CLYNELISH 2008 10YO - SIGNATORY FOR TWE

There was a time when this distillery flew quietly under the radar - a time when malts like this one were only drunk by the whisky anorak, a time when what was in the bottle mattered but those days are over...

Today, the contents still matters to some, of course, but we also now see Clynelish being snapped up for investment purposes, sadly... This has created a surge in prices both on the primary but also secondary markets over the past couple of years.

Another whisky drinkers whisky this has happened to, is Springbank - a distillery that will have a harder time than Clynelish keeping up with demand and an ever growing fan base.

The first real sign of this, was the ever growing number of participants for the Campbeltown Malt Whisky Festival these past 4 years (not counting 2020, of course) Also now, for the first time ever there will be a ballot for the bottles for the Springbank Society Fan Club - a club that should have stopped signing up new members when it was clear that Springbank couldn't keep up the same level of service to existing members as previously. A controversial statement, I know - but rather that than risk loosing hard-core returning customers down the line...
They are, after all, the customers they must rely on when times gets hard again - and it will, eventually... 

A sign of the times, I'm afraid - a time where I truly feel sorry for people just starting their whisky journey. A journey that will be both more expensive and poorer in quality than even just a few years ago.

Let's return to the whisky in question, though...
This whisky was selected and bottled for the 20th anniversary of that London heavyweight, The Whisky Exchange along with a small handful of other bottlings.
Signatory has a pretty good reputatation surrounding them as has the cask pickers at The Whisky Exchange so I just straight in and bought a bottle back when it came out in 2019  - Check below for the verdict

Clynelish Distillery, October 10th 2014 - © The Malt Desk

Clynelish 2008 10yo (06.06.2008/01.04.2019) 57,4%, 1st fill ex-bourbon cask#800139, 237 bottles, Signatory Vintage for TWE's 20th Anniversary

Nose:

Upon first approach, the smells you get when you open the spice cabinet. Both with regular spices and ones used in baking, vanilla, all spice, white pepper, icing sugar, licorice root.

Also in there are a hint of camphor drops, delicious oak notes, a slight floral note and green malt mixed in with a mineral note (chalk/flint ??)
Also initially got a hint of fresh onions (Imagine that! :-O ) though it disappeared again when the other notes came through. All in all quite fresh and lively...

Taste:

Not really finding much the usual Clynelish waxy style here, though hints of it do seem to come through. My thoughts are that this might need a few more years to have the notes we know so well come through? I certainly see why they're bottling the standard expression at 14yo.

There seems to be a rumor floating around that a few of the production years during the 00's didn't quite deliver the style of spirit they were aiming for - maybe this is one of them? Then maybe not as I am picking up a slight note of that
recognizeable Clynelish style :-)

Anyway, the cask generally seems to be of good quality allowing a good amount of malt/barley sugars to shine, natural oils, bags of white fruit, quite a floral honey note and some lemony notes dominating along with the malt

All in all, this is quite nice, but I prefer my Clynelish with a bit more age to them... Still, this has potential

86/100!

BENRINNES 2000 19YO - CADENHEAD IN THE COURTYARD

Time flies - its been 2 weeks since the last post :-O  - also keeping this a short one...

I recently opened the bottle which I'm about to review and I thought I'd let it breathe a bit before giving my opinion on it.... and yes, I know - it's another Benrinnes - but it's a good one!

This bottle was one a little more than a handful of expression available at the Cadenhead in the Courtyard event in September 2019 - a sort of a Cadenhead Open Day outside the one they usually share with Kilkerran during the Campbeltown Malt Festival in May

We were lucky with the weather too for this event back then and the Courtyard event itself combined with a few upstairs tastings and warehouse tasting made this a perfect day out! Add to that the opportunity to take away some bottlings exclusive to this event - what a treat!

Draff being dumped from Benrinnes on 3rd May 2010 © The Malt Desk

Benrinnes 2000 19yo 56,5%, 2 sherry hogsheads + 1 bourbon hogshead, 56,5%, Cadenhead in the Courtyard

Nose:
A slight alcohol nip at first, but then a clean fresh sherry style with rum raisins, cold coffee, milk chocolate, cough sweets, licorice root, and candied apple slices.
I do recognize this as a malt, but the moe inexperienced nose could easily mistake this for a rum, IMO

Taste:
For a second there, on arrival, this just gives an alcohol burn
This is chocolate and praline, a bit earthy style sherry here but still clean as a
whistle in its style, maybe a bit of that cough style camphor in here too?

