Again this year, Bruce Crichton attended the Dufftown Autumn Whisky Festival and, as the last couple of years, I'm publishing Bruce's account of the events of a few whisky filled days. Please excuse any formatting errors.
Autumn
Speyside Whisky Festival 2014
Report by Bruce Crichton
After
the series of bit parts I had recorded for ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ were
cut, I headed to Dufftown. The surgeon was able to reattach and, with the foot
literally on the other hand, the Autumn Speyside Whisky festival was just what
I needed and after many days of great whisky, food, music, tours, kiwis,
wallabies, hakas and a bucket of Kininvie, here is my account of it.
This report is only a rough guide and may contain factual errors, for which I
apologize in advance. Tasting notes are subjective and comment is added from
experts present during note taking. Most often, I find myself able to describe
the taste of sweets extremely well and the reader is invited to speculate how I
have managed to reach adulthood with any teeth remaining. To shorten the
report, I refer the reader to previous reports and tastings if a whisky
re-appears. I also assume the reader is familiar with widely available
bottlings mentioned. Any cask samples, discontinued releases and fill-your-own
(FYO) tasted are described briefly, as these may not be available to buy. When
water added was, literally, one drop and whiskies were 40%abv, if the strength
is not otherwise indicated.
‘It all
started with a big dram’ at the Whiskyshop Dufftown
On
Thursday afternoon, Whisky Shop Dufftown (WSD) owner Mike Lord presented 3 drams
to begin the festival with. Mike had had a barren summer with cautious
crocodiles wisely avoiding his waterhole because his death roll is a terrifying
sight to behold and even Luis Suarez fears his bite. In this tasting, he
presented the 3 most interesting whiskies he had come across recently.
After
Mike emptied a bottle of Benromach’s excellent 10 year old into a giant snifter
glass for a charity event over the weekend, we tasted Diageo’s flagship ‘Rare
Old’ Mortlach, at 43.4%abv. A somewhat controversial release, this contains
whisky between 6 and 21 years old with Diageo aiming to keep the product
consistent. There was much less sherry character than the popular but
discontinued 16 year old ‘Flora and Fauna’ bottling and I found the nose to be
almost magical with sherbet and fruit crumble and there was some bourbon cask
fruitiness present with the taste being both crisp and sweet. Mike commented
that Mortlach has recently doubled in size and has gone from the smallest
distillery in Dufftown to being the second largest.
As
this was going on, Brett the kiwi made a surprise re-appearance, sparking a
discussion that ended with the conclusion that the England rugby team should do
a Morris dance when the New Zealand rugby team are doing their haka and should
probably do a Morris dance before every match they play.
Highland
Park ‘Dark Origins’, at 46.8%abv, had been taken from 80% sherry casks and did
have a somewhat rubbery nose that dissipated with the whisky being given time
to breathe. As Mike reminisced about the 1990’s releases from the distillery, I
found this to have the taste of sweet, stewed fruits and shortbread with a
touch of peat.
The
third and final dram, a 1991 Glenfarclas Family Cask, exclusive to the WSD, at
53.8%abv, was reviewed in the spring festival report. As we tasted it, Mike
told us of his campaign to make Dufftown a recognized whisky region and pointed
out that, if he succeeds, it will be the third biggest whisky region.
Glen
Elgin and Benriach tours
At Glen Elgin distillery, we were greeted
by Kwanele, our guide for the morning. Glen Elgin contributes significantly to
the ‘White Horse’ blends’, with the logo visible on entry. Glen Elgin is also
component of the popular Bells and Johnnie Walker’s blends.
Belgravia and Concerto malts are used, from
nearby Burghead, with 8.4 tons of malt per mash, at Glen Elgin, and the grist
is split into 8 fractions instead of the usual 3 of husks, grist and flour.
Diageo believe this gives them more information, reducing variability and
giving them a better extract. Fermentation is a minimum of 90 hours with the
aim of producing a fruity character in the spirit.
In 2012, the washbacks were increased from 6 to 9, the mashes increased from 11
to 16 and production increased from 5 to 7 days per week. Increased automation
allows a single operator to work where, before, a stillman and mashman were
required. On top of each washback is a soap dispenser that, in the event of a
power cut, will dispense soap into the wash to prevent foam spilling over. The
distillery has 6 stills and currently spirit is transported to Cambus, in
Clackmannanshire, as the Auchroisk facility at Keith is at capacity. A
distillery upgrade is planned for November 2014 with the spirit receivers to be
replaced.
