and the abundance of Australian wine and fortified wine casks. So the majority of high quality Australian single malts are matured in Australian ex-port (officially 'tawny') and ex-sherry (officially 'apera') casks, and red wine casks to a lesser extent. But ex-bourbon casks can work very well with Australian single malts, with Melbourne's Bakery Hill and Tasmania's Sullivan's Cove being the most widely-known examples.

Melbourne-based Starward, produced by New World Distillery, are best known for their accessible and (by Australian standards) affordable Wine Cask and Solera "core" expressions, with the former being matured in fresh Australian red wine casks, and the latter being matured in Apera (Australian sherry) casks in a solera system. They're both intentionally very easy-drinking and crowd-pleasing whiskies, at 41% and 43% ABV respectively, but for the more hardcore whisky fans they can be a little light. Aside from 2017's Tenth Anniversary release, the only way to get higher strength offerings from New World Distillery was the "New World Projects" range of limited and often experimental bottlings. The "Projects" releases have been around for quite some time, and actually started off with the distillery staff playing around and experimenting with different casks and different maturation techniques. But the label has been a little quiet recently.

But the distillery hasn't been slacking off - the demand has been so strong that they recently ran out of their core range whiskies for a while, and haven't recovered yet - and they've recently re-launched the Projects range, now known as Starward Whisky Projects, now in a 500ml bottle with a more presentable design. And the first Projects release since the re-launch is Starward / New World's first bourbon cask-matured whisky! It's substantially older than the core bottlings at 4.5 years of age, and it spent all of that time in first-fill ex-bourbon casks from Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey, before being bottled at 52% ABV without chill filtration or added colouring. That ABV won't be full cask strength of course, but it's a nice substantial drinking strength and it worked very well with the aforementioned Tenth Anniversary bottling. There wasn't a lot of build-up or marketing hype for this new whisky, in fact it was all done relatively quietly, but it didn't matter: the 1200 bottles released sold out on the official website within hours of release, despite only a select few having tasted it in advance. Which just goes to show the loyal following that Starward & New World has, and the level of faith that following has in the distillery crew. But then again, if you decide to try a new limited release Australian whisky before buying in the current climate, you're essentially deciding either to miss out completely or to pay an inflated price further down the track, so it often involves a slight leap of faith.

Some naysayers may be baulking at that 500ml bottle size, but let's remember that the reduction in size means there were nearly 30% more bottles to go around than there would have been otherwise, and that pricing is generally kept to a reasonable level. At least it is in Starward's case, since unfortunately there are plenty of other Australian producers that go the other way, even with 500ml bottles. Speaking of pricing, this one was priced at $109 AUD - including shipping - straight from the distillery, which is extremely reasonable for a limited-release Australian single malt at a higher strength. Some may also baulk at that 4.5-year age, and no there isn't an age statement printed on the label, but don't forget that Starward take full advantage of Melbourne's famously indecisive climate, and as a result their whiskies are far more mature than the numbers would suggest. But as always, the proof is in the pudding!

Starward Bourbon Cask, NAS, 52% ABV. Melbourne, Australia.
Matured for 4.5 years in ex-Maker's Mark & Wild Turkey bourbon casks. 1200 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Quite sweet, banana lollies, slightly dusty, some lightly sour pineapple sherbet, and a little aniseed in the background. Some green apple & melon, vanilla custard powder, a little white chocolate, and marshmallows dusted with icing sugar.

Texture: Medium weight, rich & lightly chewy. There's a little heat, but not an unpleasant amount.

Taste: Drier than the nose suggested, quite astringent as well. More of that sweet banana confectionery (Starward's trademark esters of course), some savoury crystalised (grainy) honey, white pepper, vanilla custard and a little caramelised oak.