Quite syrupy, but also a hint of some orangy notes peeping through mixed with coffee and strong tea. Somehow, I'm also getting the impression that this how a whisky/coffee/dark honey mix would taste like if not at cask strength like this one.

Great stuff, especially on the nose!
A real Winter Warmer!

89/100!

BENRINNES 1997 21YO 36.163 'A BLISS MOMENT' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

As promised in this review, I'll be review a bourbon cask Benrinnes - this one from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS)

Now, like many other indie bottlers out there, the SMWS has also struggled to keep up with demand. I remember when the SMWS was first introduced in Denmark and old bottlings at a fair price just kept coming in and draining my wallet at the time.

As whisky became more and more popular these now very exclusive whiskies are gone and have been replaced with something less - both in age and quality.
Sad, but that's how things go - and not just for the SMWS, but for all bottlers.
They can only bottle from the stock they have access to... and the hard facts are that the distillers can sell almost all that they produce themselves and this shows in their pricing too... and all we can now just sit back and reminisce.

Then sometimes, and this is already 2 years ago, bottlings like this one and other Benrinnes' from indie bottlers pops up - gets spotted by the experienced whisky drinker that recognizes a quality bottling, puts it on Social Media, and *puf* GONE !

You now have to chase these ones down almost as hard as you would a bottle of Glendronach, Clynelish or Macallan (not that I understand why with the latter anymore - their whisky just isn't that good anymore - it's only for collectors and for those that want whisky that has been branded a luxury item, but just, in fact, isn't one anymore in terms of quality! - rant over!) 

You see where this is going, right?
It's hard facts for you, I know - but that's the state of the whisky world with all those investors and bottle flippers out there...

Approaching the not so flattering looking Benrinnes Distillery on an overcast day, August 26th 2012 © The Malt Desk 

Benrinnnes 1997 36.163 (15.08.1997/xx.xx.2018) 21yo 'A Bliss Moment' 59,5%, 2nd fill ex-bourbon barrel, 179 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Nose:
Fresh fruit and vanilla carried in on a veil of barley sugar. The fruit, being much of the citrus kind gives hints of Cointreau liqueur, dusty hardwood in the attic, and a slight fresh gingery note along with the faintest hint of a metal workshop

Taste:
Big fruity arrival and then a rush of malt and slightly burnt pastry notes and apples.
The finish produces some peppery cask spices but also a slight paint thinner note peeping through on the finish with added water. This was not there before adding the water...

All in all, this is a very nice Benrinnes and there seem to be quite a few of them out there over these past couple of years. This is a very pleasant middle of the road whisky that's not overly complex, but what it does, it does sooo well - just don't add that water!

87/100!

Thanks to GNJ for the generous sample

MACALLAN 1989 31YO - CADENHEAD SHOP RELEASE 2020

Every year, these past few years, indie bottler Cadenheads has released bottlings chosen for each of their UK and Continental retail shops - and 2020 was no different - even with the Corona still raging...

The bottlings for released in Dec 2020 were:

Benriach 2010, 10yo
Bunnahabhain 2013, 7yo

Glenallachie 2007, 12yo

Glenburgie 2010, 10yo

Glendronach 1990, 30yo

Glenfarclas 2003, 17yo

Highland Park 1992, 28yo

Miltonduff 2008, 12yo

Macallan 1989, 31yo

Below, I'll pass on my initial impressions on the latter Macallan and I will also be slapping an initial score on it, but it will not get a full-on review with extensive notes due to the sample size. 

Visiting in September 2019, a period where the distillery should be packed with visitors, the ones there were what also the ones I feared fiding there...
Most visitors were from markets that see Macallan more like a luxury brand rather than a whisky.

Also, the decline in cask quality over the years are now showing.
The fabled old sulphur-free sherry casks of yesteryear are gone and I find that the new style, slightly sour sherry cask style/note that I also find in Highland Park has crept into Macallan. This makes perfect sense really, as Highland Park and Macallan are owned by the same parent company, Edrington and cask source is the same.

This bottling, however, comes from an ex-bourbon barrel, so we'll not be dealing with sherry off-notes here - and yes, Macallan does mature some of their spirit in ex-bourbon casks as opposed to general belief. This claim is also made by other distilleries that matures their whisky in sherry casks, but this is purely a marketing scheme.

This though is still not a guarantee of good wood as even bourbon casks go bad or infuse too much wood into the spirit. This being a Cadenhead bottling though, I do not expect this to be the case...