We tasted a sweet 1995 ‘Exclusive’ from
Gordon and MacPhail (G&M), at 50%abv, which had the taste of fruit and
boiled sweets. This bottling has long since sold out though the curious reader
is invited to the G&M shop in Elgin as there will no doubt be future
releases from the company.
Moving on to Benriach, we met Ewan George who showed us a promotional DVD from
the company that clearly been produced by the makers of ‘Police Squad’. Last year, the distillery made 2.4 million
litres of alcohol with a third being used for single malt and the rest traded
as spirit. 175,000 litres of peated spirit were made and all was kept by the
distillery. Interestingly, master blender Billy Walker was unaware when taking
over the distillery in 2004 that he had inherited peated spirit dating back to
1972.
1994 was another landmark year for the
distillery as then owners Seagram’s bottled Benriach as a single malt, one of
the so-called ‘Heritage Selection’. Using Optic Concerto malted barley, the
distillery uses 4 waters rather than the traditional 3, something done by both
Chivas and Seagrams’, the previous owners.
The short stills have a slight reflux that Ewan says imparts fruity character.
Foreshots are kept short at 13 minutes to retain the fruity esters while the
cut is between 61 and 73 percent while peated spirit has a cut of between 60
and 73 percent.
Spirit intended for single malt is filled into first fill casks with a small
percentage filled into refill casks that are intended for blending.
Demineralized borehole water is used to reduce casks. For example, the award
winning 12 year old Sherry cask matured release, mostly available in the Far
East, is diluted to 47%abv and left for between 6 and 8 weeks before being
bottled at 46%abv.
An impressive tasting lineup began with the 1999 virgin oak finish, single
cask, at 46%abv. It was sweet with vanilla and cream notes and the finish was
spicy. A 1997 distillery shop exclusive, at 59.2%abv, had spent 15 years in a
bourbon cask before 11 final months in a Sauternes wine cask. Ewan finds that
this cask gives the whisky a caramelized taste. I found that the taste of crème
brulee and first fill bourbon was too hard to resist. A 1996 vintage, at
52.4%abv, matured for the final 3 years in a Pedro Ximenez cask had tremendous
sweetness from start to finish.
A 1977 Rioja finish, at 44.1%abv, bottled in 2012, was the first ‘I was there’
moment of the festival. Ewan found the taste of sponge cake while I smelled
stewed fruits and tasted raspberry ripple. Finally, we had the 25 year old
‘Authenticus’, at 46%abv which apparently contains some 1985 virgin oak finish.
It smelled of mellow peat, tasted of smooth and sweet peat and the finish was
long, luxurious and soft.
Session
whiskies by Gordon and MacPhail
Mike
Paterson of G&M took time to recount the company’s history, praising
previous owner George Urquhart for being ahead of his time in laying down malt
whisky for future with the motto ‘Tomorrow is shaped by today’s decisions,
today is shaped by decisions of the past’.
The
first of a series of possible session whiskies was a ‘MacPhail’s 15 year old’
mystery malt. This range was introduced in 1983. Mike himself does not know the
distillery this whisky is taken from though he said that 40 percent of the
whisky was matured in refill sherry casks. It had mint, sherbet and cheesecake
on the nose though the taste was difficult to describe and festival regular ‘Boisterous
Aberdonian’ reckoned it had a quick finish. Mike Paterson added that the
bottles of this malt whisky can be personalized while Mike Lord said that the
WSD does the same thing by sticking a post-it note to the bottle. As we were
discussing this, gasps of amazement greeted the announcement that a legendary
peaty whisky lover enjoyed this despite it not having any discernable peat.
George
Urquhart introduced the Connoisseur’s Choice (CC) range in the 1960s to make
available whiskies that were otherwise unavailable as single malts and,
appropriately, a 2004 CC Balmenach, at a standard strength of 46%abv, was our
next whisky. The distillery was owned by Diageo and current owners Inver House
have never bottled it. The Balmenach had been matured in refill sherry casks
and smelled of creamy soft cheese. The taste was of chewy pear drops and the
spicy finish was very long.
The
MacPhail’s collection range appeared in 1998 and an 8 year old Tamdhu, at
43%abv, needed time to breath but, having done so, I found light golden syrup
and honey on the nose while water revealed fizzy sherbet. This had been matured
in refill sherry and bourbon casks, giving it the taste of fruit salad chew
bars with vanilla being revealed by water. This particular range bottles either
as an age statement or as a vintage. Festival regular Danny Maguire found this
particularly enjoyable as it took his mind of the fact that he has tennis elbow
in his knees from playing golf.