Finish: Short-medium length. A little spirit-y initially, becoming mellow with more pineapple, green melon, aniseed and white pepper. Vanilla custard again, but more of a baked custard now, and a flash of those bananas and aniseed before fading away.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Notes: A nice tasty dram for sure, and very much what you'd expect from a light, young, ester-y whisky matured in fresh bourbon casks. It has plenty of character though, as usual from Starward, and the nose is a particular highlight although it's very much on the sweet side of things. The overall effect isn't massively complex, but there is enough going on to keep things interesting. That touch of heat is a little distracting admittedly, but it's not harsh or rough, particularly when you consider that this is a 4.5-year old whisky bottled at 52%. Which is showing the fruits (pun intended) of Starward's labour, and the effects of the local weather conditions of course. So this Bourbon Cask expression doesn't quite have the magic of the Tenth Anniversary bottling in my book, nor the brilliant distillery-exclusive Cognac Cask, but it's nevertheless another enjoyable Starward, and like those aforementioned drams it showcases a different side to the spirit that isn't seen in the two core expressions. Which of course is what the Projects series is all about.

We also need to consider the pricing here. I don't usually account for that that in my scoring, and I haven't in this review. But where some Australian single malts have literally doubled in price over the last few years, and are still selling despite them now being beyond the reach of most drinkers and even their previously loyal fans, to have a limited release at higher strength sell for such a reasonable price is a breath of fresh air. I know the fans of some of those very expensive Aussie whiskies are going to rebut that Starward is one of the largest malt whisky producers in the country, and is the only one to attract international investment so far, which is a fair point - and is no bad thing if you ask me. I'm all for the small producers who are making quality whisky at reasonable prices, but those are becoming harder to find these days. I'd place Starward, Bakery Hill, Black Gate, Belgrove, Bellwether and the newcomer Launceston Distillery in that camp, and that's about it. They're producing great quality whisky at relatively affordable prices, rather than banking on the apparent collectibility of Australian whiskies and choosing to put their product out of reach for most of their initial supporters. And more power to them.

Cheers!

New Port Charlotte 10 & Islay Barley Whisky Reviews!

I've been a big fan of Bruichladdich's heavily-peated Port Charlotte range for quite some time, since trying the excellent PC7 cask strength expression around five years ago (and I was lucky to find it!). Talk about jumping into the deep end! Since those early days I've loved all of the Port Charlottes that I've come across, some more than others of course, but the label does seem to get a little lost in the crowd in the peated Islay whisky sector. It doesn't have the immediate brand recognition of Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Ardbeg, even among the more serious peat-heads, and I'd say that one of the limiting factors is the excellent quality & success of Octomore, Bruichladdich's super-heavily peated range. Which makes Port Charlotte something of a middle child, stuck between the massively-peated Octomore and the un-peated Bruichladdich whiskies.

Of course Bruichladdich are aware of this, and not being one to sit on their laurels, they've recently taken the bull by the horns and re-launched the Port Charlotte brand. Port Charlotte was always packaged in the same bottles as the namesake Bruichladdich bottlings, carrying very similar labels & designs including those on the outer tins, which wasn't helping the 40 ppm peated Port Charlotte stand out. So they've come up with a new bottle design, including going from clear to dark green-coloured glass, which is more inline with the other Islay staples, and also making sure that the beautiful, but often pale, natural colour doesn't alienate any of the (perhaps less discerning) potential buyers out there. I do like the new design, it has something of a military feel to it in my book - maybe smoke grenades, which is appropriate -  and they're chunkier and more solid in feel as well. The labels and outer tins haven't changed, and you'll find just as much information printed on them as always. Plus the liquid inside is just as good as it's always been, which of course is the main thing!

 Out with the old (L), and in with the new (R)!

The new Port Charlotte bottles actually debuted in June this year at Feis Ile (the Islay festival) with two distillery-exclusive expressions, and a couple of the hand-filled Valinch / Cask Exploration bottlings since, but these two new expressions are the first of the general releases to feature the new design. The two new general releases that I'm looking at today are Port Charlotte 10-year old, which is now a permanent expression (unlike the last two versions and the cask strength PC10), and Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011 vintage. I was lucky enough to attend the recent Brisbane trade launch of these two new whiskies, which was hosted by Chloe Wood, Bruichladdich's amazing brand ambassador for the Asia Pacific region (based in Singapore), along with Mark Hickey & Casey Gray from Spirits Platform, Bruichladdich's importer & distributor for Australia. Chloe's knowledge of every facet of the distillery was fantastic, and being an Ileach (Islay native) and having worked at Bruichladdich herself, it was all first-hand. It was also great to see this sort of event happen in Brisbane, when we'd normally be passed over in favour of the bright lights of Sydney and/or Melbourne. I was also lucky / sneaky enough to get a couple of samples of both of these new Port Charlottes to review in detail, so let's get to it!

