2 DENMARK EXCLUSIVES FROM G&M - CAOL ILA & MACDUFF

5 wine dealerships - along with Danish G&M importer Juul's Vinhandel in Copenhagen - selected 2 casks to be bottled during a trip to Scotland in Spring this year...and they have now been bottled and has just hit the shelves of those stores.

We've got Macduff in the town of Banff on the North Sea coast. Macduff is also known as Glen Deveron and is a fairly new distillery from 1960.

Secondly, we got Islay's workhorse Caol Ila, a distillery that needs no further introduction as a few have already been reviewed on this blog.

Here's my take on the 2 of them...

Macduff 2000/2012 43% refill sherry hogshead#10052, 372 bottles, Denmark Exclusive, Gordon & MacPhail


Golden straw in colour

Nose:
Sweet malt, fruits and honey + unripe bananas, citrus and a slight earthy note.

Taste:
Mouth coating although it fades quickly. Fruits again, bitter oak, melon skin and a peppery finish


Don't really know what to think of this - is it ok? yes... and drinkable? yes, but not one for the anoraks out there...

79/100!





Caol Ila 2000/2012 43% 1st fill bourbon barrel#309604, 318 bottles, Denmark Exclusive, Gordon & MacPhail

Straw coloured

Nose:
Sweet smoke from a bonfire, salty mineral notes, overripe garden fruits, vanillas and a little candle wax, maybe? Also slight hint of soap in there...

Taste:
Light arrival on malt sweetness, which doesn't give up until the 2nd wave of brings some smoke, like burning your organic garden waste. After that fruits and a hint of veggies shows up on the finish.

This is nothing more than a decent Caol Ila. This would certainly have benefited from being bottled at 50%+ Why is it not? which is why I'm not gonna rate this more this...

81/100!

Conclusion:

I got told that these were bottled at 43% to keep the final price down upon import to Denmark.  Fine - you're free to do that... but remember you also get a whisky that turns much more bland by doing so... I also know the casks were tasted a full strength when selected and I just hope you guys don't get disappointed with this result yourself :-O

I don't really think that the casks from G&M were ever bad ones (and I've yet to try one from G&M that is!) but watering those 2 casks down to 43% has heavily subdued both nose and taste on them!

The back label states proudly states that these 2 whiskies have either been chill filtered nor caramel coloured, which is very commendable... but useless if you knock them down to 43%.

Back to the drawing board, IMO

REMEMBER:
If the whisky is good, people will buy it, unless you rely completely on whisky newbies to buy your stuff!