‘Distillery
Label’ Linkwood, at 43%abv, smelled of golden honey and sherbet and tasted
lightly fruity with toffee notes. The finish was short and did have a bite to
it. Mike Paterson thinks it has a little bit of everything and represents a
classic Speyside whisky taken from both bourbon and sherry casks.
We
ended with the widely available, recently repackaged Benromach 10 year old, at
43%abv, detailed later. Mike told us to look out for the upcoming 10 year old
‘100 proof’ addition to the range and an Hermitage wine finish. A 5 year old
will replace the ‘Traditional’ while Mike said he was looking forward to future
‘Organic’ releases as the company can reuse the casks used previously in that
bottling.
Whisky Corner – ‘Peat in Whisky’
Appearing
at a festival for the first time were Stewart Craigon and Kirsty Clarke who
have their own blog entitled www.whiskycorner.co.uk
. Kirsty does most of the writing for the site while Stewart runs a whisky club
and the couple are available for corporate events and PR.
Beginning with the Highland Park ‘Dark Origins’ tasted earlier, Stewart
detailed the composition of Orkney peat which, unlike other parts of Scotland,
has no trees. The ‘Fogg’ is the top layer of peat that gives the initial smoke,
the ‘yahrpe’ layer gives smoke and heat and the ‘moss’ gives heat with
prolonged but less intense smoke. The barley is dried for 36 hours with 18 of
those hours done with peat and the rest done with coke. (My initial thought
that they would get better results with Irn Bru was, on reflection, a bit
daft). As we considered this, Boisterous Aberdonian started to act up,
apparently the result of his trying to smoke a hashtag. Boisterous also
reckoned the whisky had a quick finish but nonetheless held its own, something
he has experience of, apparently.
Douglas
Laing’s ‘Big Peat’ vatted malt, at 46%abv, smelled of toffee and mints,
indicating that the nose was dominated by Bowmore. Light and sweet, the smoke
gently tickled the palate. Port
Charlotte ‘Scottish Barley’, at 50%abv, had light smoke and icing sugar aromas with
minty and soft smoke tastes while the finish had smoked fish and salt.
An
Cnoc ‘Cutter’, at 46%abv, was the fourth in a series of highland malts from the
Knochdhu distillery, all named after cutting tools, the other 3 in the series
are the ‘Rutter’, ‘Flaughter’ and ‘Tushkar’.
Unusually, the distillery publishes the level of peat in the whisky instead of
the barley. The ‘Cutter’ had just been released a few days beforehand with
Kirsty and Stewart tasting all four of them, back to back with Kirsty reckoning
this one had the biggest punch of the 4. After finding fizzy sweetness on the
nose, I noticed chewy peat and smoked fish on the taste while water lengthened
the finish.
The widely available Laphroaig Quarter Cask, at 48%abv, had the biggest punch
of the tasting. A drop of water revealed smoked fish on the nose with smoke
erupting on the palate with excellent chewiness and fresh wood present. As I
chewed the whisky, Kirsty said she would like to see more companies state the
level of peat in the bottle and, to follow, Boisterous changed topic by
recommending ‘Charlie Barley’, purveyor of black pudding in Stornoway. At this
point, I caution readers asking them to consider the fact that Boisterous was
burned in a wicker man on his last visit to Lewis.
A bonus dram of the 12 year old Highland Park, at the very end, revealed itself
to be back on effervescent form with lots of delightful, cheery sweetness,
making it the most surprising whisky of the weekend.
Cheeky Drams at Glendronach distillery
Arriving
at Glendronach on Saturday morning, we were greeted by Karen, our guide for the
tour. I’ve reported on this distillery extensively in my reports for the autumn
festivals of 2009, 2010 and 2012 so I’ll say only that it was not in production
this particular weekend and add a few interesting factoids.
The distillery has increased production every year since 2008 when it was sold
by Chivas to Benriach in 2008. The maltings closed in 1996 at the same time the
distillery did and was not reopened in 2002 when the distillery was because the
building is not strong enough. However, it is preserved as a museum piece. The
washbacks are made of Scottish larch and the stills are oil-heated. In the
warehouse, there are octave and quarter casks as well as butts and a trial
sherry, not from Jerez, is currently being tested.
At our tasting, Karen told us that her favourite from the core range is the 18
year old ‘Allardice’ that she finds ‘cheeky’ and, that instant, she was proved
to be correct as the whisky in my glass told me to sod off as I was nosing it.
This 18 year old, at 46%abv, has improved recently and Karen finds it chewy. I
found rich fruit and sherry with wedding cake and it was a fine benchmark to
measure the other whiskies with.