We'll start with the 10-year old, a new permanent Port Charlotte edition at that age. The delicious original Port Charlotte 10-year old (reviewed here) was first released in early 2012 under the reign of the legendary Jim McEwan, and was a 60/40 split of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, bottled at 46%. So not to be confused with the far rarer and more limited PC10, which was bottled at cask strength as the sixth release in the "PC_" series. Both of those were landmark bottlings, since they marked the "coming of age" of the Port Charlotte spirit that was first distilled in May 2001, soon after the distillery's revival. That original 10-year old was intended to be a permanent expression at the time of release, but the stock & production couldn't keep up, and it was discontinued. It was followed by the "second edition" Port Charlotte 10-year old in late 2016, which saw the bottling strength increase to 50% ABV at the same time as the standard strength of the Bruichladdich line-up. That one had an interesting cask profile, being matured in first-fill ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, Spanish and French red wine casks, and it was a limited run of 18,000 bottles, released alongside the Bruichladdich & Octomore 10-year old second editions.

Which brings us to the new permanent addition, simply named Port Charlotte 10. This one is actually replacing the current entry-level Port Charlotte whisky, the NAS (multi-vintage in Bruichladdich speak) Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, and it's slated to arrive in Australia in late October / early November this year, at an RRP of around $115-120 AUD. It's still made from 100% Scottish barley, and has been matured in 65% first-fill ex-bourbon casks, 10% second-fill ex-bourbon casks, and 25% second hill un-named French red wine casks, before being bottled at 50% ABV, without any added colouring or chill filtration. Which is a pretty good resume for an entry-level expression! Tasting time...

Port Charlotte 10 (year old), 50% ABV. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled from Scottish barley peated to 40 ppm, matured in 65% first-fill ex-bourbon, 10% second-fill ex-bourbon, and 25% second-fill French wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Fresh & bright, very Bruichladdich in ts overall style, with a lovely soft, dry, crumbly peat, light brine, some banana cream and a touch of pineapple. Lovely toasted oak and a little mint, citrus rind, a couple of dried strawberries and some pastry dough.

Texture: Lovely. Creamy and soft, medium weight, and no heat at all.

Taste: The lovely crumbly and soft peat again, with that pastry dough and fresh citrus around the edges. A nice touch of sea salt and a little butterscotch. Creamy vanilla and coconut, and a little mashed banana, with a flash of dry wood smoke behind.

Finish: Medium length. Toasted coconut and creamy vanilla, with a light briny undercurrent. The dry peat returns plus a little ash, and a lovely creamy smoky citrus like a burnt lemon meringue.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Very nice stuff! So soft and balanced, even at 50% ABV. Bright and inviting on the nose, and so creamy on the palate, with no off-notes whatsoever. Very easy drinking as well with no heat or harshness. It's not a big peaty bruiser like some other 10-year old Islays, this is a very approachable and comforting dram with loads of character. It's hard to fathom that this is now the entry-level Port Charlotte! Excellent value for money as well. Sign me up now.

Next up, Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011! Being a "vintage" release this is obviously a limited bottling, and is the second Port Charlotte release that was distilled from Islay barley. The previous iteration, the fantastic 2008 vintage, was packaged in a white outer tin, was distilled from Oxbridge and Optic barley that was grown on six different farms on Islay, and was matured in ex-bourbon casks for around seven years prior to bottling at 50% ABV. This new release is packaged in a light grey outer tin (I believe the Valinch bottlings now get the white tins), and was distilled from Oxbridge and Publican barley that was grown on three different farms on Islay, but the cask profile is quite different on this one. It was matured for around seven years in 25% first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and 75% second-fill wine casks, of the Syrah and Merlot varieties. Those are both relatively heavy red wines, but being second-fill casks, and being a young whisky, we shouldn't expect a massive wine influence in this one. Islay Barley 2011 has already landed in Australia, and is being distributed as we speak, with an RRP of around $115 AUD. Islay-grown barley now makes up a third of Bruchladdich's annual barley requirements, which is great to see!