The small Macallan sample tasted below was made at the old Macallan distillery and not at the new shiny one pictured below. However impressive the new Macallan is, however carbon-neutral or 'green' they are its sadly also a monument over what the brand has become.

Let's try it

The new Macallan Distillery, September 17th 2019 © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1989 31yo 45,3%, ex-bourbon barrel, 108 bottles - Selected by the Cadenhead Odense Shop

Nose:

Loads of cask spices, a hint of resin, and pleasant vanilla and malt notes
Do I even detect a hint of ginger and hops in here?

Taste:

Good arrival with vanilla, juicy garden fruits, and a finish very much on crisp malt and oak in a good but not overly measure.

89/100!

Thanks to my friend JGJ for the sample

GLENFARCLAS-GLENLIVET 1973 41YO - CADENHEAD AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

After my last post, I thought it would be fitting to do a post where, as I mentioned here, some Cadenhead bottling actually do carry the Glenfarclas name - and this one of them. Bottled back in 2014, this is not one you'll come across every day, but if you do and want to treat yourself to a little extra, go for it

This family-owned distillery -one of the last in Scotland- is one of my favorite distilleries, certainly in my top 3. Why? Because they still do things the way they want to - and not to satisfy a large number of shareholders demanding a return on their stock every year. And you know what? It works for Glenfarclas!

Glenfarclas seems to make consistently good whisky which is very important and also seems to be able to still source some very good casks - especially their sherry casks! Long-standing contracts with sherry producers have secured a steady flow of good sherry casks and we just have to cross our fingers that this will last.

Glenfarclas Distillery Visitors Centre, September 15th 2019 © The Malt Desk

Glenfarclas-Glenlivet 1973 41yo 40,7%, bottled July 2014, ex-bourbon hogshead, 186 bottles, Cadenhead Authentic Collection

Nose:
Very laid back, quite possibly because of the low abv
It has dusty wood, vanilla, loads of sugary notes, the artificial strawberry scent from the strawberry cream caramels. Also vanilla, a little wood sap, and fruits in there, loads of them! Sweet mandarins, mango juice, peaches, and banana. Very tropical but also with that little touch of wood to keep it all in place - Very nice and I like this dignified old-style bourbon cask that still manages to deliver in spite of its very long time in the cask. 

Taste:
Gentle, yet expressive arrival...

This is candied fruits galore, turning into a nice malty finish.
We're all over the fruit range here, from apple notes, apricot, lemons, and honeydew melon covered in vanilla and a sprinkle of icing sugar.
All this turns into a slightly drying gingery note and some dusty greenish wood along with a dominant malty note that eventually has to give away to a little
drying oak and a slight herbal note.

This is a delicate malt and bottled just in time at 40,7%.
Also, more time in the cask will probably have tipped this OTT and introduced far more drying and bitter notes.

But at this stage - lovely old stuff! and since I don't do ½ points

91/100!

'A SPEYSIDE DISTILLERY' 2001 18YO - CADENHEAD VIRTUAL OPEN DAY 2020

In September 2019, independent bottler Wm. Cadenhead did their first dedicated Open Day event - just for them called Cadenhead in the Courtyard.
This was a new type of event to make up for them having to share the Kilkerran Open Day during the Campbeltown Malts Festival in May. This day also gave Cadenheads the opportunity to feature only their bottlings and tastings and also release some bottlings only for this day, also. It was great fun and an event to look out for in the future.

This year the Campbeltown Malt Festival was, of course, canceled due to Covid - and so was the planned Cadenhead in the Courtyard even for September 2020.

Instead, a virtual festival was arranged, which each brand having its own virtual Open Day and a release of a virtual festival bottle.

The one offered on the Cadenhead Virtual Open Day was the bottle featured in the review below... it's only named 'A Speyside Distillery' which, with Cadenhead, usually means the family-owned distillery in the Valley of the Green Grass - and I'll go out on a limb here and go along with that.

It's not that Cadenheads never bottle anything with this particular distillery name on - but due to legal reasons, they can only bottle 2 or 3 a year if I remember correctly. I'll shortly be reviewing one that carries the GF name.

It's also not only Cadenhead that is limited to this and this distillery that imposes restrictions on names. Its widely seen across the whisky industry.
Other examples are names like Williamson & Leapfrog for Laphroaig and when the label says 'An Orkney Malt', you have a Highland Park.

On to the review...