A UK exclusive 1995, cask 3326, at 55%abv had been matured in a Pedro Ximenez
(PX) cask making it taste sweet and velvety. 21 year old Oloroso cask 39, at
58.8% needed time to breathe and reveal thick treacle and coffee. A 2002
distillery exclusive, at 56.5%abv, had been matured in a first fill PX
puncheon. Surprisingly light, it had hints of syrup, fizzy sweets and sticky
toffee pudding. Steve Carr found it rather quiet and not assertive though this
was by no means a negative in his view. Karen told us that those who tasted it
blind had thought it was much older than 11 years old.
A 1993 oloroso matured, 18 year old at
56.1%abv, smelled and tasted of coffee and dark orange chocolate. A very big
dram, it was both thick and chewy. The 1994 ‘Manager’s cask’ was available to
fill by hand, at 58.1%abv. A drop of water revealed coffee again and the
charming taste of Fry’s orange cream chocolate.
Adelphi Tasting with Antonia Bruce
After
announcing that Adelphi’s Ardnamurchan distillery had opened in July 2014, we
began with a 1992 Longmorn, at 53.6%abv, that smelled like fruit salad chew
bars while Mark Watt found honey and cereal breakfast bars. The whisky had both
bourbon and sherry characteristics, leading me to ponder if it had been
re-racked. Vanilla and cereal notes were present throughout this tremendous
whisky.
The
latest ‘Fascadale’ release, at 46%abv, is a 14 year old Highland Park
consisting of 2 bourbon casks and 1 sherry cask. Writer Charles Maclean gets
red pippin apples and highland fudge while I found fizzy sherbet, apples and
mints. Sitting beside me, Christian from Norway said that water revealed a lot
of vanilla. On the palate, I got something between apple sauce and apple
crumble together with shortbread and concluded that this would make a fine
session whisky.
A
1993 Glen Garioch, at 59%abv, had come from a first fill sherry butt. Antonia
got spice and ginger notes from the nose while the consensus between Christian
and myself was one of orange, marmalade and chocolate.
2007 Glenrothes, at
66.7%abv, led Antonia to describe it as being like a mad peanut butter sandwich
though Mark Watt asked the reasonable question: ‘is there a sensible peanut
butter sandwich?’ This was a big and punchy dram with no obvious youthfulness
discernible and water opened it to give creamy sweetness while Christian
detected chocolate.
Our
2000 Ardmore, at 55.6%abv, had subtle highland peat throughout. It smelled of
smoked cheese with hints of ham while it tasted of sweet smoke. Christian found
vanilla, lemon zest and sugar.
Later, at the Tannochbrae gala dinner, most of these whiskies reappeared
alongside a 1990 Bladnoch, at 59.3%abv. With this lowland distillery unlikely
to produce again, this was a timely chance to taste a well-aged lowland whisky
and it put me in mind of what Auchentoshan Valinch might be like if it was
allowed to mature for at least one more decade.
The whisky had been matured in a refill bourbon cask and tasted of
butter on white bread with obvious notes of bourbon and spice.
Berry
Brothers and Rudd,
After recovering from a bucket of 23 year
old Kininvie, I returned in time for Jonny MacMillan to guide us through the
best of Berry Brothers and Rudd (BBR). He began with a slide comparing a single
cask BBR bottling with a thinly disguised bottle of ‘Isle of Dalmorecairn’ with
the former being unchilfiltered and coloured and the latter not. (Each whisky
is 46%abv, if not strength is not otherwise indicated). Jonny recommends
rolling your glass with the whisky in it to make it look like you know what you
are doing and said that the whiskies had been poured some 30 minutes
previously, allowing them to breath.
As we had a 1995 Caperdonich, Jonny showed
a slide of the ‘picturesque’ distillery using a photo taken by Mark Watt of the
rubble left after demolition. This whisky had vanilla and Parma violets on the
nose and tasted of light honey and fruit syrup. 1999 Linkwood, from a refill
bourbon cask, was grassy and floral with lemons and delicate sweetness.
Apparently, Linkwood is Gaelic for ‘Distillery in Elgin’.
As a historical aside, Jonny showed us a
picture of a 1909 company document, written before Rudd had joined the
business. During the prohibition era,
BBR had moved enough whisky through the Bahamas to give each person in the
islands 8 bottles a day, although it must be taken into account that Mark Watt
didn’t live there at the time or the number would have been considerably
reduced.