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011, NAS, 50%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled from Islay barley peated to 40 ppm, matured in 75% first-fill ex-bourbon casks & 25% second-fill ex-red wine casks, around 6 years old. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Richer and heavier, but still bright and inviting. Oily putty, like a dark gritty gap-filler, some sweet citrus (lemon) and warm sandy beaches. A nice light minerality, like wet stone or damp clay, and a nice creamy white chocolate.

Texture: Oh yes. Medium-heavy weight, rich and lightly oily. No heat at all.

Taste: Rich and peaty, a nice dry peat with some wood ash mixed in. Sweet citrus again, a touch of mixed berry jam, fresh tar, some white pepper, and more of the damp clay and that oily putty.

Finish: Medium length. Peaches & cream, sweet citrus again, more damp earthy clay and a nice dry peatyness that surges & fades. Some salty driftwood and ashy wood smoke, and a lovely golden barley pokes through!

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Love this dram. Again it's very drinkable for what is a very young whisky, especially at 50% ABV, and I doubt that you'd guess it to be just six-ish years old. It's definitely more peat-forward and perhaps less complex, and it's also less expressive on the nose than the 10 year old, but if you like your peat you'll dig (pun intended) this one. It's definitely very different to the last Port Charlotte Islay Barley as well, which is no doubt down to those second-fill wine casks. It's still quite a light, clean and easy-drinking malt for what is a 40 ppm (on the barley) whisky at six years of age and 50%. Which of course is the beauty of Bruichladdich!

Overall notes: Well, both of these Port Charlottes were just added to my "buy" list. Both are of excellent quality, they're full of character with plenty of interesting new notes to discover, but the 'laddie DNA is still present in both of these whiskies. If I had to pick an outright winner it would obviously be the Islay Barley, but you can't go wrong with either of these really. The 10 is softer and more rounded, as you'd expect, and the nose is definitely more expressive on that one, but the palate and finish on the younger Ileach are just delicious. Both will offer excellent value for money as well, particularly when you consider the higher strengths, natural presentations and the provenance, in 'laddie speak, that they offer. I love pretty much everything that Bruichladdich do these days, and that doesn't seem likely to change in the future.

Along with the re-launch and these two new Port Charlottes, there's also a new and very exciting travel-exclusive Marsala cask expression coming, dubbed MC01 (Marsala Cask 01), which will replace the excellent CC01 Cognac cask bottling, and a limited wine cask finished expression, dubbed MRC01. It just so happens that the Port Charlotte cask that was offered at the distillery's warehouse experience that I attended last year was matured in a similar wine cask, and it was absolutely fantastic, in fact it even overshadowed the 11-year old Octomore that followed it! So I have high hopes for MRC01 as well. I think we can expect even bigger things from Port Charlotte in future, and I'm looking forward to tasting those things!

A big thanks to Mark & Casey from Spirits Platform and Chloe Wood from Bruichladdich for having me at the very informative launch event, and of course for the samples, and an extra thanks to the people at Bruichladdich for continuing to bring us excellent quality whisky. We all love you for it. 

Cheers!

Two Port Charlotte Valinch (Cask Exploration) Whisky Reviews!

What's a Port Charlotte Valinch, you might ask? They're hand-filled Port Charlottes, filled straight from the cask in Bruichladdich's shop at the distillery! Aside from the inevitable online auctions and private secondary market, the only way to get your hands on one of these whiskies is to get yourself to the distillery shop on Islay. Having done so myself, believe me when I say it's definitely worth the trip!

All but one of the island's distilleries (I'm looking at you, Ardbeg!) offer either a distillery exclusive or hand-filled bottling (plus Feis Ile bottlings if your timing - and luck - are spot on), with even giant Caol Ila now offering hand-filled 200ml bottles for purchase in their shop, in addition to their distillery exclusive bottling that was released in 2017. Laphroaig offer hand-filled 250ml bottles as part of their two top-tier distillery tours, the "Distiller's Wares Tour" and the "Water to Whisky Experience", where you taste three whiskies straight from the cask in their warehouse, and then choose your favourite to bottle and take home. Lagavulin have a distillery exclusive bottling and often exclusive Feis Ile or Jazz Festival bottlings, and Bunnahabhain usually offer both hand-filled and distillery exclusive bottlings, often taken from unusual cask types. Kilchoman usually have a high-level distillery shop exclusive single cask bottling, while Bowmore offers distillery exclusive hand-filled bottles, again if your timing is right, although you don't actually bottle those yourself. And I should add that most of these exclusive bottlings are quite reasonably priced.