Glenfarclas Distillery Visitors Center, September 23rd 2016 © The Malt Desk

'A Speyside Distillery' 2001 18yo 52,3% (dist. xx.10.2001 - bott xx.10.2020) 1 ex-bourbon + 1 ex-sherry cask, 552 bottles, Cadenhead Virtual Open Day 2020

Nose:

OK, I'm guessing that if you get this straight out of a newly open bottle you'll wrinkle your nose...
My bottle has now been open for a couple of weeks and the nose has certainly come to life with notes of malt barns, damp slightly bitter/sweet wood notes, brown sugar, cracked peppercorns and a slight sour note.
Various wood spices start to dominate a bit along with more dry and sweet sherry influence and a hint of milk chocolate bars.

All quite well - even though it doesn't seem to swim well

Taste:
Much better (without water, that is)

The sherry notes are coming through very clearly - though, I'm having a hard time determining if the wood spices that follow are from the bourbon or the sherry cask used.

I'm getting quite an active bourbon cask in the background (I might be wrong) then sweet and spicy, nutmeg, caramel, dark honey, a hint of dark chili-infused chocolate, drying cinnamon, powdered ginger, and hint of orange peel.

It's all very pleasant, but it's like it wants to allow both the bourbon and sherry cask to have their say but it's not allowing either or both to shine - it's like it has not had time to marry properly before being bottled.

This is not -by any account- a bad whisky scoring an 85/100
I just expected a bit more of this - especially given the circumstances surrounding this release.

85/100!

HAZELBURN 2007 12YO - CADENHEAD AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

It's time to review another recent release from the good folks in Campbeltown, Wm. Cadenheads. Released late in Autumn 2020, this triple distilled unpeated Springbank carries the name Hazelburn.

The triple distilled unpeated style was introduced by then Manager Franck McHardy, who'd returned to manage Springbank after a stay in Northern Ireland and a job at Bushmills Distillery, where whisky is also triple distilled. The new Hazelburn spirit was first produced by the Springbank Distillery again back in 1997. 

The name Hazelburn originally comes from another distillery in Campbeltown (Early 18th Century - 1925/26) and was at the time, one of the biggest distilleries in Campbeltown. 

This particular edition comes from a single re-charred bourbon hogshead. Something that previously has worked very well with the Springbank spirit

Casks in the Springbank courtyard May 22nd 2019 © The Malt Desk

Hazelburn 2007 12yo 51,9%, re-charred bourbon hogshead, 234 bottles, Cadenheads Authentic Collection

Nose:

Quite heavy - that re-charred bourbon hogshead certainly has a say here...
Also quite creamy, loads of sweetness from vanilla and a strawberry note, hints of oregano and orange peel, a touch of ginger, custard and crisp slight burnt butter dough with the cask char also showing itself. A few drops of water brings out some flour/freshly made baking dough

Taste:

Thick and creamy arrival. If you've tasted whisky from a re-charred cask before you know where this style comes from. Dark honey, overripe banana, loads of caramel notes - that Créme Brûlée again. There are hints of cloves in there too, along with some fair bit of delicious but, to me, unrecognizable fruity notes.

At first, this came across as slightly peated to me, but this quickly receded and I found that it was probably the cask char speaking loudly on the first approach and at this point, I think I was right... This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love this as opposed to another re-charred oak matured whisky, I've reviewed lately...

89/100!

Sample was bought via my whisky network

BENRINNES 2000 20YO - CADENHEAD WOOD RANGE

It's quite nice to be trying some Benrinnes again... and I just recently had the opportunity to try both the below bottling as well as a very nice bourbon cask expression from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. The SMWS expression will be reviewed at a later time... 

Anyway, there was quite a buzz surrounding this Cadenhead release as everyone wanted to get their hands on this heavily sherried expression.
Why? Dark whisky sells - that's just a fact! Is it better?
Well, depends both on your taste - darker and spicier vs. lighter and fruitier? 
Personally, I like both - but it also comes very much down to my mood which one I prefer on that specific day! What's your preference?

When you, in this case, combine the sherry maturation with the amount of buzz that has been created by some independent bottlers around Benrinnes Distillery - especially from Cadenheads- as to how good whisky from this distillery can be - you got your whisky frenzy with bottle flippers and whisky anoraks competing for the same bottles.

My only fear when buying a sherry cask bottling today (both a cask finish or fully matured) is sulfur. That, or getting a bottle that has been in one of those new very modern sherry infused style casks. Hello, Whisky Industry - they're just not very good casks! (rant over!)

Now, I know that sherry isn't fashionable anymore, so there's bound to be fewer casks, and especially good casks, out there for the whisky industry to snap up - but these new ones? They're but a shadow of previous casks.