A 1998 Ben Nevis – Gaelic for ‘Fairly High
Mountain’ – had been matured in a refill bourbon cask. The nose was slightly
astringent with malt and aniseed and it tasted of warm vanilla sauce. Water
lightened it considerably and it had all the qualities of a fine session
whisky. A 1991 Glencadam, at 53.8%abv, led Jonny to say that the name is Gaelic
for ‘Glencadam’ but I angrily disputed this, insisting it is Gaelic for ‘Tight
up beside a football pitch’. Appropriately for a component whisky of ‘Stewart’s
Cream of the Barley’, it had notes of both vanilla and cream throughout with Christian
getting shortbread and pears.
The Glencadam had apparently been extremely popular with a writer who shall
remain unnamed but, for the purpose of this report, will be referred to as
‘Pretentious, dopey, self-important twonk’.
Playing a musical tribute to Twonk, Jonny hailed him as our lord and
savior and he and I decided it was best not to mention the name of the song
either, just to be safe.
A 1997 Clynelish – Gaelic for ‘North
Highland Waxy Whisky’ – was 55.4%abv. By this time, my ability to pick out
flavours, apart from sweetness and waxiness, had collapsed but this was indeed
classic, bourbon cask matured Clynelish and the reader is recommended to by the
14 year old distillery bottle for a benchmark and compare the two. With time
running short, I headed out after tasting a bonus dram of the delicious ‘Paul
John’ peated Indian whisky where the angel’s share is some 22%.
Antipodean
Wildlife and High Visibility at Benromach Distillery
Sunday morning brought us to Benromach where Susan
Colville was delighted to meet old friend Brett the Kiwi and new friend Bruce
the wallaby. After watching a promotional DVD narrated by Michael Urquhart, we
headed round the distillery, built in 1898 and then closed and gutted by
previous owners Diageo in 1983, leaving behind only the buildings and the water
supply.
Malting was carried out at the distillery until the
mid-1960’s, symptomatic of most of the industry. Benromach uses a combination
of both brewer’s and distillers yeast, making it virtually unique in Scotland. This
is believed to give richness to the flavour at this manual distillery where
almost nothing is automated with no pressure or temperature gauges and the
spirit hand-filled into first fill bourbon and sherry casks.
Despite there not being production on Sunday, Susan donned her Hi Vis jacket
for our tour and told us that Benromach and nearby Dallas Dhu, closed in 1983,
were built as mirror images of each other by Charles Doig. While Dallas Dhu has
been preserved with replica equipment, Benromach has changed considerably.
Pagoda roofs were removed at the same time as malting was ceased on the
premises.
Malt from Inverness is peated to between 10 and 12
ppm while the ‘Organic’ expression uses no peat and the ‘Peat Smoke’ has as
much peat as can be fitted into the barley. 13 tons of malt are used per week
with 1.5 tons used per mash. One man is on each shift with almost the entire
distillery fitted into one room as the new distillery is a small fraction of
the size of the old one which Susan reckons could make almost 2 million litres
per year, about the same size as the popular Glen Moray, a few miles away.
Fermentation can take 48, 72 or 120 hours with the longer fermentation adding
nuttiness. Cloudy wort means that the washbacks do not require switchers.
Spirit cutting is also done by hand. Old stock is held at Elgin while post 1998
stock is held on site. Benromach made 135000 litres in 2013 and is on course to
make 250000 in 2014. 40 percent of spirit is filled into Jim Beam bourbon casks
with the rest filled into Jerez sherry casks, not counting the numerous small
batch experiments in progress and the ‘Organic’ which is filled into certified
organic Missouri oak. After a cleanout, the Organic’s spirit is made in January
and 100 casks are filled per year while the same number of ‘Peat Smoke’ casks
are filled in December.
The ageing warehouse will be knocked down then
rebuilt and expanded though it does contain the historic 2006 cask that has the
millionth litre produced by G&M. Benromach is exported to 42 countries, a
remarkable feat for such a distillery of this size. In the pipeline is a 15
year old, stocks permitting.
Our tasting began with the newly packaged ‘Organic’,
at 43%abv. This uses organic barley from Mulben, in Banffshire, and the nose
had soft bourbon with warm toast and butter and a big, punchy, fruity taste.
Susan prefers Benromach from bourbon casks, believing it shows the distillery
character and our sample of the fill-your-own, at 61.9%abv, had a light, floral
nose, tasting of vanilla, honey and cream. By contrast, the Oloroso cask sample, at 57.6%abv,
was sweet and surprisingly light, not being a Benromach A’bunadh or 105. It was
improved by adding the bourbon cask sample to it.