But there aren't many that can match Bruichladdich's Valinch offerings, where there are usually two casks to choose from, an un-peated Bruichladdich and a heavily-peated Port Charlotte (40 ppm). Or you could also get both, of course! A valinch by the way is a long tube-shaped siphon used to draw liquid from casks through the bung hole. These single cask bottlings are sold in 500ml bottles, usually for around 70-75 pounds, and are filled straight from the tapped casks in the distillery shop. There's no need to do a distillery tour to purchase, although I do recommend both that and the fantastic warehouse experience if you're making the journey. Adding to the allure is the fact that these Valinch casks are often unusual, most commonly being a wide variety of red wine casks (in typical Bruichladdich style), but also dessert wine, white wine, virgin oak, and of course sherry and bourbon casks have been released. The Bruichladdich releases are titled 'The Laddie Valinch', and are often named for distillery staff members, while the Port Charlotte releases are titled "Cask Exploration", and often have a Gaelic name. Obviously these whiskies are always bottled at cask strength, and are never chill filtered or artificially coloured, and the quality level is usually very high.

The two that I'm looking at today are Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 07, which was released in mid-2016, and Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 12, which was released in early 2017. Cask Exploration 07 is a 9-year old Port Charlotte that was fully-matured in a Rivesaltes red wine cask, cask number 1653, which yielded 393 bottles at a huge ABV of 64.7%. Rivesaltes is a style of sweet fortified wine, usually red, produced in the south-west of France, and it's often left outdoors in glass containers to stabilise before being filled into casks. Cask Exploration 12 is a 9-year old Port Charlotte that was fully-matured in a Barolo wine cask, cask number 1739, which yielded 436 bottles at 59.9% ABV. Barolo is a red wine from northern Italy, made from Nebbiolo grapes, and is often quite heavy and tannic wine. Port Charlotte often gets overlooked by some whisky fans, with either the un-peated Bruichladdich or the super-heavily-peated Octomore getting most of the attention. But Port Charlotte is a little bit of a sleeper, nicely smoky & sweet, which should work well with these first-fill red wine casks! The samples I'm reviewing came from a fellow whisky nerd, who sourced both bottles from a popular UK auction site. Let's get to it...

Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 12, 9-years old, 59.9%. Islay, Scotland.
Distillery exclusive hand-filled. Distilled 9/2007, released 2017. Matured in a single first-fill Barolo Italian wine cask, cask number 1739, yielded 436 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Quite shy, even after breathing time & warming. Nicely dirty & funky though, with dried sour red & citrus fruits, some 'laddie lactic funk but in a more dirty & drier way than usual. A little floral & heather-y sweetness, and some dry earthy peat in the background.

Texture: Medium weight, quite dry and peppery, a little heat but not a huge amount for a 9-year old whisky at nearly 60% ABV.

Taste: More peat here, quite dry as well with that peppery spice. Still not a lot of peat though, more of a dry earthy-ness. Certainly not at the level of smoke that I've found in other cask strength Port Charlottes. Some thick stewed fruits and that dirty funky-ness in the background.

Finish: Medium length, a little hot and peppery again. A little cologne and stewed fruit, and it is tannic, but they're more wood tannins than wine tannins to my palate.

Score: 3 out of 5.

Notes: Not a big heat for me to be honest, the funky-ness and fruit are a nice touch but that dry peppery spice is too dominant and doesn't play nicely with others. I did add a little water after the tasting notes, just to see what happened, and as you'd expect it dialled down the pepper and dialled up the sweetness, bringing it more towards the lactic sweetness that Bruichladdich is famous for.

Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 07, 9-years old, 64.7%. Islay, Scotland.
Distillery exclusive hand-filled. Distilled 8/2006, released 2016. Matured in a single first-fill Rivesaltes French wine cask, cask number 1653, yielded 393 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Full amber. Much darker.

Nose: Much richer & fuller. Loads of dark chocolate and shredded coconut, toasted oak and some lanolin (sheep's wool grease used in skin creams) which is very interesting! Some sweet & musty dessert wine, can't quite put my finger on it so I assume it's the Rivesaltes showing itself. There's a little peat smoke as well, but only a trace.