Then there's the price of sherry casks, costing about x10 as much as a bourbon cask - but all this warrants a post of its own.

But back to the review...

Benrinnes Distillery from the road, August 26th 2012 © The Malt Desk

Benrinnes 2000 20yo 54,7%, Oloroso sherry cask finish, 336 bottles, Cadenhead Wood Range

Nose:

Luckily, it seems this cask has escaped the sulfur candles of Jerez unharmed.

Bl**dy hell, how much sherry was left in this cask when it was re-reracked into this cask? Right away you get that heavy sherry influence you also imagined that would approach you when looking at the color of this whisky. 

Loads of dark fruits, raisins, figs, and alcohol-soaked plums. Also in there, there's cinnamon, cooked apple, and some lovely spicy wood notes - all well-integrated and delivered by the alcohol

Taste:

Again, this is a cask finish! This means that this has been matured in a (probably) ex-bourbon cask before being moved to its finishing cask, an ex-oloroso sherry hogshead in August 2019... It's showing a lot of sherry influence, for sure -but I'm also getting quite a bit of delicious wood spices, possibly a combination of its previous cask and the sherry cask? Also there, is nutmeg in abundance, some milk chocolate, a slight hint of warming paprika, and Danish 'krydderkage' (look it up!)

I get if someone wants to call this one a one-tracked whisky as it takes experience to pick out the more subtle underlying notes in this one.

It has certainly turned into what many whisky anoraks refer to as 'sherry bomb' but I still feel there's a bit more to this... In any case, it's a whisky that, for sure, is in tune with the Xmas Holiday season.

88/100!

Sample was bought from via my whisky network

A SHORT OPINION PIECE 2020

It's time to pick up those reviews again on a bit more regular schedule than has been the case for the past 3 years.

Honestly, I had lost the desire to do the reviews for quite a while and kinda felt it they had reduced itself to duty rather than pleasure - and it's not supposed to do that!

Not that I in any way has lost the passion for whisky in the time between 2017 where I posted this Opinion Piece and now:

After 9 months of quiet - an opinion piece (link opens in a new window)

Right now, I just feel it evolving into something else that I'm still trying to find out what is...

Lots of what I wrote in that piece 3½ years ago still applies - Most things have even gotten worse - but its also factors outside our control - at least out of control for us mere whisky mortals.
There are also things happening in certain Facebook groups that I'm still to decide if I'll be commenting on - some related to the above article and some not.

For now, reviews etc. will be sporadic at best here on the blog itself, but there will be the more occasional posts on the blogs Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter - in all places, just search for The Malt Desk and follow - Thanks!

GLEN MORAY 2004 15YO - DISTILLERY EDITION OB

This will be the last Glen Moray, I'll be reviewing for now...

While I feel the other expressions have been somewhat underpowered - its certainly not the case for this one. More of this, please Glen Moray... or at at least bottle at 46% and don't chill filter - it just takes away too many natural oils and flavors

This one doesn't suffer from either of the above, this is pretty much as close as you get to get your whisky straight from the cask, except for some rough barrier filtering and this is how whisky is supposed to be, IMO

A conclusion of the reviews I've made must be that Glen Moray is whisky very well made - but I knew that already. But as with many of the bigger producers they still fail to see that 40% and chill-filtration just kills off their whisky - with the exception of the one below

Different casks at Glen Moray incl a wine cask. You can recognize a wine cask by its extra hoops around the cask © Glen Moray

Glen Moray 2004 15yo 60,1% Burgundy Cask#213 - Distillery Edition

Nose:
initially a lot of wood, but that was to be expected coming from a wine cask - let's leave it for a bit...

Coming back 10mins later it's now it's bursting with sweetness - marzipan, sweet crushed blackberries, sweet mandarins, and icing sugar, concentrated garden roses and candies apples. After a while, hints of milk chocolate comes through as well.

Taste:
Lovely malty sweet arrival with much of the above mirroring itself on the palate after that. In addition, I get a little more wood than expected from the nose, but nothing invasive.

The wine notes are more dominant now, adding a distinct drying edge to this whisky. If you're a wine drinker it'll not feel invasive, but again, it is distinct. Finally, the alcohol delivery is significant but I do recommend not adding water to this if you can handle the abv% as water brings out more bitter notes, which some might not find desirable.

This sure is a whisky if you have a sweet tooth - and want your flavour delivered with a punch

86/100!

Official sample provided by the Danish importer