After another taste of the flagship 10 year old, we tasted the 30 year old, at
43%abv, which is currently 34 years old, in fact, and a fine sample of the old
distillery’s product. Matured in first fill and refill casks, this was a
luxurious evening whisky with a notably fruity taste. After that, there was a
taste of history in the form of the 1976 vintage, bottled in 2012 at 46%abv.
Light and creamy, this was a subtle dram.
Finally, the ‘current ‘Peat smoke’, at 46%abv, had
used barley with 67ppm phenol, in contrast to Diageo’s Benromach that used no
peat at all. There was smoke, salt and peat on the nose though the taste was
much lighter than the level of peat would lead one to expect. There was the
taste of delicate salted, smoked fish to finish with. With that, Susan removed
her Hi Vis vest and promptly became invisible. (Rumour has it that she and her beloved
Amazonian tree frogs had run off with Bruce the wallaby).
Morrison and Mackay Whiskies with Peter Mackay
The
‘Old Perth’ blended malt whisky from Morrison and Mackay (M&M) is currently
on its third batch. In our glasses, however, was the first batch, at 43%abv.
There was cereal and malt on the nose with smooth citrus tastes and the lemon
from a lemon meringue pie to finish. As we were tasting, Peter told us that the
core of this particular blend will always be Aultmore, matured in bourbon
casks.
The
first of four ‘Strictly Limited’ releases, all at 46%abv, was a 1995 ‘Westport’,
taken from two bourbon casks. Westport is mostly from a highland distillery in
a glen of tranquility with an added teaspoon of whisky from a distillery in
Elgin. This had peaches in syrup and cream on the nose with a mellow citrus
taste and lemon curd on the finish.
Also
from 2 casks was a 17 year old Benrinnes that Peter thought was the best of the
range bottled this year. A dram worth spending considerable time on, it had
syrup and warm golden honey on the nose with vanilla and delicate, light
bourbon in the middle. Rolling this on the tongue gave a long, spicy finish. As
we tasted, Peter paid tribute to Mike Lord’s generosity ‘coming out in spades’,
just like a combination of Motorhead and the Village
People, I guess.
A
1995 Speyside had fudge and wedding cake aromas while Peter described it as
‘Snickers in a glass’ and ‘a whisky for Germans’. Tasting, I found nuts and
chocolate on the taste with some bitter oranges to finish.
A
1988 Celebration of the Cask Linkwood, at 50.7%abv, had been matured in a
bourbon cask with three months finishing in Oloroso sherry. This whisky had two
sister casks, bottled circa 2011/12, one of which tasted like millionaire
shortbread. A chewy and sweet dram, I found it deliciously well balanced.
Interestingly, before finishing, Peter told us that the Linkwood was paler in
colour than our final whisky, a 1997 Ledaig. This had a minty nose with toffee
and smoke but was milder to taste, with biscuits and fruit present. Unlike the
younger Ledaig available from Morrison and Mackay, this was more like a peaty Highland
or Speyside whisky than one from Islay.
An evening with Robin Laing
Robin’s
back catalogue is reviewed in previous reports and, in addition, he played a
number of new tracks, including one about Bannockburn, one called ‘Whisky
Cathedral’ and another entitled ‘Black Rose’. His whiskies for the evening were
the Bruichladdich ‘Scottish Barley’, at 50%abv, 1989 ‘Images of Dufftown’ from
‘Malts of Scotland’, at 53.2%abv, Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, Benromach
Peat Smoke, Benriach 15 Tawny port finish, reviewed in previous reports, and
the UK exclusive 1995 Glendronach PX cask, at 52.5%abv. Interestingly, compared
to the Port Charlotte, the Benromach tasted lighter, despite a higher level of
peat in the barley. Robin is particularly fond of the Bruichladdich ‘Scottish
Barley’, as am I. Despite no peat, this is a big, effervescent dram with spice
and sweetness in balance throughout. The Glendronach tasted of burnt fruitcake,
raisins and toffee and, again, Robin is a big fan.
A thought-provoker for the evening was Robin’s suggestion that limbo dancing in
a kilt should be made an Olympic sport – he reckons it is guaranteed TV time.
As
usual, highlights from Robin’s performance are available on both Facebook and www.youtube.com.
I was
there at Balvenie Distillery
At Balvenie, David Mair took us
round. Most of the process has been covered extensively in the reports for the autumn
festival of 2010 and the spring festival of 2013 and, this time, the maltings
was under repair and out of bounds. David told us that it produces between 10
and 15 percent of the malt needed. A small amount of peat is used on site and,
indeed, the distillery produces peated spirit for 10 days out of the year
though no bottling date is indicated yet for the whisky.