Texture: Rich & funky. medium weight, far less hot than the Barolo cask despite the added 5% ABV.

Taste: More chocolate! Fruit & nut semi-dark chocolate, and a little more of that lanolin and shredded coconut, and the toasted oak. Some dried fruit, and a touch of dry earthy peat.

Finish: Medium length. A little spice initially, then that sweet, syrupy & musty dessert wine, more lanolin, dried stone fruit and a flash of earthy peat.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Very nice! Totally different to the Barolo cask, as it should be of course, but it's much richer, and more mature in my humble opinion. Really enjoyable, and I'm loving that lanolin note that I don't remember finding before to this degree. It's a big whisky of course but it's not hot or aggressive with the alcohol being well hidden, and the flavours carry through very well. Great stuff.

Overall Notes: Two extremely different whiskies! Both a surprisingly light on the peat and smoke, in fact they're very different animals compared to the other cask strength Port Charlottes that I've tried at a similar age. But that's the beauty of single cask whiskies of course, no two are the same, as nature intended. There's no denying how special these drams are, being hand-filled single cask Port Charlottes that have come from that cosy haven of a shop / visitor's centre at the distillery, there's no more where they came from. And being matured in usual cask types just adds to that allure, which is often the case with these valinch bottlings from Bruichladdich.

Obviously the Barolo cask and I didn't quite hit it off, and the Rivesaltes cask absolutely smashed it despite the not-insignificant jump in strength. I suspect that given these two in a blind tasting I would've guessed the latter to be older than the former, which isn't the case, I'm assuming it was just a more active cask. Nonetheless, knowing where these whiskies came from takes me right back to that grey, rainy "dreich" day on the shore of Loch Indaal, when the rain started as I arrived and stopped as I departed, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. I can't wait to get back there again in a couple of month's time!

Cheers!

Signatory Vintage Mortlach 14 Year Old Whisky Review!

My first Mortlach review! I've tasted a couple of excellent independent bottlings from this mysterious distillery, but this is the first fully ex-bourbon cask matured example that I've taken a close look at. Should be interesting!

Mortlach Distillery has quite the cult following, mainly thanks to its weighty, meaty, sulphurous character, which is quite unusual for a Speyside distillery. Mortlach is located in Dufftown, a couple of minutes down the road from Glenfiddich & Balvenie, and was actually the first legal distillery in the town when it was officially founded in 1823. A century later Mortlach was purchased by the John Walker & Sons company, which was publicly listed in the same year, and would become part of Distillers Company Limited (DCL) two years later, which then became United Distillers, and is now part of Diageo. The name Mortlach (pronounced "mort-lack") stems from the village and abbey of the same name that preceded the current town of Dufftown, which was established in 1817. Interestingly, in the 1880s Mortlach's distillery manager was none other than William Grant, who in 1886 decided to leave his place of employ of over 20 years to found a little start-up distillery by the name of Glenfiddich...

Mortlach's main claim to fame is its unique distillation regimen. Since 1897 or so, the distillery has carried out 2.81-times distillation through its six stills, each of which is different to the next. So not double- or triple-distillation, but 2.81-times distillation, and it makes Springbank's 2.5-times distillation method seem simple in comparison! To help us along, wash still no. 3 and spirit still no. 3 work as a pair like they do in most other distilleries, where the low wines produced by the wash still are sent to the spirit still for their second distillation, and the foreshots & feints from that run are recycled back into the wash still for the next run. So we can discount those two stills for now, but I'm afraid it gets much more complicated from there! If you're not feeling it so far, I suggest you skip the next paragraph...

The short version (because it's actually even more complicated) is that the hearts (middle cuts) from wash stills no. 1 and no. 2 are combined and filled into spirit still no. 2. Then the foreshots and feints (heads and tails) from those two wash stills, no.1 and no. 2, are mixed with the combined foreshots and feints from spirit stills no. 2 and no. 3, and filled into spirit still no. 1, affectionately known as "wee witchie". But just to make things more difficult, that "wee witchie" still is actually run twice per spirit run, but no cuts are taken from the first go around, the whole distillation is fed back into the same still to be distilled again. So some of the final spirit has only been distilled twice, some more than three times, and some has been distilled four times, and someone more intelligent than myself has calculated the end result to be a 2.81-times-distilled spirit. That meaty, weighty character is also helped along by short fermentation times, downward-angled lyne arms on all stills (some more than others), and the use of worm tub condensers for less interaction with copper, which in turn removes less sulphur from the spirit. Phew!

Like many of Diageo's distilleries, the vast majority of Mortlach's three million litre annual production capacity goes into blends, and for quite some time the only way to taste Mortlach as a single malt was to source an independent bottling, most often from Gordon & MacPhail, who's 15- and 21-year old regular bottlings are both very tasty. Until a few years ago there had only been a handful of official bottlings of Mortlach, most notably the 16-year old Flora & Fauna bottling, but a range of new expressions debuted in 2014. That range was and still is controversial, largely because all expressions were only sold in 500ml bottles at steep prices, and the only expression bottled at a strength higher than 43.4% ABV (an odd choice to begin with, but a traditional strength for the distillery), named "Special Strength" was exclusive to travel retail (duty free) stores. What also didn't help is that the only age statements in the range were an 18-year old priced at $285 AUD, and a 25-year old priced at over $1,000 AUD. And they're only 500ml bottles, remember! But Diageo aren't silly, and they've recently discontinued that range and re-launched Mortlach for a second time, while addressing a few of those issues.

In comparison though, Gordon & MacPhail's 21-year old Mortlach sells for around $220, and the 15-year old can be found for around $130 AUD, both in full-sized bottles. Since independent bottlings were largely responsible for the distillery's reputation, in my opinion they're still the way to go to experience Mortlach as a  single malt. I've also tasted a couple of very good cask strength bottlings from Signatory Vintage, but the subject of today's review will be a little different to those, since it was bottled at 43% ABV. This is a 14-year old bottling that was distilled in 2002, matured in two ex-bourbon hogshead (250-litre) casks, and was bottled in late 2016 without added colouring, and apparently without chill filtration, although you won't find that stated anywhere on the packaging. The sample for this review came from the Australian importer & distributor for Signatory Vintage, The Whisky Company.

Signatory Vintage Mortlach 14-year old, 43%. Dufftown, Scotland.
Distilled 9/2002, matured in two ex-bourbon hogsheads (refill, I would say), casks 12598 & 12599, bottled 12/2016. Natural colour, unknown chill filtration.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Loads of sweet, runny honey, sweetened lemon juice and a little dry oak. Vegetal sulphur - meaty, slightly waxy over-cooked steamed root vegetables. A little spicy & lightly floral cologne, and a few green apples around the edges.

Texture: Nice for 43% ABV. Medium weight, lightly meaty, and a slight touch of heat.

Taste: Quite a bit dryer here, with more spice and dry oak, and that lightly meaty vegetal sulphur, particularly the root vegetable note. The honey & lemon juice are still there, but they've been pushed into the background.

Finish: Short length. The sulphur note carries through, with a little black pepper added to the mix, and the lemon juice returns. Then a little dry spice, before the honey returns alongside some nutty oak and powdered aniseed.

Score: 2.5 out of 5.

Notes: That may not be a huge score, but it's still a passing grade remember, and this is still an enjoyable whisky. The nose is definitely the highlight, with that sweet runny honey and lemon juice working very well together, and the sulphur doesn't dominate. Also bear in mind that this isn't the nasty rotten egg, vulcanised rubber and burnt match-style of sulphur that can easily ruin a whisky, it's lighter and much more pleasant than that. It's also there by design, it's not an accident or an oversight, and it's what Mortlach is known for! It definitely adds weight and depth to the experience as well, and it sets this distillery aside from most of its Speyside neighbours.

That said, in my opinion the palate and finish on this whisky do let the whole show down. Being matured in refill ex-bourbon casks gives this dram a very different character to the big, meaty and savoury sherry cask-matured whiskies that Mortlach is renowned for, and I would say there's more of the actual spirit character on show here. But I must admit, given the choice between the two, I would go for the 15-year old Mortlach from Gordon & MacPhail, which is largely matured in refill sherry casks, as a good example of the distillery style, despite it being a little more expensive than this Signatory bottling. But it's always fun to try a different take on a distillery's style, and that's what you're getting here.

Cheers!