Balvenie uses different water than
nearby sister distillery Glenfiddich uses although the mineral content of the
water does not differ. Steeping tanks were added in 1928 and are currently in
the process of being replaced, at the time of writing. Interestingly, the
original stills had come from Lagavulin and Glen Albyn distilleries. These were
sold and the distillery changed to one still shape though David didn’t know
which. Unusually, all the stills are the same shape at Balvenie.
The reader is recommended to join
the ‘Warehouse 24’ club online for free and tours must be booked by contacting
the distillery directly with a limited number of places available per tour. In
the aforementioned warehouse, there are 3 casks available for to taste and
bottle 200 ml of: first-fill bourbon, refill bourbon and first-fill sherry.
These were soft and creamy, tasted of banana and honey and of rich wedding
cake, respectively. Also available are a 1974 refill bourbon cask and a 1982
sherry cask. The old Tun 1401 is gone, replaced by the 8000 litre capacity Tun
1509. Each batch of this is compiled by malt master David Stewart and consists
of 42 casks of between 21 and 40 years of age. Marrying takes 3 months.
Our
vertical began with the widely available ‘Doublewood’ 12 year old, the
distillery’s biggest selling bottling. After that, we had the 14 year old
‘Caribbean Cask’, at 43%abv, reviewed in the spring 2013 report. A drop of
water opens this to reveal fudge and rum and raisin ice cream. A new addition
to the range is the 15 year old ‘Single Sherry Barrel’, at a standard 47.8%abv.
Each chosen barrel yields no more than 650 bottles and the whisky has a big
punch of raisins, plums and wedding cake. David recommends a single drop of
water with this one.
The 17
year old ‘Doublewood’, at 43%abv, is available in a miniatures pack with the 12
year old and the ‘Caribbean cask’. Reviewed in spring 2013 as well, I found
fizzy sherbet this time around. The 21 year old Port Wood finish was
extensively reviewed in my autumn 2008 report and is a fine accompaniment to a
serving of cheese after dinner.
The last
3 whiskies were batch 1 of the Tun 1509, at 47.1%abv, and samples from the 1974
and 1982 casks mentioned earlier. The first of these sold out very quickly on
release and all 3 were completely beyond my ability to describe, in a short
space of time and we were pushed for time by then. However, for a relatively
small outlay, readers of this report can book a tour and taste these whiskies,
each of which constitute an ‘I was there’ moment. Also, be sure to bring a
glass or a small cup for best results.
Graham Dunnet
of Douglas Laing
Making
his debut in Dufftown was Islay man Graham Dunnet who was standing in for the
absent Jan Beckers. Jan, it turned out, had headed to London where, ever the
practical joker, he persuaded the mayor that it would be a brilliant wheeze to
stand up at his party’s conference with a brick. (Jan is reported to have
purred at the success of this little jape.)
At
46.8%abv, the newly released ‘Timorous Beastie’ was a blend of highland malts
from Glengoyne, Glen Garioch, Dalmore and Blair Athol. This whisky sparked a
frenzy of comments from my table and elsewhere in the hall. I found lime citrus
on the nose while Graham got barley sugar and Danny got green apples, something
that Graham believes is an indicator of young whisky. Snorre found toffee and
caramel while I got shortbread notes on the taste. The finish had spice, apple
crumble and apple sauce with the addition of water making it minty. An
exceptionally pale and delicious Provenance Mortlach, at 46%abv, smelled of
shortbread and tasted of caramel shortcake with some light vanilla and peaches.
An
‘Old Particular’ (OP) 15 year old Benrinnes, at 48.4%abv, smelled of peaches
and fruit salad chew bars, tasting of bourbon and vanilla. Snorre found
raspberries in this one while Leif, his countryman, found plum jam and Pat Lunn
tasted salted kippers. An OP 1997 Glenrothes, at 56.4%abv, from a refill
hogshead had notes of bourbon while Graham got maltiness, Neil Simpson found
cereal and a lady in the audience detected marzipan. I also tasted boiled
sweets with water making it revealing mint and a creamy finish.
1989
Clan Denny Strathclyde grain whisky, at 56.2%abv, had an aroma of soft, sweet
vanilla with Graham getting muscovado sugar. Neil found banana flavours on the
addition of water while I tasted caramel milk chocolate. Graham believes that
grain whisky is ideal for the summer and I will test this out the next time
that Scotland has a summer as we don’t have one every year.
We ended with an 8 year
old Provenance Laphroaig, at 46%abv. A huge dram with a very punch, it was
quelled with a drop of water. It tasted of salt, peat and smoked fish with
sweetness appearing in time. The finish was long and elegant and the reader is recommended
to compare it to the widely available ‘Quarter Cask’ official bottling. Graham
asked what was the audience’s favourite and the smooth, luxurious Strathclyde
won hands down.
Cadenhead’s
tasting with Mark Watt-Glenlivet
Unlike
me, Mark Watt does not have a leg to stand on when the foot’s on the other hand
and those who have seen him legless confirm this is true. Introducing, Mike
Lord said that Mark has pushed back the boundaries of good sense.
With that,
our first whisky was a 24 year old ‘Small Batch’ Miltonduff-Glenlivet, at
55.3%abv, taken from 2 hogsheads. This was fresh, juicy and creamy and led Mark
to declare that the whole point of an independent bottler is to give you
something unusual. He believes this to be a fine session whisky or
‘report-writing’ whisky. I found the taste of digestive biscuits with lemon
meringue pie though Mark agreed with me that, despite the quality of the
whisky, it is difficult to write about.
Mark
says he warms up in the morning with whisky, reasoning that you wouldn’t run
without warming up. His ‘Creations’ 17 year old blended whisky contained 1977
Caperdonich with other whisky from Ardmore, Clynelish, Invergordon and
Auchroisk. Stephen Lunn thought it had way too much Clynelish and Mark reckoned
that was the best insult ever. Strangely enough, the previous Miltonduff could
have been added to this without changing the character as the blend is
delicate, creamy and sweet with lemon meringue pie.
As a bonus, we had a cask
sample of the Invergordon grain whisky that had been a component of the blend.
As
an aside, Mark told us that the Benriach 10 year old had made him cry as he had
accidentally poured it in his eye, a drink problem also suffered by Ted Striker
in ‘Airplane’. In another aside, Mark said his company likes to add the suffix
of Glenlivet to a number of distilleries as these distilleries had done so
themselves in previous decades to cash in on the name of the first licensed
Scotch whisky distillery despite being miles away from both the distillery and
the valley in question.
Re-appearing
from May was the 23 year old Aberlour-Glenlivet, at 54.9%abv, had been taken
from 2 hogsheads. As we tasted, Mark said Cadenhead’s bottle bourbon and
received a two-fingered salute from one audience member for that. Parent Company
J and A Mitchell are the second biggest employer in Campbeltown after the local
council though the council does less.
A
1985 Glenburgie should be bottled soon as a single cask release, at 57.3%abv,
and it tasted of orange cream and blood orange chocolate. (Yes, this chocolate
is available to buy.) Mark also said he thought the 80’s were coming back again
though perhaps could have lived without me telling him I would play Van Halen
to him again.
A 1995 Speyside-Glenlivet, taken from a refill butt and a first
fill butt, led Snorre to declare it was the best from the distillery he’d had.
At 62.8%abv, this was a beast of a whisky though one commentator believed that
water gave it an easy-drinking character. The session became steadily more
boisterous, despite no Aberdonians being present, and I tasted wine and cereal
on this whisky. Mark told a story of having teeth done, which brought pictures
of Richard Hammond to mind, and another of the time he was invited back to a
cellar to watch a DVD of himself in action. (He declined).
A
cask sample of 2001 Bowmore, from 2 refill barrels, had mint and smoky notes to
it and had the character of a highland whisky, rather than one from Islay. Mark
thinks that Bowmore’s spirit distilled between 1999 and 2001 will be as highly
regarded in 2030 as Black Bowmore is today.
At the end of the festival, an honourable mention must go to Alan’s Tannochbrae
warm-up blending of the Aberlour 10 and Monkey Shoulder which was delicious and
all credit to him for spraying whisky on Robin’s tongue as he sang about
‘Whisky for Breakfast’, the title track of his current album.
The WSD drams party saw Mike announce that Hankey Bannister Heritage had been a
clear winner of the blind blends tasting while Aberlour 15 had tied with
Glendronach 18 as the best whisky to pair with haggis and that Singleton of
Dufftown ‘Sunray’ had been the popular choice to go with bacon.
With
that, I’d like to thank everyone involved in organizing and running the
festival and, in particular, Mike Lord and his wife Val, Vicky and Kirsten at
the Whisky Shop, Warren, Gemma and the rest of the crew, Claus for the proofreading, Steve
Oliver, the Tannochbrae, the Coffee Pot café, Hiro for the bucket of Kininvie
and the photo, Steve and Annie for the Balvenie distillery picture.
I’m off to join a club with a really
thick layer of chocolate, those are the best, and I hope to see all of you
again at the spring festival.
